Alice Nielsen and the Gayety of Nations

Born in Nashville, raised in Kansas City, Alice Nielsen took the vaudeville road to San Francisco 1891. At Tivoli Opera she starred in Balfe's Satanella and, tutored by Ida Valerga, debuted as Lucia. Hired in 1895 by The Famous Original Bostonians, Alice opened in NYC with Robin Hood. She became an international star in three new Victor Herbert musicals. July 1901 she crossed over to opera in Napoli, returning to London at Covent Garden, first for a spring season of Mozart then with San Carlo Opera for a fall Italian season. Her Boheme with Caruso was hailed as a masterpiece of ensemble performance. After joining Elenora Duse in alternate nights of drama and opera, Alice returned to US in 1905 for a national concert tour. Acclaim grew as she moved from Chicago to San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Dallas. New Orleans Opera House agreed to sponsor a full winter season for Alice Nielsen who joined forces with superstar Lillian Nordica to create a new opera company. With Basque tenor Constantino, their North American tour was regarded superior to the Met. At Park Theatre, Boston, Nielsen sang nine operas in seven days. Patrons stepped up to build Boston Opera House as a permanent home. Opening in 1909, Nielsen, Nordica, and Constantino were its founding stars. Alice also joined the Met. Continued her concert career giving art songs in four languages, an aria, and many encores of familiar parlor and Celtic songs acquired from Irish mom (dad was Danish). Loss of Boston Opera House, sunk by managerial corruption during WW1, was termed America's greatest musical tragedy. Alice kept singing. Made seventy recordings; joint concerts at Carnegie Hall with John McCormack; closed Chautauqua tours with "Alice Nielsen Day" in towns across America. Vintage diva Alice Nielsen, regarded as an icon of artistic integrity, gave unforgettable happiness to many, many people in the golden age of live performance.