Alice Nielsen

              ALICE NIELSEN



PRIMA DONNA SOPRANO OF THE METROPOLITAN OPERA CO. ROYAL OPERA COVENT GARDEN, LONDON BOSTON OPERA CO.





MISS ALICE NIELSEN



ALICE NIELSEN, America's own prima donna soprano, has, perhaps, appeared before more 
real
 audiences than any other soprano on the concert platform to-day.  Born in Nashville, Tenn., Miss Nielsen first attracted attention by starting her professional light opera singing career at the age of eight.  Until she was fifteen she sang boys' parts in a traveling juvenile opera company, singing 
Mikado,
 
Chimes of Normandy
 and other popular works throughout the West.




When only fifteen she made her first prima donna appearance as Yum-Yum in 
Mikado.
  She next sang with the once popular light opera stock companies, after which she got her opportunity
 with the famous old Bostonians, making a hit as Annabel in 
Robin Hood.
  The following season she increased her reputation in a leading part in 
Maid Marion,
 and finally assumed the principal soprano rôle in 
The Serenade.




Her tremendous success in 
The Serenade
 brought her to another stage in her career when she was only twenty-two years of age.  To such an extent had she demonstrated her ability to draw audiences that Victor Herbert, composer of 
The Serenade,
 wrote an opera especially for her.  This was 
The Fortune Teller,
 and as a star, at the head of her own company in that opera, and later in 
The Singing Girl,
 Miss Nielsen created the biggest light opera audiences that ever followed the fortunes of a star.




Miss Nielsen then successfully produced 
The Fortune Teller
 in London, springing into fame over night.  Having reached the pinnacle of light opera she did what no other light opera star ever
 has done—she became a star of the first order in grand opera, and with a speed that is likely to stand as the record, for, when it was decided that she should have an opportunity to make her grand opera début in 
Faust,
 Miss Nielsen learned that opera in Italian in three weeks.  To perfect herself in the difficult rôle of Marguerite in that short time she worked days and nights under a famous Italian opera coach, and captured her first grand opera audience in the Bellini Theatre, Naples, and ever since has kept on charming other grand opera audiences in Italy, England and the United States.




Meantime Miss Nielsen has created other wonderful audiences of staunch supporters on her concert tours, and her popularity is evidenced in the most emphatic manner by the great number of bookings she is receiving from all parts of the country each year.  Her most recent triumphs have been under the banner of the Redpath Chautauquas where, during the past two seasons, she has proved to be nothing short of a sensation.







ALICE NIELSEN may rightly be termed the most talented and versatile artist appearing before the music-loving public today.  Whether her superb art be displayed on the operatic stage or the concert platform, the result is always a perfectly finished performance that creates a truly enjoyable and lasting impression upon her audiences.




The following excerpts, selected at random from the writings of many of the foremost critics, amply evidence the high and enviable place Miss Nielsen has attained in the Musical World.




Further information, terms and available dates will be cheerfully furnished upon application.




PERSONAL MANAGEMENT




JOHN BROWN




(Formerly Business Comptroller Metropolitan Opera Co.)




METROPOLITAN OPERA HOUSE
1425 BROADWAY
NEW YORK






THE NEW LIFE
 HEARD IN EVANSTON, ILL.



In the first half of the program Alice Nielson sang Mozart perfectly.  Not in a long time have we heard Mozart sung in such pure style and by so lovely a voice.


James Whittaker, CHICAGO EXAMINER, June 2, 1916.




Miss Alice Nielsen sang two Mozart arias with delightfully fresh tone, finely poised and perfectly sustained.  * * * The tone was lovely, pure, in perfect tune and sustained with ease.  * * * She has just the voice to sing Mozart.  * * * The audience greeted her cordially and insisted on her singing an encore.  * * *


Karleton Hackett, CHICAGO EVENING POST, June 2, 1916.




* * * Were there a demand for a Mozart specialist in this country, Miss Nielsen would be the logical one for the position.  * * *


Edward Moore, CHICAGO DAILY JOURNAL, June 2, 1916.




Alice Nielsen, one of America's favored and favorite soprano singers, contributed two Mozart arias to the pleasure of the audience.  The 
Deh Vieni,
 from 
The Marriage of Figaro,
 was exquisitely delivered and appreciated by a generous
 outburst of applause.  It was transposed by Miss Nielsen an entire tone higher, from F to G. * * * Miss Nielsen's voice gives great delight.  It is even and pure and of a silvery, clean-cut quality ingratiating to the ear.


Herman Devries, CHICAGO EVENING AMERICAN, June 2, 1916.




During the first half of the program the orchestra, assisted by Alice Nielsen, as soloist, held the center of the stage.  * * * She was greeted with a volume of applause that indicated in no uncertain manner the affection with which she is regarded by the local festivalties.  And never has such admiration been built upon a more solid and deserving foundation than that afforded by singing such as was on this occasion set forth by the charming soprano.  
Let those pessimists who are wont to give voice to the cry that the art of Bel Canto is dead, and the day of good singing no more, sit up and take notice!
  That singing of such calibre as Miss Nielsen vouchsafed is all too rare we will admit, but since it is the function of festivals to bring to our hearing the best that the world of art affords, we desire publicly to express our sense of gratitude to a management that made possible the hearing of two Mozart arias sung in a manner that was perfection itself.  Here is tone production at which one may not cavil, coupled with a highly developed interpretative instinct projected through the medium of a personality that is unaffectedly pleasing.  The world of song affords no more difficult and exacting medium than that of Mozart wherewith to test the powers of the vocalist, and the triumphant manner in which Miss Nielsen last night met these exacting requirements speaks eloquently of the merit of her art.


Walter Allen Stults, EVANSTON NEWS-INDEX, June 2, 1916.





Miss Nielsen was heard in a program calculated to try her powers as a concert artist to the utmost.  She was, however, in excellent form and her voice was never sweeter or purer.  The clear, crystal-like quality of her tones has often been remarked and is one of the most striking features of her singing.  Miss Nielsen's personal attractiveness and her long experience upon the concert platform make her a very fascinating performer, and one who awakens an audience to unusual warmth.


Frederick Johns, BOSTON AMERICAN.




Miss Nielsen afforded enjoyment * * * to an audience which proved that her popularity is not diminishing.  Known as a singer of beautiful voice, of archness and charm of personality, of a clearness and point of enunciation that made her singing of English songs and ballads a thing of intelligibility and delight to those who heard her.


BOSTON GLOBE
.




Miss Nielsen's appearance as a concert singer furnishes new evidence to a Boston audience of her versatility.  Although keenly alert as a singing actress to the opera's demand for bodily expression and responsive to it by instinct, this actress has a presence on the concert platform which relies upon no show of mannerisms or parade of emotions for effect.  Last night she stood easily, acted naturally and sang beautifully—at times gloriously.


BOSTON GLOBE.





Alice Nielsen who comes under the heading of 'ours' was made to feel that she belonged to us on her reappearance here.  Since she sang with the San Carlo Company Miss Nielsen has made almost unbelievable strides in her vocalism, for added to those tones which have always been pleasing for their high, pure quality are now a breadth and richness never before given and a mellowness and sympathy that bring an instant response from her hearers.  She is chic and vivacious and her personality filled with undefinable magnetism.


SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE.





LA BOHEME



Miss Nielsen and Caruso carried off the honors at the matinee yesterday.  The rôle of Mimi not only permits Miss Nielsen to display her admirable qualities as an actress to fine advantage, but the music lies so well for her voice that her share in it was a source of delight.  The temptation to dwell upon the beauty and purity of her upper register is not to be resisted.  She soars to a high A or B flat with a freedom that seems to know no restraint.  For the rest one admires the warmth and sympathy of the voice in the middle and lower register and the interpretative taste and skill with which the singer varied the color of the tone to suit the passing moods of the text.


CHICAGO DAILY TRIBUNE.





MARTHA



Alice Nielsen gave the most sparkling and satisfactory representation that the title rôle has had in a long time.  The simple, unaffected action came well in her delineative grasp, and
 she sung the music with a full round tone so sweet and limpid in quality it gave all of the delightful ballad effect in the persuasive call that could be desired.


CHICAGO DAILY NEWS.




Tosti did not write his plaintively beautiful song '
Good-by
' for Alice Nielsen in particular, but one might well imagine that he did.  Miss Nielsen knows how to sing it.  Tosti has heard her and he says no one can sing it better.  He should know.  Certainly her voice has just the quality to make it appeal.  One can see the dying season, can feel hope fly as she voices it.

For an encore she gave in contrast a merry little song about a Dutch garden and the Gretchen in it.  But that was not enough, so the audience got just what it showed by its preliminary applause with the opening bars that it wanted, '
S'wanee River.
'  One is tempted to say it is one proof that a singer has reached the first rank of prima donnas when the people demand that she sing the familiar home songs.

Besides these songs Miss Nielsen gave the aria '
Ah Fors e lui,
' from '
La Traviata,
' trilling beautifully, a serenade of Richard Straus' and Hahn's '
Si mes vero avaient des alles.
'  And in the famous sextette from '
Lucia di Lammermoor
' she showed the power of her voice and its range without sacrificing any of its purity, any of its sweetness.  Altogether she was the delight of the concert.

BOSTON TRAVELER.




TORONTO MUSICAL FESTIVAL



Alice Nielsen furnished the surprise of the evening, for it was thought that her lyric soprano would be too light to fill the arena.  On the contrary, her voice went to the farthest recesses
 of the auditorium, sweetly and clearly as the nightingale's liltings on a breezeless summer evening.  In fact, she accomplished a 'triumph,' both by her brilliancy of vocal technics and by her dramatic expressiveness in the aria from '
Tosca
' and in her infectious, piquant coloratura with solos from the second act of '
The Barber of Seville.
'


TORONTO DAILY NEWS.




Alice Nielsen's tone is rich and broad, and yet has kept that exquisite golden quality so characteristic of the true soprano voice.  Some of her tones in the upper register are entrancing and the whole voice under perfect management.  Her interpretations are thoughtful and artistic, and her temperament equal to all demands.


LOS ANGELES RECORD.





MADAME BUTTERFLY



Miss Nielsen has not only a rarely beautiful voice, but she is gifted with the fancy necessary to portray such a rôle, from the tragic heights to the most minute detail.  Her voice is one of great charm, not only of quality, but in the interesting manner in which it is used.  Her singing in the second act especially brought forth great applause.  There are few singers who have control of such wonderful pianissimo tones.  The variety and color of her voice and the intelligence of her work generally were fully appreciated by those of the audience acquainted with the art of the vocalist.  She was particularly happy in her scenes with the child, displaying not a stolid, impossible type of maternity, but the irrepressible joyousness of a child.


PHILADELPHIA RECORD.





Miss Nielsen was in her most charming voice.  She sang with taste and art and purity of tone.  She was particularly winning in her renderings of her most familiar airs.  She won all hearts by the beguiling way in which she interpreted the Cadman songs.  She scored with Solveig's '
Lied
' and works by Rogers, Landon Ronald, Spross and Bemberg.  But when she gave her hungry audience, as encores, '
Kathleen Mavourneen,
' '
Comin
' 
Thro' the Rye
' and '
Home, Sweet Home,
' the house responded with great hearty outbursts.


NEW YORK AMERICAN.




Alice Nielsen's appearance as Mimi aroused much curiosity, especially among those who knew her in a light opera career, and that some day her voice would fill the Metropolitan no one believed.  It did, however, and very acceptably did this talented and determined woman achieve the aim of her life.  The voice is of beautiful quality.


NEW YORK EVENING MAIL.




Miss Nielsen as Mimi was in most respects delightful in appearance and acting.  She has had no superior in this part, and her singing gave much pleasure.


NEW YORK EVENING GLOBE.





MISS ALICE NIELSEN IN 
LA BOHEME



There was not a false stroke in Miss Nielsen's impersonation.  She has never sung better in this city.  Her voice seemed to gain more freshness and beauty with every act.


Olin Downes, BOSTON POST.






RIGOLETTO



Miss Nielsen's last aria in the second act was remarkable for its tonal beauty as well as for its fine and sensitive regard for the melodic line.  It was shaded and phrased with the same care that a capable violinist would expend upon it, and it roused the house to demonstrative expressions of approval.


CHICAGO TRIBUNE.




Miss Alice Nielsen's song recital yesterday afternoon had much to recommend it to the enthusiastic approval of the experienced listener.  It served to display a vocal art remarkable for its purity, for the fresh, translucent beauty of the tone, for the breadth of resource developed, and for the superlative command of all legitimate means to variety of expression.  This beautiful voice became, in turn, the agent of an interpretative art remarkable for its simplicity, its sincerity and the deft and unfailing method whereby its intentions were impressed upon the sympathies of the listener.

Reinforced by the charm of her personality, the grace and beauty and simple earnestness of her art moved Miss Nielsen's audience to such demonstrative expressions of approval that repetitions and additions to the program were numerous and even at its conclusion the public was still clamoring for more.


Glenn Dillard Gunn, CHICAGO TRIBUNE.




Alice Nielsen is one opera singer who has mastered English diction.  Every word is as distinct as if spoken and the effect of her songs is extraordinary.


Frederick Johns, BOSTON AMERICAN.





Alice Nielsen is an artist whose career shows what an American girl possessed of pluck, energy, ambition, industry, perseverance, courage, talent and considerable voice and intelligence can accomplish by giving all these a chance to work out their natural result.

Being especially capable in the Mozart music—and no singer needs a higher compliment than that—Miss Nielsen opened with '
Batti Batti,
' from '
Don Giovanni.
'


ST. LOUIS REPUBLIC.





FAUST



Alice Nielsen is a great actress as well as a fine singer.  Her vocal numbers call only for praise.  The dreaminess of the spinning song was very artistic.  In the jewel song she did not give that half hiccough, half yell in the opening note which most vocalists imagine represents joy.  In short, Miss Nielsen looked, sang and acted an ideal Marguerite.


Louis C. Elson, BOSTON ADVERTISER.




Alice Nielsen charms us with the lovely spell of her voice in its beautiful lyrical quality, the high notes of such wonderful power for a lyric soprano.


DENVER DAILY NEWS.





Alice Nielsen's voice has grown stronger and richer.  Its greatest beauty lies in its sweetness and clarity, especially in the head notes as she revealed them in a group of English songs.


DETROIT JOURNAL.




Miss Alice Nielsen was perhaps the best Nedda Covent Garden has seen.  Her conception of the part was full of girlish charm and prettiness, more than adequate vocally, and irresistibly sympathetic.


DAILY GRAPHIC, London, England.




Miss Nielsen sang with exquisite technique and every song was beautifully rendered.  Her notes are as pure as the waters of a mountain stream, while her face is as fair as the flowers which bloom along the banks, and her appearance on the stage is pleasing to the eye as well as to the ear.


COLUMBUS DISPATCH.




Miss Nielsen was in excellent voice and her selections included grand opera and groups of German, French and English songs, which were enthusiastically received.  Brahms' lovely '
Wiegenlied
' had to be repeated.


BROOKLYN EAGLE.





Miss Alice Nielsen was the soloist in the afternoon.  She was received with an enthusiasm which her joyous art abundantly deserved.


CHICAGO TRIBUNE.




The swallow flight of her light but exquisite soprano is perfectly suited to rôles like Cio Cio San, whose best-known aria, '
Un bel di,
' she sang.  After her second aria the crowd was insatiable and she appeased it with fireside songs.  Miss Nielsen leaves us crowned with the greatest success made by a singer at this festival, and perhaps with higher favor than any other artist repeatedly engaged by the directors has ever enjoyed.


SYRACUSE HERALD.






PERSONAL MANAGEMENT



JOHN BROWN




(Formerly Business Comptroller, Metropolitan Opera Company)




METROPOLITAN OPERA HOUSE - 1425 BROADWAY




NEW YORK