Claude Albright
American opera singer
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Claude Elwood Albright Roberts (June 5, 1873 – June 26, 1923) was an American opera singer, generally classified as a mezzo-soprano. She grew up in Albuquerque, New Mexico Territory, and was recognized as New Mexico's most famous singer during the early 20th century.[1] She performed with various opera companies during her career, most notably the Carl Rosa Opera Company in the United Kingdom.
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Claude Albright | |
|---|---|
Albright in 1903 | |
| Born | 5 June 1873 |
| Died | 26 June 1923 (aged 50) |
| Education | Vassar College |
| Occupation | opera singer |
Early life
Albright was born in Howard, Kansas in 1873. Her parents were John G. Albright, a newspaperman who later owned the Albuquerque Journal, and Franc Luse Albright, a photographer. The family moved to Santa Fe, New Mexico in 1880, and then Albuquerque in 1882.[2] She attended St. Vincent's Academy in Albuquerque, the Kenwood Institute in Chicago, and Vassar College.[3]
Opera career
After leaving Vassar, she went with her mother to Paris, where she took voice lessons from Anna de La Grange[4] and then joined the Opéra-Comique in 1901.[5] At the time, she was one of only five Americans to have performed there, along with other notable singers like Mary Garden and Sibyl Sanderson.[6] In 1903, she returned to the United States and joined Henry Wilson Savage's Castle Square Opera Company,[7] where she toured nationally in various productions, mostly English-language versions of famous operas. Her best-known roles with the company were as Kundry in Parsifal and Brünnhilde in Die Walküre.[8][9][10]
In 1910 she returned to Europe, joining the Stadtheater Bremen and then the influential Carl Rosa Opera Company in London.[11] In Britain she received favorable reviews in a number of leading roles including Azucena in Il trovatore, Ortrud in Lohengrin, and the title role in Mignon.[12][13][14] She then came back to the United States in 1912, spending a season with the Aborn Opera Company.[15] Albright's mother and aunt both died in 1912–13 and she had to take time away from the opera to help settle their estates.[16]
She performed at the Panama–California Exposition in San Diego in 1915[17][18] and then joined the La Scala Grand Opera Company in Los Angeles for the 1916 season.[19] In 1917 she married Edward W. Roberts, a construction engineer, and largely retired from touring.[20] She died in 1923 of suspected heart failure and was buried at Fairview Memorial Park in Albuquerque.[21]
Recordings
In 1918, Albright made three recordings for Edison Records, which were released as Edison Disc Records under the name Claudia Albright:[22]
- La Partida (Edison 6046)
- Clavelitos (Edison 6051)
- Habanera (Edison 6057)