Mary Kaestner
American opera singer
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Mary Ethel Kaestner Peroni (29 July 1882 – ) was an American opera singer who was a dramatic soprano with the San Carlo Opera Company.
29 July 1882
Mary Kaestner | |
|---|---|
 Mary Kaestner as Aïda, from a 1917 publication | |
| Born | Mary Ethel Kaestner 29 July 1882 |
| Other names | Mary Kastner, Mary Peroni |
| Occupation | Opera singer |
| Years active | 1914–1917 |
| Known for | Three seasons with the San Carlo Opera Company |
| Spouse | Carlo Peroni |
Early life
Mary Kaestner was born in Iowa to German emigrant Adolf August Kästner, a butcher from Crimmitschau, Kingdom of Saxony, and Laura Bell Dodge from Indiana. She had two brothers and two sisters. Her parents divorced in 1892[2] and her father moved to Santa Ana, California in 1899.[3][4] She was sometimes incorrectly described as Viennese or German.[5][6]
Career
Kaestner was singing in Vienna when World War I began, and she returned to the United States.[7] She toured North America with the San Carlo Opera Company for three seasons,[8] from 1914[9] to 1917,[4] singing leading roles in Aïda,[10] Cavalleria rusticana,[11] Lohengrin, Pagliacci, Tosca, Faust, Il trovatore,[12] and La Gioconda.[13][14][15] "Mary Kaestner is one of those artists who has proved at each appearance that certainty and poise are her assets," commented a reviewer in 1917. "Besides her dramatic voice of unusual beauty, her acting is brilliant and brainy."[16]
Personal life
In 1919, Mary Kaestner married Italian opera conductor Carlo Peroni,[17] and retired from her stage career, saying "one famous person in a family is enough."[18] She survived as his widow when Peroni died in 1944.[19][20]
