ALDA, FRANCES (31 MAY 1883 [SOME SOURCES GIVE 1879]–18 SEP 1952)

New Zealand soprano, born Frances Davies in Christchurch. Alda played both piano and violin as a child, and in her teens was singing with a light opera company. Taken to England to study, she sang for King Edward VII. Her debut was at the Opéra Comique, Paris, in Manon on 15 Apr 1904, under her new stage name, Frances Alda. Jules Massenet, composer of Manon, taught her the role. She went on to perform in Brussels and then made her Covent Garden debut with Enrico Caruso in Rigoletto. At La Scala in 1908 she sang the premiere of Louise. She began with the Metropolitan Opera in the 1908/1909 season, and remained with company to 1929, missing only one season. Alda married the Metropolitan’s director, Giulio Gatti-Casazza, in 1910 (divorced 1929). She died in Venice.