SUTTON [née FANTONI], Emily (b ?New Orleans, ?15 March 1814; d Italy, ?)

This chapter presents a biography of mid- to late-19th-century Victorian vocalist Emily Sutton. Mrs Sutton was, undoubtedly, one of the 'first American prime donne' – a fact which would, normally, one might expect, win her lavishings of praise in the native press. Mrs Sutton sang Mandane to the Artabanes of Braham on 5 January at the Park Theatre, and a week later the two ladies came face to face. The only thing most people agreed upon was that Sutton's adaptation was vile. The Dramatic Mirror wrote of her as 'a lady of commanding talent, her vocal powers are unquestionable and her science of the highest order'. The Sutton family next appear to me in 1852–1853, when Emily junior ('Emelina Luisa Sutton'), 'a pupil of Michele Ruta', was singing in Betly and Valenza's Paquita at the Teatro Nuovo, Naples.