Leonora Braham
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Leonora Braham (February 3, 1853 – November 23, 1931) was an English opera singer and actress primarily known as the creator of principal soprano roles in the Gilbert & Sullivan comic operas.
Contents |
[edit] Life and career
Leonora Lucy Abraham was born into a Jewish family in Bloomsbury, London..
[edit] Early career
Braham made her professional stage debut in 1870 at St. George's Hall, London, in a revival of Gilbert and Clay's Ages Ago with Mr. and Mrs. German Reed. She remained with the German Reeds for several years, but moved to Montreal with her husband in 1878. In 1879, she played the title role in Gilbert and Clay's Princess Toto in New York and, later, in Boston. In 1880 she appeared as Dolly in Alfred Cellier's The Sultan of Mocha, again in New York. Her husband died in North America.
[edit] Principal D'Oyly Carte soprano
Upon returning to England, Braham rejoined the German Reeds briefly, and then was chosen to create the title role in Patience at the Opera Comique with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company in 1881. She remained the company's principal soprano through 1887, creating the roles of Phyllis in Iolanthe (1882), Princess Ida in Princess Ida (1884). She was initially cast to sing the role of Lady Psyche in this opera, but was promoted during the rehearsal period, when the original choice for the part, American Lillian Russell, had a disagreement with W. S. Gilbert and was dismissed. Braham, generally regarded as a light lyric soprano, nevertheless received good notices in the demanding role. She also created the roles of Yum-Yum in The Mikado (1885—perhaps her best-known role), and Rose Maybud in Ruddigore (1887). Braham also played Aline in The Sorcerer in the 1884–85 revival.
Her struggles with alcoholism are portrayed in the 1999 biographical film Topsy-Turvy, and during the run of The Mikado she was threatened with dismissal for this reason. During the summer of 1886, she secretly married J. Duncan Young, previously a principal tenor with the company, and Carte soon had another reason to dismiss the actress. By early 1887, shortly into the run of Ruddigore, Braham announced that she was pregnant. This was not acceptable, particularly as the chorus sings to her prim and proper character in Ruddigore, Rose Maybud, "Rose, all glowing with virgin blushes, say: 'Is anybody going to marry you today'?" She shortly left the Savoy, and Geraldine Ulmar was hastily called back from America to assume the role.
[edit] Peripatetic performer
Braham and her husband traveled to Australia later that year, appearing there in a number of operas including Princess Ida, H.M.S. Pinafore, The Mikado, Patience, and Iolanthe with the J. C. Williamson's opera company. She was back in England from 1888 to 1890, on stage in London and the provinces, in works other than Gilbert and Sullivan. She then went to South America with the Edwin Cleary Opera Company, playing Yum-Yum, Phyllis, and Mabel in The Pirates of Penzance for audiences in Buenos Aires, Montevideo, Valparaiso, Lima, and elsewhere. The company was shipwrecked on their return to England, but undeterred by the perils of ocean travel, she soon embarked on two years touring South Africa with a repertoire of operas including Gilbert and Sullivan.
In 1895 Braham was back in London, appearing at Daly's Theatre in An Artist's Model. She was then engaged by D'Oyly Carte again in 1896 to play Julia Jellicoe in The Grand Duke on tour. She also played Phoebe in The Yeomen of the Guard and Yum-Yum in The Mikado for portions of the tour, which was to be her last with D'Oyly Carte.
[edit] Later career and retirement
From 1897 to 1912, Braham continued to perform in London, the British provinces, and New York. In retirement, she retained her interest in Gilbert and Sullivan, and wrote of her G&S memories, "Happy Wanderings of a Savoyard," in The Gilbert & Sullivan Journal (October 1926). In March 1930 she participated with Jessie Bond and Sybil Grey in a Gilbert & Sullivan Society reunion of the original "Three Little Maids from School." Her last years were difficult, however. Her husband was confined to a nursing home, and Braham was living in poverty at the time of her death in 1931.
[edit] References
- Ayre, Leslie (1972). The Gilbert & Sullivan Companion. London: W.H. Allen & Co Ltd. Introduction by Martyn Green.
- A detailed account of Braham's life and career is contained in a series of articles by Robert Binder in The Palace Peeper, newsletter of the New York branch of the Gilbert & Sullivan Society, running from October 1982 to April 1983.
[edit] External links
- Leonora Braham at Who Was Who in the D'Oyly Carte
