Charles R. Adams

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Charles R. Adams (February 9, 1834-July 4, 1900) was a noted opera singer and instructor. He was born in Charlestown, Massachusetts, in 1834, the son of Charles Adams and Eliza Ann Runey Adams.

He studied music in Boston under Edwin Bruce, Mme. Arnault, and R. Mulder. In 1856, he sang tenor in The Creation with the Handel and Haydn Society, and went on to tour the United States and West Indies from 1856 through 1861. He sang the tenor in Bellini's La Somnambula at the Vienna State Opera, and went on to tour Russia and Holland. He stayed with the Royal Opera in Berlin for 3 years, before becoming the principal tenor of the Vienna Hofoper from 1867 through 1876. He also sang two seasons at the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden, one season at the Royal Palace of Madrid, and one season at La Scala. He toured America with the Carl Strakosch company in 1877 and 1878. He performed in German opera with Mme. Poppenheim and in Italian opera with Clara Louise Kellogg, Maria Litta, and Annie Louise Cary. He also sang in the first American performance of Rienzi. His greatest roles were Manrico in Il trovatore, the title role in Lohengrin, Cola di Rienzo in Rienzi, and the title role in Tannhauser. In his later life, from 1879 on, he served as a teacher in Boston, and his students included the likes of Grace Hiltz, Nellie Melba, and Emma Eames. He died in West Harwich, on Cape Cod, in 1900.

[edit] References

• Who Was Who in America, Historical Volume 1607-1896. Chicago: Marquis Who's Who, 1963.