Anna Case

Anna Case (1888 October 29 – 1984 January 7) was an American soprano. She recorded with Thomas Alva Edison, who used her voice extensively in "tone tests" of whether a live audience could tell the difference between the actual singer and a recording. She also made recordings for Diamond Records, RCA Victor, Vitaphone, and Columbia Records.

Biography

She was born on October 29, 1888 in Clinton, New Jersey.

She sang in the American premiere of Boris Gudonov in 1913 at the Metropolitan Opera.[1]

In 1930, before retiring in the same year, she recorded "Just Awearyin' for You" by Frank Lebby Stanton and Carrie Jacobs-Bond.[2]

In 1931 she married ITT Corporation executive Clarence Mackay.[3]

She died on January 7, 1984 in New York City and left her 167.97-carat (33.59 g) Colombian emerald ring and Boucheron necklace to the Smithsonian Institution.[4]

Reference

  1. ^ "American Premiere of 'Boris Godounoff' Wednesday". New York Times. March 12, 1913. http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F50911FF345E13738DDDAB0994DB405B838DF1D3. Retrieved 2011-03-09. "Boris Godounoff, the Russian opera by Moussorgsky, will be the feature of next week's repertoire at the Metropolitan Opera House, where it will have its first American hearing on Wednesday evening. It will be conducted by Mr. Toscanini, and the cast will include Madames Homer, Case, Sparkes, Maubourg, and Duchene, and Messrs. Didur, Althouse, Rothier, Reiss, Bada, De Segurola, Rossi, Audisi, Reschiglian, and Kreidler." 
  2. ^ Edison's Favorite Singer (accessed 7 February 2010).
  3. ^ K. J. Kutsch & Leo Riemens, A Concise Biographical Dictionary of Singers (Clifton Park, NY: Chilton Book Company, 1969).
  4. ^ See Clarence Mackay.