Emma Nevada was an American opera singer. She was one of the finest coloratura sopranos of the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
Background
Emma Nevada was born on February 7, 1859 in Austin, California, United States. Her real name was Emma Wixom. She was the only child of William Wallace and Maria (O'Boy) Wixom. Her father, of Scottish descent, was a native of western New York who had grown up in Michigan; her mother came from Cork, Ireland. Emma's grandfather, Dr. Isaac Wixom, a prominent figure in his adopted state of Michigan, was a physician and surgeon, as was her father. About 1854 the younger Wixom moved to the California and about 1864 to Austin, Nevada, where Emma spent her childhood years. Her later stage name thus honored both the city near which she was born and the state which became her home. Emma early showed signs of musical talent. At the age of three, by her own later account, she sang "The Star-Spangled Banner" at a benefit concert in Grass Valley, California, and her voice became well known in Austin.
Education
At Mills Seminary (later Mills College) in Oakland, California, from which Emma was graduated in 1876, she studied with the vocal teacher Alfred Kelleher. Mrs. Susan Mills, the head of the Seminary, helped her to go to Europe to continue her training, and in 1877 Emma became a pupil of the famous vocal teacher Mathilde Marchesi in Vienna.
Career
In 1880, through Mme. Marchesi's influence, Emma was engaged to appear at Her Majesty's Theatre in London, where her operatic debut was made as Amina in La Sonnambula on May 17, 1880. On that occasion she was already billed as Emma Nevada. For the next two years she toured the principal Italian cities, and it is said that Verdi was personally responsible for her engagement at La Scala, in Milan. In May 1883 she began a long series of successful appearances at the OpÏra Comique in one of her favorite roles, that of Zora in David's La Perle du Brésil. She became a leading coloratura soprano of that theatre and a rival of another famous American, Marie Van Zandt.
In 1885 Emma Nevada returned to the United States as a member of Colonel James Henry Mapleson's touring opera company. She alternated in the coloratura parts with the great Adelina Patti. In California her acclaim was particularly enthusiastic; as a native celebrity, she became the biggest drawing power of the company in the West.
In succeeding years Mme. Nevada appeared successfully in Belgium, Holland, France, Austria, and Russia. She also sang frequently at La Scala and participated in six consecutive seasons of the Royal Opera of Madrid. In 1899, at a performance in Seville, an irate audience, on discovering her nationality, staged a violent anti-American demonstration in an atmosphere still charged with the emotions of the Spanish-American War; the Queen of Spain later personally apologized for the incident.
In 1907 Nevada returned for an extended tour of the United States, Canada, and Mexico, together with her own group of instrumental accompanists, among them a promising young cellist named Pablo Casals.
Back once again in Europe, she sang at Covent Garden in a revival of The Tales of Hoffmann in 1910. Retiring from the stage later that same year, she devoted herself thereafter to vocal teaching and to guiding the career of her daughter.
Nevada's voice extended to F above high C and was noted for the brilliance of its high register. It had a clear, instrument-like quality and was said to be hardly distinguishable from an accompanying flute. At the same time, the voice was relatively small, with little carrying power, and therefore not very effective in larger theatres; perhaps for this reason she was never warmly acclaimed in New York. Her voice was also limited in its lower range, but Emma Nevada knew how to conceal her limitations in an artful fashion.
She was a close friend of Charles Gounod and Ambroise Thomas. Gounod acted as her godfather when she joined the Roman Catholic Church; Thomas officiated as godfather for her daughter, Mignon, who was christened in honor of the famous Thomas heroine.
At the age of eighty-one, Nevada died in Liverpool, England, the home of her daughter.
Achievements
Personality
Described as a great beauty in her youth, Emma Nevada was tiny of person, with brown hair and dark blue eyes.
Connections
Nevada married her physician and manager, Dr. Raymond Palmer of London; the wedding, which took place in Paris on October 1, 1885, was attended by many notables. They had a daughter, Mignon Nevada, who became a talented and successful soprano in her own right.