Collection on Adelina Patti

Collection

Call Number: MSS 102

Scope and Contents

This collection documents Adelina Patti's career through biographical information found in scrapbooks, correspondence, photographs, articles, newspaper clippings, other promotional material, and objects. Many of these items are included in a large scrapbook with an extensive collection of handwritten (and then typed) correspondence to Selma Gruenberg (1886 Aug 17 – 1917 Dec 16), portrait photographs of Patti and her husbands, Baron Cederstrom (1900) and Ernesto Nicolini, photographs of paintings and sketched portraits of Patti, a marriage announcement for Patti and Nicolini, concert programs, an extensive collection of newspaper clippings, and typed descriptions of the items within. Also included in the collection is a self-published biography of Patti, Adelina Patti: Her Loves and Letters, by her goddaughter, Gladys Adelina Lewis. This book includes a typed biography as well as several photographs. Photograph inserts of Patti’s letters to Mrs. Gruenberg (originals in scrapbook) have been removed from the biography and put into separate folders. The letters from Patti to Gruenberg primarily concern normal cordial matters, with the occasional mention of Patti's travels and performances, such as Carmen (1887). The collection also includes an autograph book presented to Selma Gruenberg, which includes an Adelina Patti autograph and inscription (1882), and correspondences from Patti to Giulia Valde and various other people. Objects include one slipper autographed by Patti, a pair of opera glasses, a pair of formal evening gloves, and an ornate collapsible fan.

Dates

1854 - 1964

Creator

Patti, Adelina, 1843-1919

Conditions Governing Access

The materials are open for research.

Conditions Governing Use

Copyright status for collection materials is unknown. Transmission or reproduction of materials protected by U.S. Copyright Law (Title 17, U.S.C.) beyond that allowed by fair use requires the written permission of the copyright owners. Works not in the public domain cannot be commercially exploited without permission of the copyright owners. Responsibility for any use rests exclusively with the user.

Arrangement

The collection is divided into five series: 1. Articles and clippings, 2. Correspondence, 3. Biographical material by Gladys Adelina Lewis, 4. Photos, postcards and scrapbooks, and 5. Ephemera.

Extent

5 boxes

3 Linear Feet (5 containers)

Language of Materials

English

Catalog Record

A record for this collection is available in Orbis, the Yale University Library catalog

Persistent URL

https://hdl.handle.net/10079/fa/music.mss.0102

Additional Description

Abstract

This collection documents the career of Adelina Patti, and many of the items in the collection are housed in a large scrapbook. Also included in the collection is a biography of Patti: Adelina Patti: Her Loves and Letters, by her goddaughter, Gladys Adelina Lewis. The collection also includes an autograph book presented to Selma Gruenberg, which includes an Adelina Patti autograph and inscription (1882), and correspondences from Patti to Giulia Valde and various other people. Objects in the collection include a slipper autographed by Patti, a pair of opera glasses, a pair of formal evening gloves, and an ornate collapsible fan.

Biographical / Historical

Adelina Patti’s career as a coloratura soprano spanned the second half of the nineteenth century, both in the United States and in Europe. Patti was born in Madrid, Spain, on February 19, 1843. Her father and mother were singers, as were her two sisters. She spent much of her childhood in New York City, where she studied voice with her brother-in-law, Moritz Strakosch. Patti made her operatic debut at the age of sixteen in the title role of Gaetano Donizetti’s Lucia di Lammermoor, which was a resounding success. Soon after, at Covent Garden’s Royal Opera House, she performed the role of Amina in Vincenzo Bellini’s La Sonnambula, also to much acclaim. Patti then enjoyed an extensive and high profile operatic career in North America and Europe, including guest appearances at the Metropolitan Opera House in New York City toward the end of the 19th century. After an initial clash with Gioachino Rossini during the 1862-1863 operatic season in Paris over Patti's extensive ornamentation of his music, the two became friends. Rossini in fact made aria arrangements specifically for Patti and learned to admire her vocal artistry, as did other prominent operatic composers of the time. Patti intended to retire after 1900, but was convinced by her many fans to perform on several more occasions. Around that time, in 1905 and 1906, she also made a series of recordings. Patti died on September 27, 1919, in Brecknock, Wales.