Women in the spotlight: Divas in nineteenth-century New York.
Item
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Title
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Women in the spotlight: Divas in nineteenth-century New York.
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Identifier
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AAI3074680
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identifier
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3074680
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Creator
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Saposnik, Andrea Lynn.
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Contributor
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Adviser: John Graziano
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Date
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2003
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Language
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English
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Publisher
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City University of New York.
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Subject
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Music | Women's Studies | Biography
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Abstract
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Clara Louise Kellogg (1842--1916), Emma Abbott (1850--91), Minnie Hauk (1851--1929), and Emma Thursby (1845--1931) were successful American sopranos who performed extensively in post-Civil War New York City. The city was a cultural hub, and the musical flux of the period enabled each singer to find her niche. The pursuit of such a career, however, was not easy for a woman in Victorian America. The nineteenth-century New York woman was expected to focus on husband, children, and domestic duties and shun all attention in public. Any woman who wished to work outside the home and venture forth independently in nineteenth-century New York was confronted by society's restrictive mores. Imagine then what a woman who wished to appear on the public stage would face. Clara Louise Kellogg, Emma Abbott, Minnie Hauk, and Emma Thursby had their work cut out for them. Yet, each in her own way, triumphed over society's strictures and won fame, fortune, and critical acceptance. These women were groundbreakers in Victorian America; they demonstrated that a woman could achieve remarkable success by employing her talent outside of the home. Further, she could retain society's approbation while doing so. For each of the sopranos in this study the road to success was different. Common to all was a need to craftily juggle repertoire choices, career moves, and men. And common to all was the New York press's assessment of their every move.
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Type
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dissertation
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Source
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PQT Legacy CUNY.xlsx
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degree
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D.M.A.
