Lillian Nordica from Farmington, Maine

[piston]

She was slowly dying, one hundred years ago, from pneumonia. The first American soprano ever invited to perform in Bayreuth had previously decided, late in her career, to sing in Australia but, as she left that country, her ship ran into a coral reef and hypothermia eventually got the best of her. Lillian Norton Nordica died in Jakarta (!), very far from home, on 10 May 1914.

Was she the first U.S. soprano star to be viewed as such around the world? Coca cola certainly thought so!

[John F]

A hundred years ago, Geraldine Farrar was a greater opera star than Nordica in the U.S.; she studied with Lilli Lehmann and sang leading soprano roles at the Berlin Court Opera beginning in 1901. If you go back more than a hundred years, however, Nordica was the one, as she was a generation older than Farrar and made her opera debut about 20 years earlier.

[SONNET CLV]

I wonder why Coca Cola hasn't tapped, say, Renée Fleming for its current ads. In fact, when was the last time Coke utilized an opera singer in an ad?

Has the company gone totally "low brow"?

[piston]

Has the company gone totally "low brow"?

The company went "low brow" in 1904, when " instead of using fresh leaves, Coca-Cola started using "spent" leaves – the leftovers of the cocaine-extraction process with trace levels of cocaine."

[barney]

I certainly think of Coca Cola as low brow, consumed by the great unwashed. For myself, if a trifle thirsty after having had for some reason to exert myself, a half bottle of vintage Bollinger or Dom Perignon will usually do the trick.

[barney]

Ok, I wasn't telling the truth. the number of times I have had proper vintage French champagne I could count on all fingers and toes and still have digits to spare. Good single malt, on the other hand...

[SONNET CLV]

I certainly think of Coca Cola as low brow, consumed by the great unwashed. For myself, if a trifle thirsty after having had for some reason to exert myself, a half bottle of vintage Bollinger or Dom Perignon will usually do the trick.

Czech model and actress Eva Herzigová is not an opera singer, but I don't know if she's exactly "low brow" either. If she's good enough for Dom Perignon ....

[piston]

Marilyn's legacy lives on, and she was no dumb blond, that Marilyn! How many actresses and models has she influenced?

[barney]

I certainly think of Coca Cola as low brow, consumed by the great unwashed. For myself, if a trifle thirsty after having had for some reason to exert myself, a half bottle of vintage Bollinger or Dom Perignon will usually do the trick.

Czech model and actress Eva Herzigová is not an opera singer, but I don't know if she's exactly "low brow" either. If she's good enough for Dom Perignon ....

She's certainly good enough for me! The reverse, alas.... is not true.

[lennygoran]

Then there's this opera wine connection:



See http://www.nydailynews.com/life-style/e ... bled=false

Regards, Len [on the run]

[Tarantella]

Oh, does it give you the 'runs' Len??

[lennygoran]

Oh, does it give you the 'runs' Len??

Sue -a lot more soprano wine material here!

http://www.wineintro.com/movies/sopranos/

This caught my eye at the link:
"Just watch the scene where Janice is fighting with Richie, her fiance. Sure, Richie punches her in the face, and she promptly fetches a gun and shoots him. But on the table is a bottle of Ruffino Chianti, a wine I enjoy a lot myself. I'm just not quite as violent. "

Regards, Len [still running]

[Tarantella]

Oh, does it give you the 'runs' Len??

Sue -a lot more soprano wine material here!

http://www.wineintro.com/movies/sopranos/

This caught my eye at the link:
"Just watch the scene where Janice is fighting with Richie, her fiance. Sure, Richie punches her in the face, and she promptly fetches a gun and shoots him. But on the table is a bottle of Ruffino Chianti, a wine I enjoy a lot myself. I'm just not quite as violent. "

Regards, Len [still running]

Speaking of runners, how are the beans doing this Spring? (Bean there, done that!)

So Lillian Nordica drank Coca Cola. My Coca Cola stocks have recently gone to hell in a handbag. Bring back Lillian and her unquenchable thirst!!

[lennygoran]

Speaking of runners, how are the beans doing this Spring? (Bean there, done that!)

Sue no bean runners for me-no veggies-just flowering shrubs, trees and perennials-also weeds.

On past sopranos one I know of is "Marcella Sembrich (February 15, 1858 – January 11, 1935)[1] was the stage name of the Polish coloratura soprano, Prakseda Marcelina Kochańska. She had an important international singing career, chiefly at the New York Metropolitan Opera and the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, London."

I don't think she's ever been on a wine or coke bottle-we've actually been to her museum--a beautiful location on Lake George-I wonder if our distinguished upstate NY member from around there has ever visited that museum. Regards, Len

[barney]

I'm afraid the soprano whine connection is sometimes even stronger.

[SONNET CLV]

Sue -a lot more soprano wine material here!

How about a soprano wine stopper?



Which makes me wonder ... How popular would be wine stoppers featuring the heads of famous opera singers? Could you imagine stuffing Pavarotti into a bottle of Chianti Classico?

[lennygoran]

>How about a soprano wine stopper?<

You've done it again! Regards, Len

[Ted Quanrud]

On past sopranos one I know of is "Marcella Sembrich (February 15, 1858 – January 11, 1935)[1] was the stage name of the Polish coloratura soprano, Prakseda Marcelina Kochańska. She had an important international singing career, chiefly at the New York Metropolitan Opera and the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, London."

I don't think she's ever been on a wine or coke bottle-we've actually been to her museum--a beautiful location on Lake George-I wonder if our distinguished upstate NY member from around there has ever visited that museum. Regards, Len

Another great singer of the past was briefly in the news last week, Most of the obituaries for the actor Efrem Zimbalist Jr. noted that his mother was the renowned Rumanian-American soprano Alma Gluck (1884-1938). His father was, of course, the great violinist Efrem Zimbalist. Gluck's daughter by her first marriage was writer Marcia Davenport, author of a long-in-print biography of Mozart.

[lennygoran]

Another great singer of the past was briefly in the news last week, Most of the obituaries for the actor Efrem Zimbalist Jr. noted that his mother was the renowned Rumanian-American soprano Alma Gluck (1884-1938). His father was, of course, the great violinist Efrem Zimbalist. Gluck's daughter by her first marriage was writer Marcia Davenport, author of a long-in-print biography of Mozart.

Ted, thanks--wow what a set of interesting facts! Regards, Len