Emma Eames

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Emma Eames (August 13, 1865 - June 13, 1952) was an opera soprano.

The daughter of an international courts lawyer, she was born in Shanghai, China. Attending school in Boston, she studied with the famous teacher Mathilde Marchesi, although she would later downplay Marchesi's influence on her voice. She was eventually called upon to play the heroine in Roméo et Juliette at the Paris Opéra. Debuting in 1889, she would play the role many other times in the next two years, finally leaving in 1891 for personal reasons.

The same year, she debuted at the Metropolitan Opera in New York playing the same role. New York was where she would have the most acclaim, performing in operas until retiring in 1909. She also made appearances at the Royal Opera House in London. She spent her free time touring in concerts around the United States after her retirement from the Met, until finally removing herself from the business entirely in 1916.

In 1929 Eames wrote an autobiography, Some Memories and Reflections.

Eames was reportedly unhappy with the way she sounded on her records, although in 1939 she went on a radio show and picked out some her most famous records, and she spoke immodestly about them. Eames can also be heard in the Mapleson Cylinders.

Eames had a wide repertoire, including Aida, Lohengrin, Tosca, Cavalleria Rusticana, Le Nozze di Figaro, Faust, and Don Giovanni.

[edit] Personal life

She was married twice, first to the painter Julian Story, and then to the famous baritone Emilio de Gogorza, with whom she made some records. She was raised in Portland and Bath, Maine. Both marriages ended in divorce and much bitterness. She had no children, but in her autobiography admitted that she was pressured into a "medical procedure".

She relocated to New York in 1936, where she became a renowned vocal instructor. In New York she was fond of attending Broadway shows. Eames died in 1952 at the age of 86. Emma Eames is buried in Oak Grove Cemetery in Bath, Maine. Her niece, Clare Eames, was the first wife of noted playwright Sidney Howard.