Macbeth, Florence

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Macbeth, Florence

Macbeth, Florence, American soprano; b. Mankato, Minn., Jan. 12, 1891; d. Hyattsville, Md., May 5, 1966. She studied in N.Y. and Paris. In 1913 she made her operatic debut as Rosina in II Barbiere di Siviglia in Braunschweig. On Jan. 14, 1914, she made her American debut with the Chicago Opera Co. and remained on its staff as prima coloratura soprano until 1930; for a season she undertook an American tour with the Commonwealth Opera Co., singing in Gilbert and Sullivan operettas. So melodious and mellifluous were her fiorituras that she was dubbed the “Minnesota Nightingale.” In 1947 she married the novelist James M. Cain and settled in Md.

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire