Phillipps, Adelaide

views updated

Phillipps, Adelaide

Phillipps, Adelaide, English contralto; b. Strat-ford-on-Avon, Oct. 26, 1833; d. Karlsbad, Oct. 3, 1882. Her family took her to America as a child. She was trained as a dancer, and made her first appearance at the Tremont Theater in Boston on Jan. 12,1842, in a variety show. She also displayed an early gift as a vocalist, and was introduced to Jenny Lind, who encouraged her to study singing. Accordingly she was sent to London, where she took lessons with Manuel García, making her operatic debut in Brescia (1853). She continued to sing in Italy under the name Signorina Filippi until 1855, when she returned to Boston to appear in light opera in English. Her first major appearance on the grand opera stage in America was as Azucena in Verdi’s II Trovatore (N.Y., March 17,1856). After a long and successful tour in Europe (1861–62), she sang with the Boston Ideal Opera Co. from 1879 to 1881. She was advised to go to Karlsbad for her health in 1882, but died shortly after her arrival there.

Bibliography

A. Waterston, A. P.: A Record (Boston, 1883).

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire

About this article

Phillipps, Adelaide

Updated About encyclopedia.com content Print Article