The Lancaster news. [volume] (Lancaster, S.C.) 1905-current, 1914-05-12
MADAME NORDICA Died
IN BATAVIA SUNDAY
For Years a Celebrated Operatic
Singer.
SKETCH OF HER LIFE.
She Was Perhaps the Most Distin-
guished Singer Ever Born This
Side of the Atlantic.

u uleu mere IOuay, alJer an illness,
resulting from exposure caused by
shipwreck on Torris Strait, January
last.
Nine. Lillian Nordica was perhaps
the most distinguished singer ever
born this side the Atlantic The year
of her birth, according to the best
accounts, was 1859. She was
Way Down Easter" a native of
Pennington, Me. Her childhood days
after a short schooling were spent in
a Boston dry goods store.
AS she was tidying up the rolls Of
calico just after the shop closed one
night she began singing to herself. A
customer who happened to be delay
ed, heard her and marvelled.
What a voice, child! Have you
ever had it trained?"
NO, mann" o.
will you let me give you les
sons?"
'Oh, that would be grand"
And so Lillian started on her mu-
sical career. By the way, her name
was originally Lillian Norton and
she was granddaughter of Camp
Meeting John Allen" a famous
Maine character in the old days. Her
father was Edwin Norton, a farmer.
For the first two years of her voice
culture Lillian was too poor to afford
piano. She did her practicing with
the aid of a pitch pipe lent her by
her friends and teacher. She even
carried her pipe to the store with her,
it is related, and practioed with il in
the meal hour.
/ Her rise was now rapid, however.
Before she was 16 she had sung as
soloist in oratorio for the Handel and
Hayed Societies and had taken some
lessons under Professor O'Neill of the
New England Conservatoire of Music
in Boston.
At the age of Is she went as soloist
with Gilmore's band to Europe where
her first success came in the
Trocadero, Paris. She now became
filed with ambition to appear in
opera anu lOl lllNlll SCI out lot JIlC
mecca of operate students, Milan.
In 1880 she made her operate
debut at a little theater in Brescia
as Violetta in "LaTraviata." Later
in the same year she went to st.
Petersburg and to German cities. She
became leading soprano of the Grand
Opera, Paris, and made her debut in
the Summer and of 1881 as Marbue-
= rite in Faust"
While in Paris she met Federic
e Cover, an American newspaper man.
They were married in 1888, but in
1885 Mrs. Cover set about procuring
q divorce. Her suit dragged and
then came the news that Mr.. Cover
led been lost in balloon trip over
the English channel. At any rate
balloon and Cover disappeared
The same year of Covers myster-
, ious taking off his widow appeared at
the Academy OF Music in New York
. city. She did not achieve such a
brilliant success as she did later in
concert and oratorio.
Nine. Nordica's most sensational
= musical success probably was her ap-
{ Ipearance in the summer of 1894 as
D Elsa in the Wagner festival at
: Blaireuth. She was loaded with
g praise by the German critics and be-
/ came known as leading interpreter
OF Wagnerian roles. She scored an
other and, perhaps, greater triumph
q the following year as Isolde in Wag.
: ner'G "TristcC and Isolde @" at the
L Metropolitan opera house.
e In 1896 the singer married Zoltan
e Dieme, Hungarian tenor of medium
vocal ability but undoubted grace OF
q person. Again Nine. Nordica's mat
= rimonial venture proved unhappy
She obtained decree of divorce in
II New York in 1904, the papers being
e sealed.
IS Her third marriage was in 1909 tC
George w. Young, a wealthy New
Is York banker. 1. proved felicitous
It Nine. Nordica had never allowed hel
Q domestic affairs to affect her artistic
0 career and she now continued to sins
IN mary countries.