Rosa Ponselle
Subtitle: American diva
By: Mary Jane Phillips-Matz ; with a foreword by Beverly Sills.
Publisher: Northeastern University Press
Published: 1997
Place of publication: Boston
Language: eng
Number of pages: 357
Subjects: Ponselle, Rosa, 1897-1981; Sopranos (Singers) -- United States -- Biography
Description: Rosa Ponselle (1897-1981) was one of the greatest American opera singers of the twentieth century. This definitive biography, published on the centenary of her birth, provides a compelling, in-depth, and balanced portrait of the brilliant soprano. It is a captivating Cinderella story of the spirited diva's rise from modest beginnings in Meriden, Connecticut, to star of the Metropolitan Opera.

The extraordinarily successful operatic and concert career that followed the diva's debut is chronicled in this vibrant account. Also included are Ponselle's headstrong disputes with the Metropolitan, her troubled marriage and divorce, and her productive retirement years as Artistic Director of the Baltimore Civic Opera and teacher of such future opera stars as Placido Domingo, Beverly Sills, William Warfield, James Morris, and Sherill Milnes.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (p. [311]-314), discography (p. [315]-335), and index.