Anna Case
{{Short description|American soprano opera singer (1887-1984)}}
{{Infobox musical artist
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| name = Anna Case
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| image = Anna Case 001.png
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| birth_date = October 29, 1887
| birth_place = Clinton, New Jersey, U.S.
| origin = United States
| death_date = {{Death date and age|1984|1|7|1887|10|29}}
| death_place = New York City, New York, U.S.
| genre =
| occupation = Opera singer
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| years_active = 1909–1931
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Anna Case (October 29, 1887 - January 7, 1984) was an American operatic lyric soprano. She recorded with Thomas Alva Edison, who used her voice extensively in "tone tests" of whether a live audience could tell the difference between the actual singer and a recording. In addition to recordings for Edison Records on both phonograph cylinder and Diamond Disc, Case recorded for Victor and Columbia Records, and made sound film for Vitaphone.
Biography
Case was born in Clinton, New Jersey, on October 29, 1887,"United States Social Security Death Index," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:JT1B-FY6 : 20 May 2014), Anna Mackay, Feb 1984; citing U.S. Social Security Administration, Death Master File, database (Alexandria, Virginia: National Technical Information Service, ongoing)."United States Passport Applications, 1795-1925," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QV5B-DZFC : 16 March 2018), Anna Case, 1920; citing Passport Application, New York, United States, source certificate #174387, Passport Applications, January 2, 1906 - March 31, 1925, 1077, NARA microfilm publications M1490 and M1372 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.)."United States Passport Applications, 1795-1925," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QV5Y-TSDW : 16 March 2018), Anna Case, 1922; citing Passport Application, New York, United States, source certificate #196201, Passport Applications, January 2, 1906 - March 31, 1925, 2039, NARA microfilm publications M1490 and M1372 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.)."Hawaii, Honolulu Passenger Lists, 1900-1953," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QVR9-2C6H : 8 March 2021), Anna Case, 1925-1926; citing Ship Niagara, NARA microfilm publication A3422 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.). and educated by vocal trainer Augusta Öhrström-Renard in New York. Case made her debut in 1909 at the New Theatre in New York as the Dutch Boy in Werther, and from 1909 to 1916 was a member of the Metropolitan Opera Company. In her first American performances, she created the roles of Sophie in Der Rosenkavalier (1913) and Feodor in Boris Godunov (1913).{{cite news |title=American Premiere of 'Boris Godounoff' Wednesday |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1913/03/12/archives/opera-novelty-next-week-american-premiere-of-boris-godounoff.html |quote= Boris Godounoff, the Russian opera by Moussorgsky, will be the feature of next week's repertoire at the Metropolitan Opera House, where it will have its first American hearing on Wednesday evening. It will be conducted by Mr. Toscanini, and the cast will include Madames Homer, Case, Sparkes, Maubourg, and Duchene, and Messrs. Didur, Althouse, Rothier, Reiss, Bada, De Segurola, Rossi, Audisi, Reschiglian, and Kreidler. |newspaper=The New York Times |date=March 12, 1913 |access-date=2011-03-09 }} She sang Olympia in Tales of Hoffmann, Mimi in La Boheme, and Micaela in Carmen.{{Source-attribution|sentence=yes|{{cite book |editor-first1= Waldo Selden|editor-last1= Pratt|editor-first2=Charles N.|editor-last2 =Boyd|title=Grove's Dictionary of Music and Musicians: American Supplement |date=1920 |publisher=Theodore Presser Company |location=Philadelphia |page=156 |url=https://archive.org/details/dictionaryofmusi00grov/page/156/mode/2up}}}}
File:Anna Case In La Fiesta (1926).webm short]]
Case wrote the music and lyrics to several songs during the 1910s and 20s.{{cite news |last1=Gillette |first1=Greg |title=Anna Case, She Writes Some Songs |url=https://www.mycentraljersey.com/story/news/local/view-from-hillsborough/2017/06/20/anna-case-she-writes-some-songs/103031474/ |work=MyCentralJersey.com |date=June 20, 2017}} She made her film debut in the 1919 silent drama film The Hidden Truth,{{IMDb name|id=0143176|name=Anna Case}} and sang one of her original songs in the 1926 Vitaphone short La Fiesta. She also appeared in documentaries about sound recording. In 1930, she recorded "Just Awearyin' for You" by Frank Lebby Stanton and Carrie Jacobs-Bond.{{YouTube|It2ysYBLrKU|Edison's Favorite Singer}} (accessed 7 February 2010).
On July 18, 1931, Case married ITT Corporation executive Clarence H. Mackay at St. Mary's Roman Catholic Church in Roslyn, New York, and retired from the stage shortly afterwards.{{cite news |title=Anna Case bride of C. H. Mackay |url=https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83045462/1931-07-18/ed-1/seq-1/ |work=The Evening Star |agency=Associated Press |date=July 18, 1931 |page=1}}{{cite news |title=Anna Case, a Soprano, Dead; Made Debut at The Met in '09 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1984/01/10/obituaries/anna-case-a-soprano-dead-made-debut-at-the-met-in-09.html |work=The New York Times |date=January 10, 1984 |page=A-20}} She began to write songs more prolifically in 1936, penning over 50 in two years,{{cite news |last1=Parton |first1=Lemuel F. |title=Headline Folk and What They Do: Anna Case Mackay is Now a Popular Song Writer |url=https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83045462/1938-04-18/ed-1/seq-9/ |work=The Evening Star |date=April 18, 1938 |page=A-9}} and sang occasionally at social events. Her husband died in November, 1938, and Case died in New York City on January 7, 1984, aged 96.
Upon her death, she bequeathed her 167.97-carat (33.59 g) Colombian emerald ring and Cartier necklace containing more than 2,000 diamonds, 35 emeralds and an oval cabochon-cut Columbian emerald of 167.97 carat to the Smithsonian Institution.See Clarence Mackay.
File:Gudonov 1912 11805u.jpg|1912 Metropolitan Opera premiere of Boris Godunov with Anna Case, Marie Duchène, Adamo Didur as Boris Godunov, and Leonora Sparkes
File:82076r-La sonnambula.ogg|1915 Edison recording of "La sonnambula. Ah! Non credia mirarti", performed by Case
References
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External links
- {{Commons category-inline|Anna Case}}
- {{IMDb name|0143176}}
- [http://www.nypl.org/sites/default/files/archivalcollections/pdf/mus18995.pdf Anna Case papers, 1912-1969] Music Division, New York Public Library for the Performing Arts.
- [https://adp.library.ucsb.edu/names/108838 Anna Case recordings] at the Discography of American Historical Recordings.
- [http://cylinders.library.ucsb.edu/search.php?query_type=author&query=anna+case&nq=1 Anna Case cylinder recordings], from the UCSB Cylinder Audio Archive at the University of California, Santa Barbara Library.
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Category:American operatic sopranos
Category:People from Clinton, New Jersey
Category:Burials at Green-Wood Cemetery
Category:Singers from New Jersey
Category:20th-century American women opera singers
Category:American women songwriters