Cecil Arden
{{Short description|American mezzo-soprano/contralto opera singer (1894–1989)}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Cecil Arden
| birthname = Cecile Alexia Hart
| image = File:Cecil Arden facing forward in 1917.jpg
| caption = Arden in 1917
| birth_date = {{Birth date |1894|12|15|mf=y}}
| birth_place = New York City, U.S.
| death_date = {{Death date and age|1989|9|4|1894|12|15|mf=y}}
| death_place = Seattle, Washington ?
| spouse = Signor Ardito Tivoli Linda I. Turner, cousin{{Better source needed|date=March 2022}}
| occupation = Mezzo-soprano and contralto opera singer}}
Cecil Arden (December 15, 1894 – September 4, 1989) was an American mezzo-soprano and contralto opera singer active over the early decades of the twentieth century.
Life and career
Cecile Alexia Hart was born in New York City to Benjamin and Mildred Hart. Her father was real estate broker originally from Charleston, South Carolina, and her mother a native of Springfield, Illinois.Cecil A. Hart, December 15, 1894 – September 4, 1989; Social Security Death Index; Ancestry.comBenjamin Hart, US Passport Application, June 20, 1911, Ancestry.comCecil Arden Hart, US Passport Application, June 14, 1921, Ancestry.comBenjamin, Mildred and Cecil Hart, Passenger Manifest SS Duca D'Aosta, September 26, 1914; Ancestry.com
Little is known of Arden's early life other than that she studied under the Italian Arturo Buzzi-Peccia and that there are photographs of her singing at a patriotic event on the steps of New York’s Federal Hall National Memorial during World War I (possibly after she joined the Metropolitan Opera).[https://books.google.com/books?id=d-MxAQAAMAAJ&dq=%22cecil+arden%22+Buzzi-Peccia&pg=PA232 Hornblow, Arthur, editor, Theatre Magazine, vol. 31, 1920, p. 232], accessed October 10, 2012[https://www.loc.gov/pictures/search/?q=%22cecil%20arden%22 Cecil Arden, Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Reading Room], accessed October 10, 2012 In October 1917, she was one of nearly 30 performers slated to appear in Friday Morning Musicals at the New York Biltmore Hotel from November into January, 1918.Advertisement. The New York Times, October 14, 1917; p. 40
Arden's debut with the Metropolitan Opera came on January 12, 1918, as Vanard in the American debut of Mascagni's lyric opera Lodoletta with Geraldine Farrar and Enrico Caruso.[http://archives.metoperafamily.org/archives/scripts/cgiip.exe/WService=BibSpeed/fullcit.w?xCID=67720&limit=5000&xBranch=ALL&xsdate=&xedate=&theterm=1917-18&x=0&xhomepath=&xhome= Lodoletto archives.metoperafamily.org/], accessed October 10, 2012 She remained with the Met for eight seasons singing mainly supporting roles. The remainder of her career would be spent on concert tours in Europe and America before the Great Depression made such enterprises financially risky."Singer, 80, Who Debuted with Caruso, Keeps Zest for Life." The Capital Times (Madison, Wisconsin), January 26, 1973, p. 37
Arden lived with her mother in New York City throughout the war years and later married a Signor Ardito Tivoli and moved to Rome, where she would reside for 15 years. After her husband's death in the late 1960s, she returned to America to live with friends in Wisconsin and later Seattle, Washington.
Arden died on September 4, 1989, probably in Seattle.This was her last known residence reported to the Social Security Administration.
References
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Category:American operatic contraltos
Category:American operatic mezzo-sopranos
Category:Singers from New York City