Mary Kaestner
{{short description|American opera singer}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Mary Kaestner
| image = MaryKaestner1917.tif
| alt = A light-skinned woman with dark hair and eyes, wearing a costume involving a headband, a strapless bodice, and beads. She is square to the camera, and the photo is in an oval frame.
| caption = Mary Kaestner as Aïda, from a 1917 publication
| other_names = Mary Kastner, Mary Peroni
| birth_name = Mary Ethel Kaestner
| birth_date = 29 July 1882
| birth_place = Fairfield, IowaIowa, U.S., Births and Christenings Index, 1800–1999
| death_date =
| death_place =
| nationality = American
| occupation = Opera singer
| years_active = 1914–1917
| known_for = Three seasons with the San Carlo Opera Company
| notable_works =
| spouse = Carlo Peroni
}}
Mary Ethel Kaestner Peroni (29 July 1882 – ) was an American opera singer who was a dramatic soprano with the San Carlo Opera Company.
Early life
Mary Kaestner was born in Iowa to German emigrant Adolf August Kästner, a butcher from Crimmitschau, Kingdom of Saxony, and Laura Bell Dodge from Indiana. She had two brothers and two sisters. Her parents divorced in 1892Colorado, Divorce Index, 1851–1985 and her father moved to Santa Ana, California in 1899.{{cite news |title=Kaestner Rites Are Held Today |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/81853367/?article=d8d5d1e3-8e19-47dd-840b-5df5b9c3e95e&focus=0.26810676,0.32006636,0.39161506,0.4822148&xid=3355 |access-date=March 27, 2024 |work=The Register |date=September 11, 1934 |page=3}}{{Cite journal|date=November 25, 1916|title=American Prima Donna with San Carlo Opera|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=I0c0AQAAMAAJ&dq=Mary+Kaestner+sing&pg=RA2-PA45|journal=Musical America|volume=25|pages=45}} She was sometimes incorrectly described as Viennese or German.{{Cite news|date=1916-02-01|title=Mme. Mary Kaestner, Dramatic Soprano with San Carlo Company|pages=4|work=The Salina Daily Union|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/51324141/mme-mary-kaestner-dramatic-soprano/|access-date=2020-05-16|via=Newspapers.com}}{{Cite news|date=1916-01-05|title=Only German Artist with the San Carlo Grand Opera Company|pages=5|work=Des Moines Tribune|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/51326148/only-german-artist-with-the-san-carlo/|access-date=2020-05-16|via=Newspapers.com}}
Career
Kaestner was singing in Vienna when World War I began, and she returned to the United States.{{Cite news|date=1917-01-24|title=Mary Kaestner to Sing Lead in 'Aida'; She is Rated as One of the World's Greatest Songbirds|pages=7|work=St. Joseph Gazette|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/51325579/mary-kaestner-to-sing-lead-in-aida/|access-date=2020-05-16|via=Newspapers.com}} She toured North America with the San Carlo Opera Company for three seasons,{{Cite news|date=1917-11-18|title=Mary Kaestner, San Carlo, Prima Donna, Has Scored Many Artistic Successes|pages=12|work=The Daily Ardmoreite|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/51327373/mary-kaestner-san-carlo-prima-donna/|access-date=2020-05-16|via=Newspapers.com}} from 1914{{Cite news|date=1915-12-30|title=Grand Opera Pleasing and Well Given|pages=6|work=The Daily Times|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/51323626/grand-opera-pleasing-and-well-given/|access-date=2020-05-16}} to 1917, singing leading roles in Aïda,{{Cite news|date=1915-12-29|title=German Prima Donna Has 'Aida' Role with San Carlo Company|pages=4|work=The La Crosse Tribune|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/51326889/german-prima-donna-has-aida-role-with/|access-date=2020-05-16|via=Newspapers.com}} Cavalleria rusticana,{{Cite news|date=1915-11-11|title=She's a Stellar Santuzza|pages=6|work=The Buffalo Times|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/51328128/shes-a-stellar-santuzza/|access-date=2020-05-16|via=Newspapers.com}} Lohengrin, Pagliacci, Tosca, Faust, Il trovatore,{{Cite news|date=1917-10-06|title=Mary Kaestner, Dramatic Soprano, Will Play Leonora in Il Trovatore Offered by San Carlo Opera Company Here This Year|pages=10|work=The Topeka State Journal|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/51328612/mary-kaestner-dramatic-soprano-will/|access-date=2020-05-16|via=Newspapers.com}} and La Gioconda.[https://books.google.com/books?id=I0c0AQAAMAAJ&dq=Mary+Kaestner+sing&pg=PA95 "Mary Kaestner Wins Laurels as San Carlo Star"] Musical America (February 10, 1917): 39.{{Cite journal|date=February 17, 1917|title=Mary Kaestner Wins Favor in 'Aïda' and 'Cavalleria'|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=I0c0AQAAMAAJ&dq=Mary+Kaestner+sing&pg=RA12-PA27|journal=Musical America|volume=25|pages=27}}{{Cite news|date=1915-12-31|title=Present Two Operas|pages=16|work=The Daily Times|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/51322741/present-two-operas/|access-date=2020-05-16|via=Newspapers.com}} "Mary Kaestner is one of those artists who has proved at each appearance that certainty and poise are her assets," commented a reviewer in 1917. "Besides her dramatic voice of unusual beauty, her acting is brilliant and brainy."{{Cite journal|last=de Valdor|first=Joseph|date=September 28, 1917|title=Third and Last Week of the San Carlo Opera Company|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZnNFAQAAMAAJ&dq=Mary+Kaestner+sing&pg=RA2-PA22|journal=Music News|volume=9|pages=22}}
Personal life
In 1919, Mary Kaestner married Italian opera conductor Carlo Peroni,{{Cite news|date=1934-11-16|title=Opera Conductor has Warm Place in his Heart for City|pages=3|work=The Minneapolis Star|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/51328951/opera-conductor-has-warm-place-in-his/|access-date=2020-05-16|via=Newspapers.com}} and retired from her stage career, saying "one famous person in a family is enough."{{Cite news|date=1929-05-26|title=Mrs. Carlo Peroni Prefers Brooklyn as Home Centre|pages=6|work=Times Union|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/51330752/mrs-carlo-peroni-prefers-brooklyn-as/|access-date=2020-05-16|via=Newspapers.com}} She survived as his widow when Peroni died in 1944.{{Cite news|date=1944-03-14|title=Carlo Peroni, Noted Concert Leader, Dies|pages=5|work=El Paso Times|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/51331733/carlo-peroni-noted-concert-leader-dies/|access-date=2020-05-16|via=Newspapers.com}}{{Cite news|date=1944-03-13|title=Carlo Peroni Dies; Opera Conductor; Music Director for San Carlo Company 20 Years Began His Career Under Mascagni|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1944/03/13/archives/carlo-peroni-dies-opera-coniijtori-l-music-director-for-san-carloi-.html|access-date=2020-05-16|issn=0362-4331}}
References
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Category:American operatic sopranos
Category:People from Fairfield, Iowa
Category:Year of death missing