Berthe Erza was a French

soprano A soprano () is a type of classical female singing voice and has the highest vocal range of all voice types. The soprano's vocal range (using scientific pitch notation) is from approximately middle C (C4) = 261 Hz to "high A" (A5) = 880&n ...

singer.

Early life

Erza was born to French parents in

Algiers Algiers ( ; ar, الجزائر, al-Jazāʾir; ber, Dzayer, script=Latn; french: Alger, ) is the capital and largest city of Algeria. The city's population at the 2008 Census was 2,988,145Census 14 April 2008: Office National des Statistiques ...

. She studied voice in Italy and France. In 1920, she moved to the United States with her vocal coach, Isidore Braggiotti (father of dancer

Francesca Braggiotti Francesca Braggiotti (October 17, 1902 – February 25, 1998) was an Italian dancer, actress, dubber, and first lady of Connecticut. Biography Francesca Braggiotti was born in Florence, her father was an Italian tenor, born in Smyrna; her mo ...

Career

Erza was a featured singer with the

Pasdeloup Orchestra The Pasdeloup Orchestra (also referred to as Orchestre des Concerts Pasdeloup) is the oldest symphony orchestra in France. History Founded in 1861 by Jules Pasdeloup with the name Concerts Populaires, it is the oldest orchestra still in existen ...

in Paris conducted by

Rhené-Baton René-Emmanuel Baton, known as Rhené-Baton (5 September 1879 – 23 September 1940), was a French conductor and composer. Though born in Courseulles-sur-Mer, Normandy, his family originated in Vitré in neighbouring Brittany. He returned to the ...

, and spent three seasons with the Concerts Classiques of Monte Carlo. In 1921 she sang at a concert to benefit a French village, Misery-sur-Somme, after

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. She made an "American debut" in July 1921, then her "formal debut" in America, at the Aeolian Hall in New York City in 1922, and had another New York concert billed as a "debut" in 1930, at the Biltmore Theatre. ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' called her "a well-schooled musician with a flair for the exotic" in 1931. She sang at

Carnegie Hall Carnegie Hall ( ) is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City. It is at 881 Seventh Avenue (Manhattan), Seventh Avenue, occupying the east side of Seventh Avenue between West 56th Street (Manhattan), 56th and 57th Street (Manhatta ...

later that year, sharing the stage with Hugh Ross and the chorus of the Schola Cantorum, Nelson Eddy, and others, for the American premiere of

Karol Szymanowski Karol Maciej Szymanowski (; 6 October 188229 March 1937) was a Polish composer and pianist. He was a member of the modernist Young Poland movement that flourished in the late 19th and early 20th century. Szymanowski's early works show the inf ...

's ''

Stabat Mater The Stabat Mater is a 13th-century Christian hymn to Mary, which portrays her suffering as Jesus Christ's mother during his crucifixion. Its author may be either the Franciscan friar Jacopone da Todi or Pope Innocent III.Sabatier, Paul ''Life o ...

''. She made at least two recordings for

Victor The name Victor or Viktor may refer to: * Victor (name), including a list of people with the given name, mononym, or surname Arts and entertainment Film * ''Victor'' (1951 film), a French drama film * ''Victor'' (1993 film), a French shor ...

in 1920. She taught vocal music in Brooklyn in the 1930s at the Chase School, on the same music faculty as composer Harrison Kerr.

References

{{Authority control Operatic sopranos 20th-century women opera singers Musicians from Algiers Year of birth missing Year of death missing