Felice Lyne (1887-1935) was a

coloratura soprano A coloratura soprano () is a type of operatic soprano voice that specializes in music that is distinguished by agile run (music), runs, leaps and Trill (music), trills. The term ''coloratura'' refers to the elaborate ornamentation of a melody, whi ...

who was discovered by Oscar Hammerstein while she was a student in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

, France, and debuted to acclaim in 1911 as Gilda in a

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, England, performance of ''

Rigoletto ''Rigoletto'' is an opera in three acts by Giuseppe Verdi. The Italian libretto was written by Francesco Maria Piave based on the 1832 play '' Le roi s'amuse'' by Victor Hugo. Despite serious initial problems with the Austrian censors who had c ...

''."Felice Lyne, Singer, Dies," ''The Evening News,'' Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, September 2, 1935, image 1
/ref> She followed up with another sensation as Lucia in

Lucia di Lammermoor ''Lucia di Lammermoor'' () is a (tragic opera) in three acts by Italian composer Gaetano Donizetti. Salvadore Cammarano wrote the Italian-language libretto loosely based upon Sir Walter Scott's 1819 historical novel '' The Bride of Lammermoor''. ...

alongside tenor

Orville Harrold Orville Harrold (17 November 1877 – 23 October 1933) was an American operatic tenor and musical theatre actor. He began his career in 1906 as a performer in operettas in New York City, and was also seen during his early career in cabaret, ...

. Lyne was petite and appeared childlike. In spite of Hammerstein's original vision for her career in primarily light opera, Lyne began to prove herself in more grand operatic roles. Her additional roles in Hammerstein's productions included the Doll in

The Tales of Hoffmann ''The Tales of Hoffmann'' (French: ) is an by Jacques Offenbach. The French libretto was written by Jules Barbier, based on three short stories by E. T. A. Hoffmann, who is the protagonist of the story. It was Offenbach's final work; he died in ...

, Juliette in

Roméo et Juliette ''Roméo et Juliette'' (, ''Romeo and Juliet'') is an opera in five acts by Charles Gounod to a French libretto by Jules Barbier and Michel Carré, based on ''Romeo and Juliet'' by William Shakespeare. It was first performed at the Théâtre Ly ...

, Lisbeth in Hans the Flute Player, and Marguerite in

Faust Faust ( , ) is the protagonist of a classic German folklore, German legend based on the historical Johann Georg Faust (). The erudite Faust is highly successful yet dissatisfied with his life, which leads him to make a deal with the Devil at a ...

. Less than year after her debut, Hammerstein and Lyne had a falling out. She told reporters that Hammerstein had grossly insulted her at the opera house, and that she had then struck him "so hard on his unprotected pate" with a score of ''Faust'' that she had sprained her thumb. She had also told reporters that Hammerstein was "a dead duck" as far as Londoners were concerned. The impresario categorically denied the embarrassing slapping incident, but promptly sued Miss Lyne for $100,000 in a libel suit about the "dead duck" remark. A sympathetic New York court ruled against Hammerstein, saying that it was not at all clear what the term "dead duck" applied to a human being signified, and that no term which was not understood could in any way be interpreted as libel. Hammerstein's London Opera House did indeed fail to survive, just as Lyne predicted. Lyne made a handful of recordings for

His Master's Voice His Master's Voice is an entertainment trademark featuring a dog named Nipper, curiously peering into the horn of a wind-up gramophone. Painted by Francis Barraud in 1898, the image has since become a global symbol used across consumer elect ...

in 1911, and for Columbia in the U.S. in 1915. She appeared in operatic roles in Sydney (1913), Paris (1914), and Boston (1915). In 1918, she appeared in a series of London recitals with the tenor

Vladimir Rosing Vladimir Sergeyevich Rosing () (November 24, 1963), also known as Val Rosing, was a Russian-born operatic tenor and stage director who spent most of his professional career in the United Kingdom and the United States. In his formative years he ex ...

. Felice Lyne died in 1935, age 43, in the home of her parents, Dr. and Mrs. Sandford T. Lyne of

Allentown, Pennsylvania Allentown (Pennsylvania Dutch language, Pennsylvania Dutch: ''Allenschteddel'', ''Allenschtadt'', or ''Ellsdaun'') is a city in eastern Pennsylvania, United States. The county seat of Lehigh County, Pennsylvania, Lehigh County, it is the List o ...

, after suffering from poor health for several years, and was buried in Greenwood Cemetery in Allentown. One obituary noted that Miss Lyne was "small, piquant, exceedingly pretty and gifted with a voice of faultless purity. ... a coloratura soprano who flashed like a meteor across the operatic sky.""Noted Singer, Resident Here as Girl, Dies" ''Kirksville Daily Express'', Kirksville, Missouri, September 3, 1935, p. 1.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lyne, Felice 1935 deaths American operatic sopranos Musicians from Allentown, Pennsylvania 20th-century American women opera singers 19th-century American women opera singers Singers from Pennsylvania Classical musicians from Pennsylvania 1887 births