Martha Atwood (sometimes referred to as Martha Atwood Baker or Martha Attwood) (October 1886,

Wellfleet, Massachusetts Wellfleet is a town in Barnstable County, Massachusetts, United States, and is located halfway between the "tip" and "elbow" of Cape Cod. The town had a population of 3,566 at the 2020 census, which swells nearly sixfold during the summer. A t ...

– April 7, 1950,

Hyannis, Massachusetts Hyannis is the largest of the seven villages in the town of Barnstable, Massachusetts, in the United States. It is the commercial and transportation hub of Cape Cod and was designated an urban area at the 1990 census. Because of this, many refer ...

) was an American

opera Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a libre ...

tic soprano and the founder of the Cape Cod Institute of Music. She was awarded the Medal of Honor from the

National Society of New England Women The National Society of New England Women is a lineage society whose members are women with an ancestor born in New England before 1789 or in the Nassau or Suffolk counties of Long Island before 1700. The society was founded by Mrs. William Ger ...

Early life and education

Born in

to Captain Simeon Atwood and Martha Burtee Atwood, Atwood was part of a family with a long association with seafaring and the

Cape Cod Cape Cod is a peninsula extending into the Atlantic Ocean from the southeastern corner of mainland Massachusetts, in the northeastern United States. Its historic, maritime character and ample beaches attract heavy tourism during the summer mon ...

community. She attended Lasell Seminary for Young Women (now Lasell College) before pursuing studies in Italy, France, and Belgium. In Boston she studied with Arthur Wilson, Gertrude Franklin Salisbury, and

Frederick Bristol Frederick E. Bristol (4 November 1839 in Brookfield, Connecticut – 1932 in N.Y. City, New York) was a celebrated American voice teacher who operated private studios in Boston and New York City during the second half of the 19th century and early ...

Career

Atwood began a career as a leading soprano in Boston, making her first appearance in that city at the

Boston City Club The Boston City Club (est.1906) of Boston, Massachusetts focused on "the city of Boston and the problems of its growth." Founders included Louis D. Brandeis, Edward Filene Edward Albert Filene (September 3, 1860 – September 26, 1937) was an Am ...

. She went on to appear in concert with the

Boston Symphony Orchestra The Boston Symphony Orchestra (BSO) is an American orchestra based in Boston, Massachusetts. It is the second-oldest of the five major American symphony orchestras commonly referred to as the " Big Five". Founded by Henry Lee Higginson in 1 ...

and for performances at the

Boston Opera House The Boston Opera House, also known as the Citizens Bank Opera House, is a performing arts and esports venue located at 539 Washington St. in Boston, Massachusetts. It was originally built as the B.F. Keith Memorial Theatre, a movie palace in ...

. She made her Italian debut in

Siena Siena ( , ; lat, Sena Iulia) is a city in Tuscany, Italy. It is the capital of the province of Siena. The city is historically linked to commercial and banking activities, having been a major banking center until the 13th and 14th centur ...

in 1923. On November 16, 1926 Atwood made her debut at the

Metropolitan Opera The Metropolitan Opera (commonly known as the Met) is an American opera company based in New York City, resident at the Metropolitan Opera House at Lincoln Center, currently situated on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. The company is operat ...

(Met) as Liu in the United States premiere of Puccini's ''

Turandot ''Turandot'' (; see below) is an opera in three acts by Giacomo Puccini, posthumously completed by Franco Alfano in 1926, and set to a libretto in Italian by Giuseppe Adami and Renato Simoni. ''Turandot'' best-known aria is " Nessun dorma", ...

'', and was one of the earliest exponents of that role. She performed it nine times at the Met, and also for the work's Philadelphia debut at the Academy of Music. She continued at the Met through 1930 with her final performance there being Nedda in Leoncavallo's ''

Pagliacci ''Pagliacci'' (; literal translation, "Clowns") is an Italian opera in a prologue and two acts, with music and libretto by Ruggero Leoncavallo. The opera tells the tale of Canio, actor and leader of a commedia dell'arte theatrical company, who ...

''. In 1927 she portrayed the title role in Puccini's ''

Tosca ''Tosca'' is an opera in three acts by Giacomo Puccini to an Italian libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa. It premiered at the Teatro Costanzi in Rome on 14 January 1900. The work, based on Victorien Sardou's 1887 French-language dr ...

'' with the

Philadelphia Grand Opera Company The Philadelphia Grand Opera Company was the name of four different American opera companies active at the Academy of Music in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania during the twentieth century. The last and best known of the four was founded in November 195 ...

. That same year she performed at the American Legion Convention in Paris. She was also active as a recitalist, performing in such venues as Carnegie Hall,

Town Hall In local government, a city hall, town hall, civic centre (in the UK or Australia), guildhall, or a municipal building (in the Philippines), is the chief administrative building of a city, town, or other municipality. It usually house ...

, and New York's Gallo Theater among others. Atwood made several recordings and sang duets with her second husband in 1928. She was heard in radio concerts in the 1920s and 1930s, and in a 1933 radio drama, ''The Tragedy of an Opera Prima Donna''. "I enjoy singing before 'mike', and yet, strangely enough, I forget 'mike' completely," she told a 1930 interviewer. "I look through 'mike' far out over the nation and see the homes in the little town and sing into them. And how they respond!" In 1938 Atwood founded the Cape Cod Institute of Music which she continued to lead until 1943.

Personal life

Atwood married three times. Her first marriage to Reuben Baker ended in divorce in 1927; as did her second to baritone Alessandro Alberini in 1935. Her third marriage, to financier George R. Baker, ended upon his death in 1944. Atwood died at

Cape Cod Hospital Cape Cod Hospital is a not-for-profit regional medical center located in Hyannis, Massachusetts. Founded in 1920, as of 2011 it is the largest hospital on Cape Cod. The administration is headed by CEO Michael K. Lauf. The hospital has 283 beds ...

in 1950 at the age of 63.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Atwood, Martha 1886 births 1950 deaths American operatic sopranos People from Wellfleet, Massachusetts People from Hyannis, Massachusetts Lasell College alumni 20th-century American singers 20th-century American women singers