Maybelle Zenobia Berretta Marston (May 14, 1895 – February 22, 1983) was an American

contralto A contralto () is a classical music, classical female singing human voice, voice whose vocal range is the lowest of their voice type, voice types. The contralto's vocal range is fairly rare, similar to the mezzo-soprano, and almost identical to ...

singer from

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

, Pennsylvania.

Early life

Mabel Zenobia Berretta was from Philadelphia. She won a "cutest baby" contest at the New Jersey shore in 1896.

Career

Maybelle Beretta Marston sang with the

Philadelphia Civic Opera Company The Philadelphia Civic Opera Company (PCOC) was an American opera company located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, that was actively performing between 1924 and 1930. Founded by Philadelphia socialite Mrs. Henry M. Tracy, the company was established p ...

, at the

Philadelphia Academy of Music The Academy of Music, also known as American Academy of Music, is a concert hall and opera house located at 240 S. Broad Street in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Despite its name, the Academy has never contained a music school. It is located be ...

and other large venues. In 1925 Marston sang Gilbert and Sullivan roles in ''

H.M.S. Pinafore ''H.M.S. Pinafore; or, The Lass That Loved a Sailor'' is a comic opera in two acts, with music by Arthur Sullivan and a libretto by W. S. Gilbert. It opened at the Opera Comique in London on 25 May 1878, and ran for 571 performances, w ...

'' (1925) ''

The Mikado ''The Mikado; or, The Town of Titipu'' is a comic opera in two acts, with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert, their ninth of fourteen Gilbert and Sullivan, operatic collaborations. It opened on 14 March 1885, in London, whe ...

'' (1926 and 1941), and ''

Iolanthe ''Iolanthe; or, The Peer and the Peri'' () is a comic opera with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert, first performed in 1882. It is one of the Savoy operas and is the seventh of fourteen operatic collaborations by Gilbert ...

'' (1927). She also sang parts in ''

Feuersnot ' (''Need for (or lack of) fire)'', Op. 50, is a ''Singgedicht'' (sung poem) or opera in one act by Richard Strauss. The German libretto was written by Ernst von Wolzogen, based on J. Ketel's report "Das erloschene Feuer zu Audenaerde". It was St ...

'' (1927, its U.S. premiere), ''

Die Walküre (; ''The Valkyrie''), Wagner-Werk-Verzeichnis, WWV 86B, is the second of the four epic poetry, epic music dramas that constitute Richard Wagner's Literary cycle, cycle ''Der Ring des Nibelungen'' (English: ''The Ring of the Nibelung''). It was ...

'' (1928 and 1929), '' I gioielli della Madonna'' (1928), ''

Ariadne auf Naxos (''Ariadne on Naxos''), Op. 60, is a 1912 opera by Richard Strauss with a German libretto by Hugo von Hofmannsthal. The opera's unusual combination of elements of low commedia dell'arte with those of high opera seria points up one of the work's ...

'' (1928, its U.S. premiere), ''

Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg (; "The Master-Singers of Nuremberg"), WWV 96, is a music drama, or opera, in three acts, by Richard Wagner. It is the longest opera commonly performed, taking nearly four and a half hours, not counting two breaks between acts, and is traditio ...

'' (1928 and 1930), ''

Cavalleria rusticana ''Cavalleria rusticana'' (; ) is an opera in one act by Pietro Mascagni to an Italian libretto by Giovanni Targioni-Tozzetti and Guido Menasci, adapted from an 1880 Cavalleria rusticana (short story), short story of the same name and subsequent ...

'' (1928), ' (1929), ''

Carmen ''Carmen'' () is an opera in four acts by the French composer Georges Bizet. The libretto was written by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy, based on the novella of the same title by Prosper Mérimée. The opera was first performed by the O ...

'' (1929), ''

Prince Igor ''Prince Igor'' (, ) is an opera in four acts with a prologue, written and composed by Alexander Borodin. The composer adapted the libretto from the early Russian epic '' The Lay of Igor's Host'', which recounts the campaign of the 12th-centur ...

'' (1929), ''

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 ...

'' (1929), ''

Das Rheingold ''Das Rheingold'' (; ''The Rhinegold''), Wagner-Werk-Verzeichnis, WWV 86A, is the first of the four epic poetry, epic music dramas that constitute Richard Wagner's Literary cycle, cycle ''Der Ring des Nibelungen'' (English: ''The Ring of the Nib ...

'' (1929), ''

Götterdämmerung ' (; ''Twilight of the Gods''), Wagner-Werk-Verzeichnis, WWV 86D, is the last of the four epic poetry, epic music dramas that constitute Richard Wagner's Literary cycle, cycle ''Der Ring des Nibelungen'' (English: ''The Ring of the Nibelung''). I ...

'' (1930), ''Die Zauberflöte'' (1930), ''

Le nozze di Figaro ''The Marriage of Figaro'' (, ), K. 492, is a ''commedia per musica'' (opera buffa) in four acts composed in 1786 by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, with an Italian libretto written by Lorenzo Da Ponte. It premiered at the Burgtheater in Vienna ...

'' (1930), ''Robin Hood'' (1932), ''

Hänsel und Gretel "Hansel and Gretel" (; ) is a German fairy tale collected by the Brothers Grimm and published in 1812 as part of ''Grimms' Fairy Tales'' (KHM 15). Hansel and Gretel are siblings who are abandoned in a forest and fall into the hands of a witch ...

'' (1935), ''

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 ...

'' (1938), all in Philadelphia. She and other Philadelphia Civic Opera singers appeared in

Marc Blitzstein Marcus Samuel Blitzstein (March 2, 1905January 22, 1964), was an American composer, lyricist, and Libretto, librettist. He won national attention in 1937 when his pro-Trade union, union musical ''The Cradle Will Rock'', directed by Orson Welles, ...

's ''

Triple-Sec ''Triple-Sec'' is an English language American opera in one act composed by Marc Blitzstein with a libretto by Ronald Jeans. The first performance of the comic opera was in 1929 in the composer's hometown of Philadelphia. ''Triple-Sec'', the co ...

'' (1929) in a show for the Society for Contemporary Music. In 1932 she sang as a soloist in a performance of

Henry Kimball Hadley Henry Kimball Hadley (20 December 1871 – 6 September 1937) was an American composer and conductor.''Baker's Biographical Dictionary of Musicians'', 8th edition, p. 692 Early life Hadley was born in Somerville, Massachusetts, to a musical ...

's ''A New Earth''. Other appearances by Marston included ''

The Pirates of Penzance ''The Pirates of Penzance; or, The Slave of Duty'' is a comic opera in two acts, with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert, W. S. Gilbert. Its official premiere was at the Fifth Avenue Theatre in New York City on 3 ...

'' (1923), a 1927 concert with the Reading Choral Society, where she shared soloist billing with

Nelson Eddy Nelson Ackerman Eddy (June 29, 1901 – March 6, 1967) was an American actor and baritone singer who appeared in 19 musical films during the 1930s and 1940s, as well as in opera and on the concert stage, radio, television, and in nightclubs ...

, and a 1930 production of '' The Chimes of Normandy'' with the Community Music Club of

Collingswood, New Jersey Collingswood is a Borough (New Jersey), borough in Camden County, New Jersey, Camden County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey, located east of Center City, Philadelphia, Center City Philadelphia. As of the 2020 United States census, the borough ...

. Marston was in demand as an oratorio and cantata soloist, gave recitals, sang on radio broadcasts, and taught music later in her career; she also directed the chorus of the Women's Club of

Ardmore, Pennsylvania Ardmore is an Unincorporated area#United States, unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) spanning the border between Delaware County, Pennsylvania, Delaware and Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, Montgomery counties in the U.S. ...

, and the Alumnae Choral Club of William Penn High School for Girls.

Personal life

Maybelle Berretta married a Philadelphia attorney named M. Randall Marston in 1917. She had a son, M. Randall Marston Jr., born in 1918. In 1934 she had another son, after an affair with singer Nelson Eddy; the child was raised by adoptive parents to protect Marston's and Eddy's reputations. Maybelle Berretta Marston died in 1983, aged 87 years.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Marston, Maybelle 1895 births 1983 deaths 20th-century American women opera singers American operatic contraltos Singers from Philadelphia