Emma Albani: International Star

Desmond Maley is the music librarian at the J.W. Tate Library,
Huntington College, Laurentian University, and editor of the CAML
Review.

Music students seeking material on soprano Emma Albani (1847–1930)
will have trouble using this book. In some respects, it has the
trappings of a conventional biography, with a bibliography, index, and
explanatory footnotes. Yet it also resembles an autobiography. A large
part of it is written in the first person from Albani’s point of view.
There are inner thoughts and conversations among characters throughout,
without any sources cited. How are we to separate fact from fiction?

The facts of Albani’s life resemble a Horatio Alger story. The
product of a musical family of modest circumstances, Albani, who grew up
in Quebec and New York State, soared to the top of the opera world in
Europe following her debut in London in 1872. She was also the toast of
royalty, and a personal friend of Queen Victoria.

Albani’s performances of opera and oratorio are noted, as is her
reception and her extensive touring, which included numerous trips to
Canada. But the narrative is descriptive rather than analytic. We do not
arrive at a deeper appreciation of Albani’s art. George Bernard Shaw,
whose admiration for Albani was qualified, nevertheless said she was
unsurpassed as an interpreter of Wagner’s music. Surely this should be
the real agenda of a life account. As it stands, this story is only
moderately interesting. Recommended with reservations.