David Bispham
David Scull Bispham | |
---|---|
Manhattan, New York, US | |
Resting place | Laurel Hill Cemetery |
Education | Haverford College (1876) |
Spouse | Caroline Russell Bispham |
Children | Leonie Anne Francesca Carnegie Bispham |
David Scull Bispham (January 5, 1857 – October 2, 1921) was an American operatic baritone.[1]
Biography
Bispham was born on January 5, 1857, in
In 1885, Bispham married Caroline Russell, the daughter of General Charles Sawyer Russell.[2] They would go on to have four children: Jeanette, Vida, Leonie, and David. The Bisphams honeymooned in Europe, and when they returned to Philadelphia, Bispham found work with the Lehigh Valley Railroad.[3] While employed with the railroad, Bispham spent his spare time singing with local clubs and an Episcopal church choir in Philadelphia.[3]
Early music career
At twenty-eight he went to Europe, studying singing in Florence with Luigi Vannuccini and in Milan with Francesco Lamperti.[4] He also studied in Bayreuth. In 1891 he was selected from among fifty applicants to perform the role of the Duc de Longueville in a London performance of André Messager's La Basoche; this marked his first professional appearance on any stage.[5]
Covent Garden
He was engaged by the
American career
Bispham made his American debut, once again in Wagner, at the
In 1916 he appeared in an English-language version of
He was a close personal friend of American soprano Lillian Nordica, with whom he travelled to Australia on her last tour before her death. He was also a frequent professional colleague of both De Reszke brothers (Jean and Edouard), Olive Fremstad, Ernestine Schumann-Heink and Dame Clara Butt, among singers, and Hans Richter, Arthur Nikisch, Felix Mottl, Anton Seidl and Walter Damrosch, among conductors. Damrosch's setting of Rudyard Kipling's "Danny Deever", as sung by Bispham, became a favorite of President Theodore Roosevelt.
Bispham was the first singer to introduce Brahms's Four Serious Songs and Magelone Lieder to American audiences in the 1896-97 concert season. Bispham also sang Horatio Parker's oratorio, Hora Novissima, in 1897 (with Johanna Gadski, Gertrude May Stein, and Evan Williams as the other soloists). Upon his immediate return to Great Britain, he provided a copy of the score to Hans Richter, which led to the premiere of the piece in Worcester, England, and the Festival of the Three Choirs.
In 1902, Bispham began teaching singing in Philadelphia.[5]
In 1908, he was awarded national honorary membership in Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia.
When Jacobs-Bond published "A Perfect Day" in 1910 she added the header "As sung by Mr. David Bispham" above the title (the header appears on p. 3 of the sheet music). Jacobs-Bond wrote "A Perfect Day" (q.v.) in 1909 and first published it in 1910.[7]
In 1915, Nelson Eddy, future baritone and actor, began studying singing under Bispham in Philadelphia.[8]
Death
Bispham died in
Legacy
He wrote a memoir of his professional career called A Quaker Singer's Recollections, published by Macmillan in January 1920. Although it makes no mention whatsoever of his personal life, his marriage, or his children, the book is a valuable insight into the life and times of the international opera singer of his day and source of much first-hand information regarding the state of the vocal art and especially a singer's repertoire of the era.
His legacy lives on in the form of
The David Bispham Memorial Medal was awarded by the American Opera Society of Chicago, from 1924 through 1955, to promote the composition and performance of American opera.[5]
See also
- Lisa Roma, one of his students, soprano and music educator
Notes
- ^ a b "David Bispham Dies In His 65th Year. Gave a Lesson on Saturday. Succumbed to a Complication of Diseases. Stricken After Tour. Discouraged by Artists in His Youth, He Became Leading American Baritone". The New York Times. October 3, 1921. Retrieved 2015-01-14.
David Bispham, American baritone, long one of the foremost figures in the American opera and concert field, died suddenly yesterday at his home, 145 West Fifty-fifth Street, in his sixty-fifth year, from a complication of diseases. He first was stricken on Aug. 8 ...
- ^ a b c d e W. Bispham, 274
- ^ a b W. Bispham, 275
- ^ "David Bispham". www.operascotland.org. Retrieved 7 August 2020.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-19-533765-5. Retrieved 7 August 2020.
- Seven Songs as Unpretentious as the Wild Rose (which included "I Love You Truly" and "Just Awearyin' for You").
- ^ The facts of publication and the sheet music are available on the Johns Hopkins University site.
- ISBN 978-0-19-533765-5. Retrieved 7 August 2020.
- ^ Laurel Hill Cemetery
- ^ "Bispham Will Contested. Widow and Daughter Allege Singer Was Influenced". The New York Times. January 27, 1922. Retrieved 2015-01-14.
Notice of the contest of the will of David Bispham, singer, by his widow, Mrs. Caroline Russell Bispham ... and his daughter Leonie Anne Francesca Carnegie Bispham ...
- ^ "BISPHAM'S WIDOW LOSES WILL SUIT; Contest Based on His $25,000 Bequest to His Friend, Mrs. Ten Eyck, Fails. CASE NOT SENT TO JURY Surrogate Foley Probates the Will on Ground That Undue Influence Was Not Shown". timesmachine.nytimes.com. April 28, 1922. Retrieved 2022-01-21.
References
- Bispham, William, Memoranda Concerning the Family of Bispham in Great Britain and the United States of America. New York; Gilliss Bros. 1890. [1]
- Ewen, David Encyclopedia of the Opera: New Enlarged Edition. New York; Hill and Wang, 1963.
- Scott, Michael The Record of Singing Volume I (Duckworth, London 1977), 56–58.