Cary, Annie Louise
Cary, Annie Louise
notable American contralto; b. Wayne, Maine, Oct. 22, 1841; d. Norwalk, Conn., April 3, 1921. She was a pupil of J.Q. Wetherbee and Lyman Wheeler in Boston, and of Giovanni Corsi in Milan. In 1867 she made her operatic debut as Azucena in Copenhagen. After additional training from Viardot-Garcia in Baden-Baden, she sang in Hamburg, Stockholm, Brussels, and London. On Sept. 19, 1870, she made her U.S. debut in a N.Y. recital. She sang Amneris in the U.S. premiere of Aida at the N.Y. Academy of Music on Nov. 28, 1873. Following a tour of Europe (1875–77), she returned to the U.S. and became the first American woman to sing a Wagnerian role when she appeared as Ortrud in 1877. After singing with Clara Louise Kellog’s opera company, she was a member of J.H. Mapleson’s company (1880–82). She also made various appearances as a concert and oratorio singer in the U.S.
—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire