Eames, Emma (Hayden)

Eames, Emma (Hayden), famous American soprano; b. Shanghai, China, Aug. 13, 1865; d. N.Y., June 13, 1952. Her mother, who was her first teacher, took her to America as a child; she then studied with Clara Munger in Boston and with Marchesi in Paris. She made her operatic debut at the Paris Opera on March 13, 1889, as Juliette in Gounod’s Romeo et Juliette, singing there until 1891. On April 7, 1891, she made her first appearance at London’s Covent Garden as Marguerite, and continued to sing there until 1901. On Nov. 9, 1891, she made her first appearance with the Metropolitan Opera as Elsa in Lohengrin during its visit to Chicago. On Dec. 14,1891, she made her formal debut with the company as Juliette in N.Y. She remained with the Metropolitan until 1909, appearing as Marguerite in Faust, Desde-mona in Othello, Elisabeth in Tannhduser, Aida, Tosca, and Donna Anna in Don Giovanni. In 1911–12 she was a member of the Boston Opera, and then retired from the operatic stage. She received the Jubilee Medal from Queen Victoria, and was decorated by the French Academy with the order of Les Palmes Academiques. Her emotional life was turbulent; she married the painter Julian Story in 1891, but they were separated in the midst of a widely publicized scandal; in 1911 she married Emilio de Gogorza, but left him too. She publ. an autobiography, Some Memories and Reflections (N.Y., 1927).

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire