Kellogg, Clara (Louise)
Kellogg, Clara (Louise)
Kellogg, Clara (Louise), noted American soprano and operatic impresario; b. Sumterville, S.C., July 9, 1842; d. New Hartford, Conn., May 13, 1916. She received her vocal training in N.Y. from Manzocchi, Errani, and Muzio, making her professional debut there at the Academy of Music as Gilda in Rigoletto (Feb. 27, 1861); then sang in Boston. She sang Marguerite in the N.Y. premiere of Faust (Nov. 25, 1863); made her London debut in the same role on Nov. 2, 1867. In 1872 she organized an opera company with Pauline Lucca, but their rivalry precluded its success. In 1873 she launched an opera enterprise of her own, the English Opera Co., for which she herself sang 125 performances (1874–75). In 1887 she married her manager, Karl Strakosch, nephew of Maurice and Max Strakosch, and retired from the stage. She wrote Memoirs of an American Prima Donna (N.Y., 1913).
—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire