Thalia Sabanieva Explained

Thalia Sabanieva
Other Names:Thalia Samossoud
Birth Date:23 December 1889
Birth Place:Greece
Death Date:20 March 1963
Death Place:New York
Occupation:Opera Singer
Years Active:1920s, 1930s
Spouse(S):Jacques Alexandria Samossoud

Thalia Sabanieva (23 December 1889[1] – 20 March 1963), also seen as Thalia Sabanieeva, was a Greek soprano.

Early life

Thalia Sabanieva was born in Athens in 1889. She was proud of her Greek birth,[2] and spoke Greek, but objected to being called a "Greek singer", because she was educated in Russia. "What I am as a singer I owe entirely to Russia", she declared in 1937.[3] She studied music with Vera Cehanovska, mother of Russian baritone George Cehanovsky.

Career

Sabanieva sang with the Metropolitan Opera in New York[4] from 1923 to 1930.[5] [6] [7] She sang with the San Francisco Opera in the 1924–1925 season, appearing in L'Amico Fritz, Madama Butterfly, and Manon.[8] In 1928 she made several recordings for the Victor Talking Machine Company.[9] In 1933, she sang in the American premiere of Tchaikovsky's Mazeppa.[10] She was a member of Max Panteleieff's New York-based Russian Opera Company in the mid-1930s.[11]

Sabanieva was often on the programs of charity benefit concerts and special events. In 1933, she sang a duet with Mario Chamlee at a gala marking the 25th anniversary of Giulio Gatti-Casazza's directorship at the Metropolitan Opera. In 1935, she sang at a benefit concert for Jewish artisans in Poland, with cellist Mila Wellerson, at New York's Town Hall venue,[12] and at another benefit performance with Lucrezia Bori and Tito Schipa, for the WIlloughby House Settlement in Brooklyn.[13] In 1937 she sang at a benefit concert at Carnegie Hall alongside Elisabeth Rethberg, Josephine Antoine, and other singers, raising funds for Chrystie Street House, a shelter for homeless men.[14]

Sabanieva had two film credits, for a supporting role in a Greek film, That's Life (1935), and in the title role in a film adaptation of Natalka Poltavka (1937),[15] though she was an unlikely choice to play a young heroine by then.[16] She was featured in a LIFE magazine photograph, when her dog appeared on the magazine's cover in 1944.[17] Sabanieva taught voice students later in life.[18]

Personal life

Sabanieva was briefly married Russian conductor Jacques Alexandria Samossoud from 1927 to 1929;[19] [20] he later married Clara Clemens in 1944.[21] Thalia Sabanieva died in 1963, in New York.

Notes and References

  1. Some sources give Sabanieva's birth year as 1895, but she gave the 1889 date in official paperwork, such as her application for United States citizenship; via Ancestry
  2. News: Mason. Redfern. 1924-10-30. Greek Artiste Fires Hearts of Audience. 14. The San Francisco Examiner. 2021-06-19. Newspapers.com.
  3. News: 1925-12-07. Sabanieva Arrives to Appear in Opera. 5. Evening Star. 2021-06-19. Newspapers.com.
  4. News: 1922-09-24. Greek Soprano to Sing at Metropolitan. 16. New York Herald. 2021-06-19. Newspapers.com.
  5. Web site: Thalia Sabanieeva. 2021-06-19. Metropolitan Opera Family database.
  6. News: 1927-02-20. MARION TALLEY IN 'LUCIA.'; Welcomed by Throng at Matinee -Thalia Sabanieeva Sings Juliette.. en-US. The New York Times. 2021-06-19. 0362-4331.
  7. News: 1930-03-25. "SIEGFRIED" GIVEN AGAIN.; Whitehill in Role of Wanderer and Mme. Sabanieeva of Forest Bird. en-US. The New York Times. 2021-06-19. 0362-4331.
  8. Web site: Thalia Sabanieva. 2021-06-19. San Francisco Opera Performance Archive.
  9. Web site: Sabanieva, Thalia. 2021-06-19. Discography of American Historical Recordings.
  10. News: February 5, 1933. Ukrainian Singers Act Epic 'Mazeppa'. N2. The New York Times. ProQuest.
  11. News: January 15, 1934. City to Get Season of Russian Opera. 13. The New York Times. ProQuest.
  12. News: 1935-05-12. CELLIST AND SOPRANO GIVE JOINT PROGRAM; Recital by Mila Wellerson and Thalia Sabanieeva Aids Artisans in Poland.. en-US. The New York Times. 2021-06-19. 0362-4331.
  13. News: W.b.c. 1935-03-16. BORI SINGS IN 'MIGNON' AT BENEFIT MATINEE; Schipa Heard as Poet Hero and Thalia Sabanieeva Takes the Place of Lily Pons.. en-US. The New York Times. 2021-06-19. 0362-4331.
  14. News: November 20, 1937. Music Notes. 21. The New York Times. ProQuest.
  15. Book: America Film Institute. Within Our Gates: Ethnicity in American Feature Films, 1911-1960. 1997. University of California Press. 978-0-520-20964-0. 700–701. en.
  16. Book: Martynowych, Orest T.. The Showman and the Ukrainian Cause: Folk Dance, Film, and the Life of Vasile Avramenko. 2014-09-05. Univ. of Manitoba Press. 978-0-88755-472-8. en.
  17. April 3, 1944. City Dogs. LIFE. 73.
  18. News: 1970-11-22. Russian Singer Featured with Balalaika Ensemble. 64. The Bridgeport Post. 2021-06-19. Newspapers.com.
  19. News: 1943-11-16. Thalia Samoosoud Sues Film Director. 4. The Miami News. 2021-06-19. Newspapers.com.
  20. News: 1943-11-16. In Filmland. 2. Siskiyou Daily News. 2021-06-19. Newspapers.com.
  21. News: 1944-05-12. Mark Twain's Daughter Weds Husband's Friend. 17. The News Journal. 2021-06-19. Newspapers.com.

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