Phillipps, Adelaide

1833-1882

Contralto singer; born at Stratfordon-Avon. The family moved to Canada, and hence to Boston, when Adelaide was seven years old. She studied music with Thomas Comer and Mme. Arnouldt, and in 1850 sang before Jenny Lind and was advised to devote herself to music. A subscription was raised, Miss Lind and Jonas Chickering being the chief contributors, and in 1852 Adelaide went to London, where she studied under Manuel Garc'ia, and finished in Italy, where she made her first appearance at Brescia as Arsace in Semiramide. She made her real debut at Milan as Rosina in the Barber of Seville. In 1855 she came back to the United States, and sang in Boston in English Opera, concert and oratorios; appeared in Italian Opera at the Academy of Music, New York, in 1856, in her favorite part, Azucena in II Trovatore. She went to Europe in 1861, and appeared in Paris, Hungary, Holland and London. From 1863 to 1881 she toured the United States, singing with the Handel and Haydn Society and at the Peace Jubilee in 1869 at Boston. In 1876 she formed a company of her own, but from 1879 to 1881 she sang in the Boston Ideal Opera Company. She died at Carlsbad, Germany, and was buried at Marshfield, Mass.