Nellie Lane Woodruff scrapbook of Lilli Lehmann opera ephemera

Item — Box: 1

Identifier: MP-0018-01

Abstract

The scrapbook, compiled by Nellie Lane Woodruff (1867-circa 1944), contains ephemera about opera singer Lilli Lehmann (1848-1929). It appears from the contents of the scrapbook that Lehmann and Woodruff were acquaintances, if not friends. The scrapbook contains photographs, clippings, programs, and other ephemera documenting Lehmann's professional singing career at the Metropolitan Opera of New York, the Bayreuth Festival, and at other venues.

Dates

1885-1902

Creator

Woodruff, Nellie Lane (Person)

Extent

1 Items (scrapbook, 58 leaves)

Language of Materials

English

German

French

Additional Description

Scope and Content of Collection

This scrapbook of ephemera relating to the career and life of opera singer Lilly Lehmann was compiled by Nellie Lane Woodruff. The first page of the scrapbook contains an inscription to Woodruff from Lehmann. The tone of this inscription, and the few pieces of correspondence between Lehmann and Woodruff included in the album, suggest that the two women were acquaintances, if not friends.

The scrapbook contains photographs, press clippings, and other ephemera from Lilli Lehmann's career at the Metropolitan Opera, including a piece of the curtain from her dressing room, which was burned in a building fire. It also contains program notes of operas, reviews, photographs and other miscellanea related to her performances around the world, including many at the Bayreuther Festspiele (Bayreuth Festival), an annual presentation of operas by Richard Wagner.

There are also numerous clippings in the scrapbook describing Lehmann's involvement in campaigns against animal cruelty.

Access Restrictions

Collection is open for research use. Please contact archivist@newschool.edu for appointment.

Use Restrictions

To publish images of material from this collection, permission must be obtained in writing from The New School Archives and Special Collections. Please contact: archivist@newschool.edu.

Biographical / Historical

Biographical Note

Lilli Lehmann: Lilli Lehmann, born Elisabeth Maria Lehmann, later Elisabeth Maria Lehmann-Kalisch (November 24, 1848 Würzburg – May 17, 1929 Berlin) was a German operatic soprano of phenomenal versatility. She was also a voice teacher. Her mature voice, of splendid quality and large volume, gained for her the reputation of being not only one of the greatest Wagnerian singers of her day but also an ideal interpreter of Bellini's Norma and the operatic music of Mozart. She was considered unsurpassed in the rôles of Brünnhilde and Isolde but sang an astonishingly wide array of other parts. Indeed, across the span of her career, she performed 170 different parts in a total of 119 German, Italian and French operas. She was noted not only for her rendering of the musical score, but also as a tragic actress. She was also a noted voice teacher. Among her pupils were the famous sopranos Geraldine Farrar and Olive Fremstad. In 1888, she married the tenor Paul Kalisch. Lehmann founded the International Summer Academy at the Mozarteum in Salzburg in 1916. The academy's curriculum concentrated on voice lessons at first but it was extended later to include a wide variety of musical instruction. This biography originated in a legacy record created by Harry Scherman Library staff.
Nellie Lane Woodruff: Nellie Lane Woodruff (1867-circa 1944) was the daughter of Morris Woodruff, a partner in the tea importing house George W. Lane and Company, and Juliette A. Lane. Nellie's grandfather, Lewis Bartholomew Woodruff, was a judge on the United States Circuit Court. Nellie lived in New York with her sister Harriette Burnett Woodruff and brother George W. Lane Woodruff. In 1904 she changed her first name to Elinor, and in 1905 she married book and type designer Thomas Maitland Cleland.

Sources:

Historical Society of the New York Courts. "Lewis Bartholomew Woodruff." Accessed January 29, 2021. https://history.nycourts.gov/biography/lewis-bartholomew-woodruff/

Carhart, Lucy Ann Morris and Charles Alexander Nelson. Genealogy of the Morris family: Descendants of Thomas Morris of Connecticut. New York: A. S. Barnes Company, 1911. https://books.google.com/books?id=KOHIDwAAQBAJ&lpg=PP1&pg=PP1#v=onepage&q&f=false

Social Register, New York. New York: Social Register Association, 1900. https://books.google.com/books?id=KmpIAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA1#v=onepage&q&f=false

Custodial History

Due to absence of accession file, the custodial history and identity of the donor is presently unknown to The New School Archives staff.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Transferred from the Harry Scherman Library of Mannes College of Music to The New School Archives, 2015.

Subjects

Animal rights (Subject) Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
Bayreuther Festspiele
Lehmann, Lilli, 1848-1929
Metropolitan Opera (New York, N.Y.)
Opera (Subject) Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
Scrapbooks (Type of Material) Subject Source: Art & Architecture Thesaurus
Sopranos (Singers) (Subject) Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings