northampton1863

The great English baritone [Sir, and also commander of St. Gregory, 1887] Charles Santley (1834-1922). He made his first major opera appearance (3 Feb 1860) in Wallace's Lurline at Covent Garden. A special air sung by the Faust character, Valentine, "Avant de quitter ces lieux" was created by Gounod for Santley. His signature is now a very sought-after item.

Alessandro Bettini (20th July 1821 in Trecate, Italy – 1st November 1898 in Rome). Tenor. Married to Zélia Trebelli. It was said that one of the tenors who ’charmed’ Mr. Walt Whitman in the performance of ‘Ernani’ was Bettini in 1847 at the Astor Place Opera House in New York.

Thérèse Johanne Alexandra Tietjens (July 17, 1831 - October 3, 1877), soprano vocalist, was born in Hamburg, Germany.

Her voice was trained in Hamburg, where she made a successful debut in 1849 as Lucrezia Borgia in Donizetti's opera. She went on to to Frankfurt and Vienna. She sang for the first time in London in 1858, appearing as Valentine in Les Huguenots.

Her success was so great that for the rest of her life she made England her home, and soon gained as brilliant a reputation in concert and oratorio work as she had already won upon the stage.

She died in London on the 3rd of October 1877, having endeared herself to the English people as much by her private virtues as by her artistic gifts.

Zélia Trebelli [orig. Gloria Caroline Le Bert]: French mezzo-soprano (Paris: 1834 - 18 Aug 1892). Studied with Wartel. Debut Madrid (1859) as Azucena. German houses, Covent Garden, Her Majesty's, Mapleson's Company. First Metropolitan Opera Carmen (1884). Married to Alessandro Bettini, (who's signature is also exhibited here). Her daughter, Antoinette, sang under the name Antonia Dolores. Note: Her adopted name is almost the reverse of her given name.