Eva Turner
Born: 10 March 1892 Werneth, Greater Manchester
Died: 16 June 1990 London
Died: 16 June 1990 London
There have always been axioms that become articles of faith. In the world of opera, the one most oft misstated is that recordings are reflective of careers. In fact, nothing could be further from the truth, especially in the era that preceded the LP. Dame Eva Turner is remembered by generations of record collectors as one of the most famous singers of the last century, an artists whose voice bespeaks grandeur and whose vocalism is among the most exemplary of her time. Both statements are true; nevertheless that remarkable talent translated into a very modest career upon the stages of the world. The reasons are not easy to unveil and it would be futile of the author to do anything but wonder. The reader will, no doubt, ponder this as well, especially after hearing her marvelous legacy.
Eva Turner was born into a very musical family at Oldham, England on 10 March, 1892 and by the age of ten was petitioning her very sympathetic parents for singing lessons. Her dream of becoming a diva was acted out on a daily basis in her family's home, and she created makeshift costumes to portray the characters that she watched when her parents took her to performances of the touring Carl Rosa Opera company. Eva had reached the ripe old age of eleven when she was sent to Dan Rootham, the teacher of Clara Butt for her first formal singing lessons. Maestro Rootham was satisfied that she was ready to enter a conservatory and in 911 Eva enrolled at London's Royal Academy of Music where she was, according to her mentors, the most prodigiously talented member of her class. She stayed at the Academy until 1914 and with her teacher's blessing decided to strike out on her own.
Eva's first job was as a chorister with the Rosa Company and she immediately launched a personal crusade to the constant annoyance of the company's manager. Even he did recognize her superior gifts, and after a period of fine tuning as a choral artist, she was allowed a few solo parts: a page in "Tannhauser", a genie in "Zauberflote" and finally the priestess in "Aida".
Audiences began to recognize the young singer's talent and before long she was appearing as Kate Pinkerton, Micaela and Musetta, to fine receptions. In the 1920 season, while the company was appearing at Covent Garden, Eva sang Santuzza, Musetta, Venus in "Tannhauser", Leonora in "Trovatore", Antonia in "Hoffmann" and Cio Cio San and it was with this engagement that her status as a major new talent was confirmed.
In 1921 Turner sang throughout England with the Rosa company and her roles included Butterfly, Santuzza, Musetta, Antonia, Elizabeth in "Tannhauser", Freia, Elsa in "Lohengrin", the "Walkuere" and "Siegfried" Brunnhilde, Leonora in "Trovatore, Aida and an opera called "Le Chant Fatal". She was more than content with her new life and signed a contract for a third season in which she added Eva in "Meistersinger", Tosca and Thais in "Thais and Talmaae to her burgeoning repertoire. She also substituted for another soloist as Nedda on at least one occasion, though playbills do not indicate when that may have occurred. Turner is also known to have sung Arline in "Bohemian Girl, Maritana, Amelia in "Ballo", Mistress Ford in "Falstaff", Donna Anna and Gounod's Marguerite, though exact dates remain unclear.
Of her Cio Cio San in 1922 the London Times reported: "The feature of the performance was an extremely clever study of the title role by Eva Turner. Her acting was unforced, sincere and at times touched with feeling. Her singing was clear and strong, a little cold maybe, but so sure and steady that she always held her bearers". In "Meistersinger" she was assessed by the Times: "very assured and acted with great vivacity" though not surprisingly "she could not quite reduce her vocal style to the intimate scale required".
In the 1924 season Eva sang Fidelio for the first time and it was this engagement that led to the breakthrough. The great Ettore Panizza was told of this wondrous new talent and on the 3rd of June he attended a performance of "Madama Butterfly". At the opera's conclusion he requested a meeting with Turner backstage and offered her an audition for performances with the La Scala Company. Though she confessed later that she had never been so frightened in her life, she and her coach travelled to Milan a short time later, and in a room sealed from the public, Eva Turner sang several selections for Arturo Toscanini. The Maestro found a smile and immediately offered her a contract, which was signed before day's end. Eva Turner returned to London to prepare Freia and Sieglinde for the La Scala Ring Cycle of 1924-25.
She was coached in Italian for nearly four months, and on 16 November, 1924, Eva Turner debuted at La Scala in "Das Rheingold" in a cast that included Nazzareno De Angelis as Wotan under the leadership of Vittorio Gui. She was reasonably well received and it would remain for her appearance as Sieglinde several weeks later to solidify her success with Italian audiences. The voice was described as of full volume with a brilliant attack at the top of the range. However, impressarios did not rush to her door, and Eva contented herself with a tour to Germany in the spring of 1925 where she appeared as Santuzza, the "Trovatore" Leonora, Aida and Tosca. Aristodeno Giorgini and Giulio Fregosi were her most frequent partners and she did achieve more than a reasonable success, especially as Aida. In the summer, she and Fregosi traveled to Vienna where they were joined by Franco Battaglia and Luigi Montesanto in several performances of "Aida", "Cavalleria", "Ballo in Maschera", "Tosca" and "Trovatore" at the Volksoper. It was expected that Turner's success would present an opportunity to appear at the Staatsoper later in the season, but political intrigues intervened and those who "owned" her roles at that theater persuaded the management to let the "English singer" have her time at the lesser theater.
Turner returned to England in the autumn of 1925 and undertook a concentrated period of study in the Italian dramatic repertoire. Eva had fallen in love with Italy and determined that she would have her successes in that country and that she would live there. An agent was hired and after a period of time Turner appeared in "La Gioconda" at Trieste's Teatro Rossetti and, on 16 November 1926, she debuted in "Aida" at Genoa's Politeama in a cast that included Albertina Dal Monte, and Ettore Bergamaschi under the baton of Mario Parenti. The revival was a great disappointment and Turner bore the brunt of the criticism, though some commentary considered it an unfair assessment of the newcomer. In any case, she was replaced in mid run by Linda Barla Ricci, whose success was no greater.
Frustration was taking a toll on her patience as she realized that her career was little more than a waiting game. "Turandot" at Brescia's Teatro Grande presented a new opportunity, and it was the one that would seal her fate. She confided to friends that she was certain her moment had come and in December of 1926 Eva Turner made headlines throughout Italy following her brilliant performance in Puccini's new opera. A dispatch to England from Milan noted the following "At the moment of going to press, we learn that Eva Turner, having completed her engagement at Brescia went to Trieste to sing in "Turandot" and was again an outstanding success".
Several biographies report performances of "Fanciulla del West" at this time in Lisbon, but, neither the Sao Carlos nor the Coliseu indicate appearances by Turner in any role at any time. She did appear at the Teatro San Luis in "Aida" at about this time and it is possible that she also sang Minnie as part of her contract.
Turner was offered a substantial contract with the Teatro Regio of Turin and her good nature and high spirits impelled her, on the strength of that alone, to purchase a small villa on Lake Lugano. She had neither the funds nor a guarantee of long seasons in Italy, but this was her ultimate desire, and she indulged herself on a whim and a wish.
Turner debuted at the Regio on 11 February 1927 as Fidelio in a cast that included the Italian heldentenor Ettore Cesa Bianchi. It was her greatest triumph to date and again the name of the little known "British import" appeared on the pages of newspapers throughout the country. On the 26th, Turner appeared as Aida with Aureliano Pertile and Irene Minghini Cattaneo under Marinuzzi's. Aida is the ultimate test for Italian audiences, and Eva's understandable trepidation was short lived. She was awarded huge ovations at every performance, and newspaper criticism was unabashed in its praise.
Marinuzzi was so impressed by her work in the Beethoven opera that he secured for Turner a contract to appear as Fidelio at the Teatro Colon of Buenos Aires. Before the journey to South America, Turner appeared as Turandot in several Italian cities, among them, La Spezia, Ferrara, Florence and Verona. Her debut at the Colon was on 17 June to a huge reception, and though Antonio Melandri, Benvenuto Franci and the conductor were all generously received, hers was clearly the triumph of the evening. There were four sold out performances, and on 15 July Turner, Melandri and Ezio Pinza appeared in the local premiere of Rimsky Korsakov's Zar Sultan and again there were nothing but praise and warm receptions for all involved. The company visited Rio de Janeiro where both operas were presented, and Sao Paolo where only the Rimsky opera was seen, this time with Tancredi Pasero in the title role.
Eva returned to Italy well rested and in the most cheerful of spirits. Her retreat at Lugano was a welcoming sight and she enjoyed the discipline of long swims whenever the weather allowed. In fact, it was her only diversion from a rigorous schedule of vocal exercises and an occasional visit by close friends from abroad. Turner waited for offers to arrive but she mostly waited in vain, and she wondered and worried. After a three month absence from the stage, Eva debuted at Naples' Teatro San Carlo on 27 December 1927 in "Turandot" with Maria Laurenti and Antonio Bagnariol and a month later she sang Elena in "Mefistofele" with Laurenti, Luigi Marini and Nazzareno De Angelis. Her success was moderate and though she received very warm receptions by large audiences, she did not complete either engagement.
Eva accepted an invitation to appear at the provincial Teatro Verdi of Pisa as Turandot in April 1928, and it was an unqualified success. In a period of three weeks she performed the role an unprecedented eleven times, but the celebrity of 1927 had become the loneliness of 1928. Genoa, Turin, Rome, La Scala, Venice, Palermo, Florence, Catania, Bologna, the great Italian theaters, were now closed to her and she was in great pain. Until she was approached by the management of Covent Garden with an offer to sing in "Turandot", "Aida" and "Cavalleria Rusticana". There would be ten performances. She was absolutely delighted and "honoured" as she declared in her acceptance letter, to return to her homeland, especially at its premiere theater. Eva confided to a few very close friends that "it was as a life preserver being tossed to a drowning sailor".
Even now, she remembered many lukewarm reviews from her days with the Carlo Rosa company, and her confidence was at a low point as she prepared for her first performance in London's International Season. As a prelude to her return, she accepted an invitation to appear in "Aida" and "Il Trovatore" at Las Palmas in the Canaries. On the evening of "Il Trovatore", the ovations were so enormous after each scene that a courier was sent to the ship on which she was to sail to England begging that it delay its departure until she should be able to leave the opera house with grace and dignity. And so it was that Eva arrived at the dock an hour late, out of breath and in full costume and makeup. The ship had waited, and as it pointed its bow to the ocean, an impromptu celebration began that greeted the sun.
On 5 June, she debuted as Turandot, and received a standing ovation after the riddle scene and again at the opera's conclusion. One review stated "She sang the extortionately difficult music with an extraordinary powerful and ringing tone. There was not a blemish, not a qualm". Her partners, Aroldo Lindi and Rosetta Pampanini, shared in her triumph, though the evening was clearly hers. Her next assignment was as Aida, and it was less well received. Among the comments from London commentators were "the way her glittering tone soared triumphantly over all in the finale of Act 2 was extraordinary", then "From the purely vocal standpoint there is no better singer of the role" and "the exciting effect of her singing tone" might have been enhanced by "periods of more reposeful singing". Audiences were not nearly so equivocal and she, along with Pertile, Minghini Cattaneo and Armando Borgioli were celebrated with enormous applause at every performance.
Her single Santuzza was also well received in the theater, though critical opinion was divided.
The most important result of her time in London was that the Chicago Civic Opera sent a representative to visit Eva, with contract in hand, for a twenty performance season and guest appearances at Boston. The contract specified that she would appear in "Aida", "Ballo in Maschera", "Cavalleria", "Trovatore" "Die Walkuere", "Nozze di Figaro" and that she be prepared to step into any of another half dozen operas, should her services be required. It was the most exciting engagement yet presented to Turner; Chicago was America's second opera company (some thought the first, and with reason) and she sealed the contract with her signature immediately. "Italy can wait", said she, "I've waited for Italy long enough!"
On 3 November Turner debuted with the Chicago Civic Opera as Aida with Cyrena Van Gordon, Ulysse Lappas, Cesare Formichi and Virgilio Lazzari. She was greeted royally by a capacity audience and the Chicago press reflected the enthusiasm that was manifested in the theater. Luigi Montesanto and Richard Bonelli sang Amonasro at later performances while Charles Marshall and Antonio Cortis alternated as Radames When Turner sang in "Un Ballo in Maschera" on 7 November, Amelita Galli Curci visited Eva's dressing room, and, in the course of a lengthy conversation, said "May I compliment you on the extraordinary manner in which you were able to preserve a most beautiful singing tone throughout the performance". Turner's other operas were "Cavalleria Rusticana", "Il Trovatore" with Van Gordon, Cortis and Bonelli, "Die Walkuere" with Leider, Olszewska, Lamont and Kipnis and "Nozze di Figaro" with Mason, Lazzari as Figaro, and Bonelli as the Count. The eminent critic, Eugene Stinson made the following observations about Turner: "She is unique as an exponent of tragedy through melody". He continued "(She is) the greatest singer known to Chicago…Pure singing is the basis of her claim to great distinction …Her phrasing is not quite so perfect…Nevertheless she remains isolated in her greatness". Eva sang in "Die Walkuere" and "Figaro" with the company at Boston in January 1929 and returned to England with a contract already signed for the following season. She had been successful beyond any expectation and she effused to many friends that she finally felt herself among the first rank of opera luminaries, and indeed she was.
Eva was invited to return to La Scala in late March for a single performances of "Turandot" and she received a warm reception, though the press was inclined to find her performance "strong at the expense of the inherent lyricism in Puccini's music". This engagement was Turner's farewell to Milan, and it remained a bitter pill for her, an experience that she shied from discussing for many years. Naples welcomed her back on 29 March in a stellar revival of "La Forza del Destino" with Maria Capuana, Merli, Gaetano Viviani and Pasero, and she was very warmly received. Her top register found audiences fairly gasping, though there was the usual equivocation about her "Italian style" and her tendency to oversing. In late May Eva returned to Covent Garden for three performances of "Turandot" with Merli. Ina Souez and Margaret Sheridan shared the role of Liu and the revival was a spectacular success for all. There was virtually nothing but praise for Turner, but carpers will find their targets, and one critic made a huge fuss about her "unpleasant facial mannerisms, entailed by the effort that the role demanded of her ".
She returned to Lugano for a most enjoyable rest as spring turned into early summer. On 21 July Turner debuted at the Verona Arena as Isabeau, partnered by the sensational top voiced tenor, Hipolito Lazaro. Theirs was a most fortunate collaboration, and the eight performances were totally sold out as Italian newspapers told the tale of a "miraculous combination of beauty and power". Several commentators observed that it was the first time in the opera's history when both the soprano and the tenor were able to rise to the impossible demands of Mascagni's music.
The composer, who apparently did not witness any of the performances, was so impressed by the "word of mouth" that he signed Turner to a contract at the Reale of Rome, where she would appear under his baton in the opera during the following season.
A long rest preceded her return to Chicago where she made her seasonal debut as Sieglinde on 21 November with much the same cast as the previous season. On 7 December she appeared as Elizabeth in "Tannhauser" with Leider, Strack, Bonelli and Kipnis and on 5 January 1930 she appeared in "Il Trovatore". It was unfortunate for Eva that Leider was solidly entrenched in Chicago and was given the single performance of a Turner specialty, "Fidelio". As compensation of a sort, Turner appeared in a Gala Concert on 10 January in the second act finale of "Aida", which "brought the house to its feet". The evening included scenes from "Romeo et Juliette" and "Rigoletto" and ended with Act four of "Trovatore" with Muzio and Cortis. On 3 February, Eva appeared at Boson in "Die Walkure". It was clear that she was not going to crack the ranks of the Italian repertoire, which was owned by Raisa and Muzio, nor would she be the first choice for the German repertoire.
Her performances were exactly half of the previous season, and she returned to Europe in a melancholy mood, reflecting unhappily on the pattern of a career that simply would not take wing.
On 22 March the long awaited debut at Rome became reality. Mascagni conducted four performances of his still very popular opera, "Isabeau", and after each, Turner had a tremendous reaction from the audience. It was one of the major triumphs of the season and there was nothing but praise in the press. However, as had happened so often before, it would also represent both her hail and her farewell to that theater and to that city. In April Eva debuted at Florence on its opening night in "Fidelio" and again she succeeded with a very enthusiastic audience.
There were five performances. On 13 May she returned to Covent Garden for "Die Waluere" with Leider and Lauritz Melchior and on the 28th she sang the first of four performances of "Aida" with Minghini Cattaneo, Merli, John Brownlee and Pinza. This time Eva received a different review from any previously penned in London. The Times raved about her "magical sweetness in the middle register". A four month rest preceded a journey to Caracas where she sang in "Turandot", "Aida" and "Lohengrin" from the end of November until the middle of December.
In 1931, there were three performances of "Aida" at Naples' San Carlo in March, and in the autumn she sang Turandot at Perugia and toured to Athens, though the roles there have not been identified. In early 1932 Turner sang Sielglinde at Turin and Florence. A year would pass before a playbill contained her name when she returned to London in April for the Manzoni Requiem under the leadership of Sir Adrian Boult. On May 22, 1933 Tuner sang in "Aida" at Covent Garden with Nini Giani, Battaglia and Armando Borgioli. The eminent British musical commentator, Richard Capell noted: "though not irreproachable, (Turner) was far a away the best of the soloists". Thomas Beecham's conducting was considered the highlight of the revival. Turner seemed to recognize that her career in opera was not going to bring the rewards about which she had dreamed and she signed with Beecham and the London Philharmonic for a month long tour of England in the autumn of 1933. At Birmingham, the critic, Eric Blom, noted "In her singing of such big dramatic music (Freischutz and Tannhauser for example) her wonderful voice, her superb technique and unique temperament conspire together in producing performances of musical perfection and extraordinary vitality of character. Her long, steady phrases of apparently inexhaustible tone are a sheer exhilaration to listen to, and she can vary her expression with great subtlety". Our heroine had found a new outlet for her prodigious talent and it would sustain her for the rest of her career. Thoughts of an International opera career were now behind her, and though she returned to Italy and Chicago for a very few appearances, the remainder of her performing life would be spent before friendly, indeed, loving British audiences.
In January 1934 Eva returned to Turin for an opening night in a very uncharacteristic role, Catalani's Wally, and in February she again sang Sieglinde at the Regio. On 24 March the Turin Orchestra presented Beethoven's "Missa Solemnis" with Turner, Dino Borgioli, Anna Massetti Bassi and Giulio Tomei and on 11 May, at London, Turner, Richard Tauber and Conchita Supervia appeared before the King and Queen in a charity concert at Albert Hall. Eva's selections were "Dich Teure Halle" and "In Questa Reggia". The summer occupied her time with several Promenade concerts and on 18 September she returned to her home region, Bristol, for a radio concert inaugurating the new facilities of the BBC.
The winter of 1935 found Eva back at Turin for Sieglinde, the "Siegfried" Brunnhilde and a new work by Allegra called "Ave Maria". Eva was also a member of the London and Provincial Opera Society and on 24 Sepember 1935, in conjunction with the resident company she appeared as the "Siegfried" Brunnhilde at Covent Garden. Two days later she sang in "Der Freischutz" and on the 30th, she and Dino Borgioli appeared in a production of "Un Ballo in Maschera", an opera not given at that theater in sixteen years. At year's end Turner returned to Italy where she debuted at Piacenza, according to some in the role of "Turandot" and to others as the "Trovatore" Leonora. The Piacenza annals declare it to have been the Verdi work, and her name is not listed in the Puccini opera. It is hoped that further research will clarify the discrepancy.
1936 was spent entirely in Great Britain and among her engagements were a concert with John McCormack on 4 February at Albert Hall in commemoration of King George V. Later in the month she sang Isolde for the first time while on tour with the London and Provincial Opera Society in Scotland. The performance was in English and the tour visited Edinburgh and Glasgow. She alternated performances of "Tristan" with the Seigfried "Brunnhilde". The Scotsman termed her Isolde "magnificent" and her singing as Brunnhilde thusly "the great voice rose gloriously in the mounting intensity of the music". As had so often been the case there were no other performances during the year.
On 16 January 1937 Turner returned to Covent Garden for additional performances of "Ballo" and on 30 April she repeated her beloved "Turandot" with Martinelli and Mafalda Favero. On May 10 the opera was repeated with Martinelli and Licia Albanese. Portions of both performances have been released on a single CD and are the greatest evidence that we have of Turner's magnificence in the role. On the evening of George VI's Coronation, Turner had the singular honor of singing the National Anthem in honor of the event. On the 27th, she, Stignani, Martinelli and Cesare Formichi appeared in "Aida" and after an additional performance of the opera on June 29, Turner's season ended.
There were concerts at London in the autumn including one in November with Dino Borgioli. Among the selections were "O soave Fanciulla" in which he showed himself in his element, and a section of "Turandot" in which she took the honors. When Turner returned to Covent Garden on Dec 1 it was as Isolde for a single performance. The Daily Herald reported "Eva Turner took seventeen curtain calls after what can only be described as a triumph that stands comparison with the incomparable Kirsten Flagstad, who took eighteen." Richard Capell, however, after saying "Turner is the mainstay of the company" continued "yet the role demands a quality of pre-destined tragedy…. to which she, with that buoyant nature of hers, hardly responds".
1938 was a strange year, indeed. On 25 June, Turner appeared at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California as "Aida" before some twenty thousand spectators, a very long journey for one performance; perhaps there were others. In October, London saw her in Vaughan Williams' "Serenade to Music" and at Covent Garden in two performances of "Tristan" with Melchior before leaving on another journey to the United States. Eva had prepared the role of Selika in "L'Africaine" as the centerpiece of her season with the Chicago Opera, but when she arrived in mid November, she was informed, to her extreme disappointment, that the production had been cancelled. However, she triumphed as Turandot, and her Aida and Sieglinde were very well regarded. Despite excellent reviews and a very warm reception, these five performances were to close out her American opera career.
In May 1939, Turner sang two performances of "Turandot" at Covent Garden and on 5 June she sang her company farewell in a performance of "Aida". Her stage farewell to Italy and to the continent took place at Bologna in November when she sang Turandot with Galliano Masini and Licia Albanese.
Lugano was, of course, off limits, and the war years were spent in London where she often appeared as soloist at services for the Royal Air Force and at other charity events. There was little other work to be found, but Eva was delighted to "heave to" for a country "under siege", as she termed it. On 3 July 1944, her flat was bombed and a lifetime of mementos was destroyed, a loss that she bore with her usual stoic restraint and optimism. Turner had appeared at Dublin on Armistice Day 1918 as Musetta and in a curious twist of fate, VE Day found Turner at Dublin again, this time as Aida at the Gaiety Theater. Her opera
activities in the British Isles continued for three more years with tours of "Turandot" sung in English.
In 1949 Turner was offered the position of Visiting Professor of Voice at the University of Oklahoma and a one year contract became a nine year visit. She returned to London in 1959 where she was appointed Professor of Singing at the Royal Academy, a position she held until well into her eighties. Eva Turner died in her one hundredth year. No one in her time gave more to music than did she, and few received, in turn, as much, though it was not until her twilight years that she was able to fully realize the enormous love and respect with which she was held throughout the world. To her memory!
© Bob Rideout
Eva Turner was born into a very musical family at Oldham, England on 10 March, 1892 and by the age of ten was petitioning her very sympathetic parents for singing lessons. Her dream of becoming a diva was acted out on a daily basis in her family's home, and she created makeshift costumes to portray the characters that she watched when her parents took her to performances of the touring Carl Rosa Opera company. Eva had reached the ripe old age of eleven when she was sent to Dan Rootham, the teacher of Clara Butt for her first formal singing lessons. Maestro Rootham was satisfied that she was ready to enter a conservatory and in 911 Eva enrolled at London's Royal Academy of Music where she was, according to her mentors, the most prodigiously talented member of her class. She stayed at the Academy until 1914 and with her teacher's blessing decided to strike out on her own.
Eva's first job was as a chorister with the Rosa Company and she immediately launched a personal crusade to the constant annoyance of the company's manager. Even he did recognize her superior gifts, and after a period of fine tuning as a choral artist, she was allowed a few solo parts: a page in "Tannhauser", a genie in "Zauberflote" and finally the priestess in "Aida".
Audiences began to recognize the young singer's talent and before long she was appearing as Kate Pinkerton, Micaela and Musetta, to fine receptions. In the 1920 season, while the company was appearing at Covent Garden, Eva sang Santuzza, Musetta, Venus in "Tannhauser", Leonora in "Trovatore", Antonia in "Hoffmann" and Cio Cio San and it was with this engagement that her status as a major new talent was confirmed.
In 1921 Turner sang throughout England with the Rosa company and her roles included Butterfly, Santuzza, Musetta, Antonia, Elizabeth in "Tannhauser", Freia, Elsa in "Lohengrin", the "Walkuere" and "Siegfried" Brunnhilde, Leonora in "Trovatore, Aida and an opera called "Le Chant Fatal". She was more than content with her new life and signed a contract for a third season in which she added Eva in "Meistersinger", Tosca and Thais in "Thais and Talmaae to her burgeoning repertoire. She also substituted for another soloist as Nedda on at least one occasion, though playbills do not indicate when that may have occurred. Turner is also known to have sung Arline in "Bohemian Girl, Maritana, Amelia in "Ballo", Mistress Ford in "Falstaff", Donna Anna and Gounod's Marguerite, though exact dates remain unclear.
Of her Cio Cio San in 1922 the London Times reported: "The feature of the performance was an extremely clever study of the title role by Eva Turner. Her acting was unforced, sincere and at times touched with feeling. Her singing was clear and strong, a little cold maybe, but so sure and steady that she always held her bearers". In "Meistersinger" she was assessed by the Times: "very assured and acted with great vivacity" though not surprisingly "she could not quite reduce her vocal style to the intimate scale required".
In the 1924 season Eva sang Fidelio for the first time and it was this engagement that led to the breakthrough. The great Ettore Panizza was told of this wondrous new talent and on the 3rd of June he attended a performance of "Madama Butterfly". At the opera's conclusion he requested a meeting with Turner backstage and offered her an audition for performances with the La Scala Company. Though she confessed later that she had never been so frightened in her life, she and her coach travelled to Milan a short time later, and in a room sealed from the public, Eva Turner sang several selections for Arturo Toscanini. The Maestro found a smile and immediately offered her a contract, which was signed before day's end. Eva Turner returned to London to prepare Freia and Sieglinde for the La Scala Ring Cycle of 1924-25.
She was coached in Italian for nearly four months, and on 16 November, 1924, Eva Turner debuted at La Scala in "Das Rheingold" in a cast that included Nazzareno De Angelis as Wotan under the leadership of Vittorio Gui. She was reasonably well received and it would remain for her appearance as Sieglinde several weeks later to solidify her success with Italian audiences. The voice was described as of full volume with a brilliant attack at the top of the range. However, impressarios did not rush to her door, and Eva contented herself with a tour to Germany in the spring of 1925 where she appeared as Santuzza, the "Trovatore" Leonora, Aida and Tosca. Aristodeno Giorgini and Giulio Fregosi were her most frequent partners and she did achieve more than a reasonable success, especially as Aida. In the summer, she and Fregosi traveled to Vienna where they were joined by Franco Battaglia and Luigi Montesanto in several performances of "Aida", "Cavalleria", "Ballo in Maschera", "Tosca" and "Trovatore" at the Volksoper. It was expected that Turner's success would present an opportunity to appear at the Staatsoper later in the season, but political intrigues intervened and those who "owned" her roles at that theater persuaded the management to let the "English singer" have her time at the lesser theater.
Turner returned to England in the autumn of 1925 and undertook a concentrated period of study in the Italian dramatic repertoire. Eva had fallen in love with Italy and determined that she would have her successes in that country and that she would live there. An agent was hired and after a period of time Turner appeared in "La Gioconda" at Trieste's Teatro Rossetti and, on 16 November 1926, she debuted in "Aida" at Genoa's Politeama in a cast that included Albertina Dal Monte, and Ettore Bergamaschi under the baton of Mario Parenti. The revival was a great disappointment and Turner bore the brunt of the criticism, though some commentary considered it an unfair assessment of the newcomer. In any case, she was replaced in mid run by Linda Barla Ricci, whose success was no greater.
Frustration was taking a toll on her patience as she realized that her career was little more than a waiting game. "Turandot" at Brescia's Teatro Grande presented a new opportunity, and it was the one that would seal her fate. She confided to friends that she was certain her moment had come and in December of 1926 Eva Turner made headlines throughout Italy following her brilliant performance in Puccini's new opera. A dispatch to England from Milan noted the following "At the moment of going to press, we learn that Eva Turner, having completed her engagement at Brescia went to Trieste to sing in "Turandot" and was again an outstanding success".
Several biographies report performances of "Fanciulla del West" at this time in Lisbon, but, neither the Sao Carlos nor the Coliseu indicate appearances by Turner in any role at any time. She did appear at the Teatro San Luis in "Aida" at about this time and it is possible that she also sang Minnie as part of her contract.
Turner was offered a substantial contract with the Teatro Regio of Turin and her good nature and high spirits impelled her, on the strength of that alone, to purchase a small villa on Lake Lugano. She had neither the funds nor a guarantee of long seasons in Italy, but this was her ultimate desire, and she indulged herself on a whim and a wish.
Turner debuted at the Regio on 11 February 1927 as Fidelio in a cast that included the Italian heldentenor Ettore Cesa Bianchi. It was her greatest triumph to date and again the name of the little known "British import" appeared on the pages of newspapers throughout the country. On the 26th, Turner appeared as Aida with Aureliano Pertile and Irene Minghini Cattaneo under Marinuzzi's. Aida is the ultimate test for Italian audiences, and Eva's understandable trepidation was short lived. She was awarded huge ovations at every performance, and newspaper criticism was unabashed in its praise.
Marinuzzi was so impressed by her work in the Beethoven opera that he secured for Turner a contract to appear as Fidelio at the Teatro Colon of Buenos Aires. Before the journey to South America, Turner appeared as Turandot in several Italian cities, among them, La Spezia, Ferrara, Florence and Verona. Her debut at the Colon was on 17 June to a huge reception, and though Antonio Melandri, Benvenuto Franci and the conductor were all generously received, hers was clearly the triumph of the evening. There were four sold out performances, and on 15 July Turner, Melandri and Ezio Pinza appeared in the local premiere of Rimsky Korsakov's Zar Sultan and again there were nothing but praise and warm receptions for all involved. The company visited Rio de Janeiro where both operas were presented, and Sao Paolo where only the Rimsky opera was seen, this time with Tancredi Pasero in the title role.
Eva returned to Italy well rested and in the most cheerful of spirits. Her retreat at Lugano was a welcoming sight and she enjoyed the discipline of long swims whenever the weather allowed. In fact, it was her only diversion from a rigorous schedule of vocal exercises and an occasional visit by close friends from abroad. Turner waited for offers to arrive but she mostly waited in vain, and she wondered and worried. After a three month absence from the stage, Eva debuted at Naples' Teatro San Carlo on 27 December 1927 in "Turandot" with Maria Laurenti and Antonio Bagnariol and a month later she sang Elena in "Mefistofele" with Laurenti, Luigi Marini and Nazzareno De Angelis. Her success was moderate and though she received very warm receptions by large audiences, she did not complete either engagement.
Eva accepted an invitation to appear at the provincial Teatro Verdi of Pisa as Turandot in April 1928, and it was an unqualified success. In a period of three weeks she performed the role an unprecedented eleven times, but the celebrity of 1927 had become the loneliness of 1928. Genoa, Turin, Rome, La Scala, Venice, Palermo, Florence, Catania, Bologna, the great Italian theaters, were now closed to her and she was in great pain. Until she was approached by the management of Covent Garden with an offer to sing in "Turandot", "Aida" and "Cavalleria Rusticana". There would be ten performances. She was absolutely delighted and "honoured" as she declared in her acceptance letter, to return to her homeland, especially at its premiere theater. Eva confided to a few very close friends that "it was as a life preserver being tossed to a drowning sailor".
Even now, she remembered many lukewarm reviews from her days with the Carlo Rosa company, and her confidence was at a low point as she prepared for her first performance in London's International Season. As a prelude to her return, she accepted an invitation to appear in "Aida" and "Il Trovatore" at Las Palmas in the Canaries. On the evening of "Il Trovatore", the ovations were so enormous after each scene that a courier was sent to the ship on which she was to sail to England begging that it delay its departure until she should be able to leave the opera house with grace and dignity. And so it was that Eva arrived at the dock an hour late, out of breath and in full costume and makeup. The ship had waited, and as it pointed its bow to the ocean, an impromptu celebration began that greeted the sun.
On 5 June, she debuted as Turandot, and received a standing ovation after the riddle scene and again at the opera's conclusion. One review stated "She sang the extortionately difficult music with an extraordinary powerful and ringing tone. There was not a blemish, not a qualm". Her partners, Aroldo Lindi and Rosetta Pampanini, shared in her triumph, though the evening was clearly hers. Her next assignment was as Aida, and it was less well received. Among the comments from London commentators were "the way her glittering tone soared triumphantly over all in the finale of Act 2 was extraordinary", then "From the purely vocal standpoint there is no better singer of the role" and "the exciting effect of her singing tone" might have been enhanced by "periods of more reposeful singing". Audiences were not nearly so equivocal and she, along with Pertile, Minghini Cattaneo and Armando Borgioli were celebrated with enormous applause at every performance.
Her single Santuzza was also well received in the theater, though critical opinion was divided.
The most important result of her time in London was that the Chicago Civic Opera sent a representative to visit Eva, with contract in hand, for a twenty performance season and guest appearances at Boston. The contract specified that she would appear in "Aida", "Ballo in Maschera", "Cavalleria", "Trovatore" "Die Walkuere", "Nozze di Figaro" and that she be prepared to step into any of another half dozen operas, should her services be required. It was the most exciting engagement yet presented to Turner; Chicago was America's second opera company (some thought the first, and with reason) and she sealed the contract with her signature immediately. "Italy can wait", said she, "I've waited for Italy long enough!"
On 3 November Turner debuted with the Chicago Civic Opera as Aida with Cyrena Van Gordon, Ulysse Lappas, Cesare Formichi and Virgilio Lazzari. She was greeted royally by a capacity audience and the Chicago press reflected the enthusiasm that was manifested in the theater. Luigi Montesanto and Richard Bonelli sang Amonasro at later performances while Charles Marshall and Antonio Cortis alternated as Radames When Turner sang in "Un Ballo in Maschera" on 7 November, Amelita Galli Curci visited Eva's dressing room, and, in the course of a lengthy conversation, said "May I compliment you on the extraordinary manner in which you were able to preserve a most beautiful singing tone throughout the performance". Turner's other operas were "Cavalleria Rusticana", "Il Trovatore" with Van Gordon, Cortis and Bonelli, "Die Walkuere" with Leider, Olszewska, Lamont and Kipnis and "Nozze di Figaro" with Mason, Lazzari as Figaro, and Bonelli as the Count. The eminent critic, Eugene Stinson made the following observations about Turner: "She is unique as an exponent of tragedy through melody". He continued "(She is) the greatest singer known to Chicago…Pure singing is the basis of her claim to great distinction …Her phrasing is not quite so perfect…Nevertheless she remains isolated in her greatness". Eva sang in "Die Walkuere" and "Figaro" with the company at Boston in January 1929 and returned to England with a contract already signed for the following season. She had been successful beyond any expectation and she effused to many friends that she finally felt herself among the first rank of opera luminaries, and indeed she was.
Eva was invited to return to La Scala in late March for a single performances of "Turandot" and she received a warm reception, though the press was inclined to find her performance "strong at the expense of the inherent lyricism in Puccini's music". This engagement was Turner's farewell to Milan, and it remained a bitter pill for her, an experience that she shied from discussing for many years. Naples welcomed her back on 29 March in a stellar revival of "La Forza del Destino" with Maria Capuana, Merli, Gaetano Viviani and Pasero, and she was very warmly received. Her top register found audiences fairly gasping, though there was the usual equivocation about her "Italian style" and her tendency to oversing. In late May Eva returned to Covent Garden for three performances of "Turandot" with Merli. Ina Souez and Margaret Sheridan shared the role of Liu and the revival was a spectacular success for all. There was virtually nothing but praise for Turner, but carpers will find their targets, and one critic made a huge fuss about her "unpleasant facial mannerisms, entailed by the effort that the role demanded of her ".
She returned to Lugano for a most enjoyable rest as spring turned into early summer. On 21 July Turner debuted at the Verona Arena as Isabeau, partnered by the sensational top voiced tenor, Hipolito Lazaro. Theirs was a most fortunate collaboration, and the eight performances were totally sold out as Italian newspapers told the tale of a "miraculous combination of beauty and power". Several commentators observed that it was the first time in the opera's history when both the soprano and the tenor were able to rise to the impossible demands of Mascagni's music.
The composer, who apparently did not witness any of the performances, was so impressed by the "word of mouth" that he signed Turner to a contract at the Reale of Rome, where she would appear under his baton in the opera during the following season.
A long rest preceded her return to Chicago where she made her seasonal debut as Sieglinde on 21 November with much the same cast as the previous season. On 7 December she appeared as Elizabeth in "Tannhauser" with Leider, Strack, Bonelli and Kipnis and on 5 January 1930 she appeared in "Il Trovatore". It was unfortunate for Eva that Leider was solidly entrenched in Chicago and was given the single performance of a Turner specialty, "Fidelio". As compensation of a sort, Turner appeared in a Gala Concert on 10 January in the second act finale of "Aida", which "brought the house to its feet". The evening included scenes from "Romeo et Juliette" and "Rigoletto" and ended with Act four of "Trovatore" with Muzio and Cortis. On 3 February, Eva appeared at Boson in "Die Walkure". It was clear that she was not going to crack the ranks of the Italian repertoire, which was owned by Raisa and Muzio, nor would she be the first choice for the German repertoire.
Her performances were exactly half of the previous season, and she returned to Europe in a melancholy mood, reflecting unhappily on the pattern of a career that simply would not take wing.
On 22 March the long awaited debut at Rome became reality. Mascagni conducted four performances of his still very popular opera, "Isabeau", and after each, Turner had a tremendous reaction from the audience. It was one of the major triumphs of the season and there was nothing but praise in the press. However, as had happened so often before, it would also represent both her hail and her farewell to that theater and to that city. In April Eva debuted at Florence on its opening night in "Fidelio" and again she succeeded with a very enthusiastic audience.
There were five performances. On 13 May she returned to Covent Garden for "Die Waluere" with Leider and Lauritz Melchior and on the 28th she sang the first of four performances of "Aida" with Minghini Cattaneo, Merli, John Brownlee and Pinza. This time Eva received a different review from any previously penned in London. The Times raved about her "magical sweetness in the middle register". A four month rest preceded a journey to Caracas where she sang in "Turandot", "Aida" and "Lohengrin" from the end of November until the middle of December.
In 1931, there were three performances of "Aida" at Naples' San Carlo in March, and in the autumn she sang Turandot at Perugia and toured to Athens, though the roles there have not been identified. In early 1932 Turner sang Sielglinde at Turin and Florence. A year would pass before a playbill contained her name when she returned to London in April for the Manzoni Requiem under the leadership of Sir Adrian Boult. On May 22, 1933 Tuner sang in "Aida" at Covent Garden with Nini Giani, Battaglia and Armando Borgioli. The eminent British musical commentator, Richard Capell noted: "though not irreproachable, (Turner) was far a away the best of the soloists". Thomas Beecham's conducting was considered the highlight of the revival. Turner seemed to recognize that her career in opera was not going to bring the rewards about which she had dreamed and she signed with Beecham and the London Philharmonic for a month long tour of England in the autumn of 1933. At Birmingham, the critic, Eric Blom, noted "In her singing of such big dramatic music (Freischutz and Tannhauser for example) her wonderful voice, her superb technique and unique temperament conspire together in producing performances of musical perfection and extraordinary vitality of character. Her long, steady phrases of apparently inexhaustible tone are a sheer exhilaration to listen to, and she can vary her expression with great subtlety". Our heroine had found a new outlet for her prodigious talent and it would sustain her for the rest of her career. Thoughts of an International opera career were now behind her, and though she returned to Italy and Chicago for a very few appearances, the remainder of her performing life would be spent before friendly, indeed, loving British audiences.
In January 1934 Eva returned to Turin for an opening night in a very uncharacteristic role, Catalani's Wally, and in February she again sang Sieglinde at the Regio. On 24 March the Turin Orchestra presented Beethoven's "Missa Solemnis" with Turner, Dino Borgioli, Anna Massetti Bassi and Giulio Tomei and on 11 May, at London, Turner, Richard Tauber and Conchita Supervia appeared before the King and Queen in a charity concert at Albert Hall. Eva's selections were "Dich Teure Halle" and "In Questa Reggia". The summer occupied her time with several Promenade concerts and on 18 September she returned to her home region, Bristol, for a radio concert inaugurating the new facilities of the BBC.
The winter of 1935 found Eva back at Turin for Sieglinde, the "Siegfried" Brunnhilde and a new work by Allegra called "Ave Maria". Eva was also a member of the London and Provincial Opera Society and on 24 Sepember 1935, in conjunction with the resident company she appeared as the "Siegfried" Brunnhilde at Covent Garden. Two days later she sang in "Der Freischutz" and on the 30th, she and Dino Borgioli appeared in a production of "Un Ballo in Maschera", an opera not given at that theater in sixteen years. At year's end Turner returned to Italy where she debuted at Piacenza, according to some in the role of "Turandot" and to others as the "Trovatore" Leonora. The Piacenza annals declare it to have been the Verdi work, and her name is not listed in the Puccini opera. It is hoped that further research will clarify the discrepancy.
1936 was spent entirely in Great Britain and among her engagements were a concert with John McCormack on 4 February at Albert Hall in commemoration of King George V. Later in the month she sang Isolde for the first time while on tour with the London and Provincial Opera Society in Scotland. The performance was in English and the tour visited Edinburgh and Glasgow. She alternated performances of "Tristan" with the Seigfried "Brunnhilde". The Scotsman termed her Isolde "magnificent" and her singing as Brunnhilde thusly "the great voice rose gloriously in the mounting intensity of the music". As had so often been the case there were no other performances during the year.
On 16 January 1937 Turner returned to Covent Garden for additional performances of "Ballo" and on 30 April she repeated her beloved "Turandot" with Martinelli and Mafalda Favero. On May 10 the opera was repeated with Martinelli and Licia Albanese. Portions of both performances have been released on a single CD and are the greatest evidence that we have of Turner's magnificence in the role. On the evening of George VI's Coronation, Turner had the singular honor of singing the National Anthem in honor of the event. On the 27th, she, Stignani, Martinelli and Cesare Formichi appeared in "Aida" and after an additional performance of the opera on June 29, Turner's season ended.
There were concerts at London in the autumn including one in November with Dino Borgioli. Among the selections were "O soave Fanciulla" in which he showed himself in his element, and a section of "Turandot" in which she took the honors. When Turner returned to Covent Garden on Dec 1 it was as Isolde for a single performance. The Daily Herald reported "Eva Turner took seventeen curtain calls after what can only be described as a triumph that stands comparison with the incomparable Kirsten Flagstad, who took eighteen." Richard Capell, however, after saying "Turner is the mainstay of the company" continued "yet the role demands a quality of pre-destined tragedy…. to which she, with that buoyant nature of hers, hardly responds".
1938 was a strange year, indeed. On 25 June, Turner appeared at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California as "Aida" before some twenty thousand spectators, a very long journey for one performance; perhaps there were others. In October, London saw her in Vaughan Williams' "Serenade to Music" and at Covent Garden in two performances of "Tristan" with Melchior before leaving on another journey to the United States. Eva had prepared the role of Selika in "L'Africaine" as the centerpiece of her season with the Chicago Opera, but when she arrived in mid November, she was informed, to her extreme disappointment, that the production had been cancelled. However, she triumphed as Turandot, and her Aida and Sieglinde were very well regarded. Despite excellent reviews and a very warm reception, these five performances were to close out her American opera career.
In May 1939, Turner sang two performances of "Turandot" at Covent Garden and on 5 June she sang her company farewell in a performance of "Aida". Her stage farewell to Italy and to the continent took place at Bologna in November when she sang Turandot with Galliano Masini and Licia Albanese.
Lugano was, of course, off limits, and the war years were spent in London where she often appeared as soloist at services for the Royal Air Force and at other charity events. There was little other work to be found, but Eva was delighted to "heave to" for a country "under siege", as she termed it. On 3 July 1944, her flat was bombed and a lifetime of mementos was destroyed, a loss that she bore with her usual stoic restraint and optimism. Turner had appeared at Dublin on Armistice Day 1918 as Musetta and in a curious twist of fate, VE Day found Turner at Dublin again, this time as Aida at the Gaiety Theater. Her opera
activities in the British Isles continued for three more years with tours of "Turandot" sung in English.
In 1949 Turner was offered the position of Visiting Professor of Voice at the University of Oklahoma and a one year contract became a nine year visit. She returned to London in 1959 where she was appointed Professor of Singing at the Royal Academy, a position she held until well into her eighties. Eva Turner died in her one hundredth year. No one in her time gave more to music than did she, and few received, in turn, as much, though it was not until her twilight years that she was able to fully realize the enormous love and respect with which she was held throughout the world. To her memory!
© Bob Rideout