cover image Rosa Ponselle: A Centenary Biography

Rosa Ponselle: A Centenary Biography

James A. Drake. Amadeus Press, $39.95 (534pp) ISBN 978-1-57467-019-6

One of this century's greatest sopranos, American-born Rosa Ponselle (1897-1981) was, by this account, a forceful personality, a self-absorbed diva, at times pretentious and petulant, who helped to create the myths surrounding her. With meticulous detective work, Drake, author of the authorized biography Ponselle published in 1982, here brings together, scrapbook style, extensive interviews with the singer, recollections by friends, family members, associates, and documentation (reviews, newspaper articles, correspondence) directly relevant to the events discussed in each interview. The author effectively challenges any number of legends involving Ponselle's penurious childhood in Connecticut, her vaudeville act in 1917-18 with her sister Carmelita, her spectacular operatic and concert career, her mismatched marriage at age 39 to Carl Jackson, the unmusical 29-year-old son of Baltimore's mayor, and her confinement to a psychiatric hospital in 1946, which triggered her return to the Catholic faith. A director of the University of Central Florida, Drake has produced a vibrant tribute to the energetic diva, with photos, memorabilia and a discography, published on the centenary of her birth. (Apr.)