Old Photograph Mary Garden Scotland

Old photograph of Mary Garden, born, 20 February 1874, in Aberdeen, Scotland. Mary was a Scottish American operatic soprano with a substantial career in France and America in the first third of the 20th century. She spent the latter part of her childhood and youth in the United States and eventually became an American citizen, although she lived in France for many years and eventually retired to Scotland, where she died. Her parents, both from Aberdeen, were Robert Davidson Garden, born 19 July 1855, and Mary Joss Garden, born 23 February 1860. The family moved to Chicopee, Massachusetts, United States when she was nine years old. They then moved to Hartford, Connecticut a few years later, thence Chicago in 1888 when Mary was 14. By 1910, Garden had become a household name within America. She left the Manhattan Opera House to join the Chicago Grand Opera Company where she sang from 1910 to 1913 in such roles as Mélisande, Fanny in Massenet's Sapho, Dulcinée in Massenet's Don Quichotte, the Prince in Massenet's Cendrillon, the title role in Georges Bizet's Carmen, and the title role in Giacomo Puccini's Tosca. During this time she also sang in other American cities, notably appearing in the world premiere of Victor Herbert's Natoma in Philadelphia on 25 February 1911 and in the title role Février's Monna Vanna in its United States premiere in Boston. During World War I she was decorated by the French and Serbian governments and made a Chevalier of the Légion d'Honneur in 1921. In 1922 Garden became the director of the newly formed Chicago Civic Opera where she also performed roles until 1931. She retired from the opera stage in 1934, after making her last appearance as Katyusha in Franco Alfano's Risurrezione at the Opéra-Comique. After retiring, Garden worked as a talent scout for MGM and gave lectures and recitals, mostly on the life and works of Claude Debussy up through 1949. For much of her life she had openly encouraged young singers and even secretly paid for them to receive training. She continued to support young artists after her retirement through master classes, often allowing aspiring artists to attend for free. Mary died in Inverurie, on 3 January 1967, close to Aberdeen, where she spent the last 30 years of her life.



All photographs are copyright of Sandy Stevenson, Tour Scotland, and may not be used without permission.

View the most recent Tour Scotland photographs.