Anna Case

Anna Case (October 29, 1887 – January 7, 1984; aged 96) was an American soprano. She recorded with Thomas Alva Edison, who used her voice extensively in "tone tests" of whether a live audience could tell the difference between the actual singer and a recording. In addition to recordings for Edison Records on both phonograph cylinder and Diamond Disc, Case recorded for Victor and Columbia Records, and made sound film for Vitaphone.

Anna Case in 1917
Anna Case

Biography

She was born on October 29, 1887,[1] in Clinton, New Jersey.[2]

She sang in the American premiere of Boris Godunov in 1913 at the Metropolitan Opera.[3]

In 1919 Case appeared in the silent drama film The Hidden Truth (1919).[4] She also appeared in documentaries about sound recording.

In 1930, before retiring in the same year, she recorded "Just Awearyin' for You" by Frank Lebby Stanton and Carrie Jacobs-Bond.[5]

In 1931, she married ITT Corporation executive Clarence Mackay.[6]

Upon her death on January 7, 1984, in New York City, she bequeathed her 167.97-carat (33.59 g) Colombian emerald ring and Boucheron necklace to the Smithsonian Institution.[7]

References
  1. "United States Social Security Death Index," database, FamilySearch(https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:JT1B-FY6 : 20 May 2014), Anna Mackay, Feb 1984; citing U.S. Social Security Administration, Death Master File, database (Alexandria, Virginia: National Technical Information Service, ongoing).
  2. Slusher, Jon. "Historical display at 47 Leigh St. in Clinton a ‘work in progress'", Hunterdon Review, June 4, 2009. Accessed May 29, 2013. "Another prominent resident was Anna Case, who sang at the Metropolitan Opera in New York City and married town resident John McKay."
  3. "American Premiere of 'Boris Godounoff' Wednesday". The New York Times. March 12, 1913. Retrieved 2011-03-09. Boris Godounoff, the Russian opera by Moussorgsky, will be the feature of next week's repertoire at the Metropolitan Opera House, where it will have its first American hearing on Wednesday evening. It will be conducted by Mr. Toscanini, and the cast will include Madames Homer, Case, Sparkes, Maubourg, and Duchene, and Messrs. Didur, Althouse, Rothier, Reiss, Bada, De Segurola, Rossi, Audisi, Reschiglian, and Kreidler.
  4. Anna Case at IMDb
  5. Edison's Favorite Singer on YouTube (accessed 7 February 2010).
  6. K. J. Kutsch & Leo Riemens, A Concise Biographical Dictionary of Singers (Clifton Park, NY: Chilton Book Company, 1969).
  7. See Clarence Mackay.


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