Sofia Charlebois

Sofia Charlebois (May 11, 1887 – October 13, 1948), also seen as Sophie Charlebois, Sophie Charlotte Wood, and from 1912 as Sofia Charlebois Gallo, was an American lyric soprano opera singer.

Sofia Charlebois
Charlebois in a heavily beaded costume, from a 1916 publication

Early life

Sophie Charlotte Wood was born in San Francisco, California, the daughter of Charles C. Wood (also known as Charles Charlebois) and Delilah Kashow Wood. Her grandfather was Israel Kashow, who ran a fishery on Belvedere Island;[1][2] he raised Sophie after both her parents died in 1892. She attended San Francisco State University, and the Frank Damrosch Conservatory in New York City.

Career

Charlebois toured with the Lambardi Grand Opera Company from 1910, and with the San Carlo Grand Opera Company, sharing soprano parts in the latter company with Anna Fitziu, Marie Rappold, Tamaki Miura, Dorothy Jardon, and Josephine Lucchese.[3][4] Roles she sang included Micaela in Carmen,[5] Marguerite in Faust,[6] Nedda in Pagliacci,[7] Musetta in La bohème,[8] and Giulietta in The Tales of Hoffmann.[9] "Sophie Charlebois in the difficult but thoroughly pleasing part of Musetta made a distinct success," wrote one reviewer in 1919, adding "She is a daintly little piece of Dresden china, very attractive, and her acting very vivacious. She has a voice of pleasing quality and considerable range."[10]

Personal life

Charlebois married Italian opera impresario Fortune Gallo in 1912.[11][12] She and Gallo toured together internationally with opera productions; Gallo said of Charlebois, "I am sure my wife would not have been happy had her marriage meant the sacrifice of her career as a singer."[13] She died as a passenger aboard the ocean liner Saturnia in 1948, aged 61 years.[14][15]

References
  1. Jim Wood, "Belvedere" Marin Magazine (January 2008).
  2. "Two Opera Stars May Visit Tiburon" Mill Valley Record (March 16, 1934): 1. via California Digital Newspaper Collection
  3. Advertisement, Musical Courier (August 31, 1922): 8.
  4. "The San Carlo Opera Company" Musical Courier (September 7, 1922): 21.
  5. "Opera Goes Find San Carlo Offerings Much to their Liking" Musical Courier (September 28, 1922): 9.
  6. "San Carlo Opera Company Ends a Most Successful Season at the Century" Musical Courier (October 19, 1922): 24.
  7. "Rochester Shows Keen Interest in Grand Opera Presentations" Musical Courier (November 23, 1922): 18.
  8. "'Butterfly' and Other San Carlo Offerings Delight San Francisco" Musical America (March 1, 1919): 18.
  9. "San Carlo Opera Company Visits Buffalo" Musical Leader (May 4, 1922): 444.
  10. "'La Boheme', December 30, 1918" Music News (January 17, 1919): 18.
  11. "Gallo Convinced America is Opera Mad" Musical America (March 29, 1919): 31.
  12. Leta E. Miller, Music and Politics in San Francisco: From the 1906 Quake to the Second World War (University of California Press 2012): 154. ISBN 9780520268913
  13. "Sunshine in Voice Won Love and Holds It Say Stars Who Join Career" Honolulu Star-Bulletin (November 3, 1925): 3. via Newspapers.com
  14. "The Final Curtain" The Billboard (October 30, 1948): 47.
  15. "Mrs. Gallo Dies Aboard Ship Bound for N. Y." San Francisco Examiner (October 17, 1948): 14. via Newspapers.com
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