Emma Nevada (née Wixom) (7 February 1859 â€" 20 June 1940) was an
American operatic soprano particularly known for her performances in
operas by Bellini and Donizetti and the French composers Ambroise
Thomas, Charles Gounod, and Léo Delibes. Considered one of the finest
coloratura sopranos of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, her
most famous roles were Amina in La sonnambula, and the title roles in
Lakmé, Mignon, Mireille, and Lucia di Lammermoor.Emma Nevada was born
in Alpha, California to Maria O'Boy Wixom and Dr. William Wallace
Wixom, who was the physician for the gold mine camp there. She spent
her early childhood in nearby Nevada City (from which she took her
stage name) before the family moved to Austin, Nevada where a new
silver mine had opened. A gifted linguist who learned sign language
for the deaf and spoke Paiute, Washoe and Shoshone, she studied
Spanish, Italian, French and German at Mills College in California as
well as music. She then studied singing for three years in Vienna with
Mathilde Marchesi before making her stage debut at Her Majesty's
Theatre in London as Amina in La sonnambula on 17 May 1880. She was an
adept fencer and also practiced with Indian clubs to maintain her
physical stamina for singing opera.Debuts followed at La Scala in
Milan in 1881 and the Opéra-Comique in Paris in 1883 when she sang
Zora in Félicien-César David's La perle du Brésil. In 1884 she
toured the United States with Mapleson's opera company, after which
she returned to Europe where she continued to sing in leading opera
houses and concert halls. The Mapleson tour was the only time she sang
on the opera stages of her native country, although she did return to
the United States for concert tours in 1885, 1899, and 1901. Pablo
Casals was one of the trio of musicians accompanying her in the 1901
concerts. Emma Nevada Biography, NetWorth, Height, Age, Weight, Family, Married, Son, Daughter