Margaret Burke Sheridan facts for kids
Margaret Burke Sheridan (born October 15, 1889 – died April 16, 1958) was a famous Irish opera singer. She was born in Castlebar, County Mayo, Ireland. People often called her Maggie from Mayo. She is known as Ireland's second most important female opera star, after Catherine Hayes.
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Her Amazing Career
Margaret Sheridan started learning to sing at school in Dublin. She also took lessons from Vincent O'Brien. In 1908, she won a gold medal at the Feis Ceoil, which is a big music competition.
From 1909 to 1911, she studied at the Royal Academy of Music in London. There, she met Guglielmo Marconi, a famous Italian inventor. Marconi helped her arrange more opera studies in Rome, Italy.
Starting in Opera
With Marconi's help, Margaret auditioned in 1916 for Alfredo Martino, a top singing teacher. She made her first big performance in January 1918. This was at the Teatro Costanzi in Rome, in Puccini's opera La Bohème.
In July 1919, she sang at the Royal Opera House (Covent Garden) in London. She played the main role in Iris by Pietro Mascagni.
Success in Italy
Margaret then went back to Italy, where her career grew even more. She performed at the Teatro Dal Verme in Milan and the Teatro San Carlo in Naples. She mostly sang in operas by Puccini.
In 1922, she sang for the first time at La Scala in Milan. This is one of the most famous opera houses in the world! She performed in La Wally by Catalani, led by the famous conductor Toscanini. For several years, she had great success singing at La Scala.
Her most famous role was probably Madama Butterfly. She sang this role many times in Italy and at Covent Garden. People said that Puccini himself was amazed when she played Madama Butterfly.
Later Years
Even with all her success, Margaret Sheridan's career was not very long. She started having problems with her voice. Because of this, she stopped performing around 1930, except for a few concerts.
She lived in Dublin for many years and passed away quietly. Her remains were buried in Glasnevin Cemetery in Dublin.
Recordings She Made
Margaret Sheridan made a full recording of Madama Butterfly with the La Scala orchestra between 1929 and 1930. These were on old gramophone records.
She also recorded many opera duets with the tenor Aureliano Pertile. Plus, she recorded songs from operas by composers like Michael William Balfe, Arrigo Boito, Giacomo Puccini, Giuseppe Verdi, and Richard Wagner. She also recorded different Irish traditional songs.
See also
- List of people on stamps of Ireland
