A Singer's Story: Sally Frothingham Ely

Sally Frothingham Ely was born in 1874 and died in 1917 at the age of 43, having studied with the great vocal pedagogue Mathilde Marchesi in Paris.

When you read Ely’s memoir A Singer’s Story, which was published after her death, you glean Marchesi thought Ely’s voice was one of the greatest she had ever heard. But like many women of her time, Ely didn’t have a career. Instead, she married “My Fairy Prince,” a man who became a doctor, and whom she adored all her life.

Ely tells us a lot about Marchesi and her manner in the studio. Kindness was an insult, while fusillades of invective were shot at the talented in order to toughen them up. She also threw things. When twenty of Marchesi’s American students demanded their time? Marchesi told them they were free to leave and replaced them with twenty more students. Who could do that today?

You’ll find Marchesi’s insults in the text along with Ely’s vivid recollection of her remarkable life in Paris as a young woman. Knowing how the story ends makes for a sad, poignant tale, one that is beautifully written and full of fascinating details and characters.

Marchesi’s répétiteur—Monsieur Mangin—is a hoot. I laughed out loud when Ely quoted his aside: “When god gives a voice like this, it is wicked to waste it in churches.”

Find this and a great deal more in Ely’s text. I’d be curious to know what you think. And if you are curious about Marchesi’s method, which she learned from Manuel García and taught Ely? It hasn't been lost. Contact me to make it your own.