Performing Arts Library
College of St. Catherine

Women Performers, Impressarios, etc.:
Biographies and Autobiographies

Last updated: 21 January 2000

These titles are alphabetized according to the subject of the biography.

Anderson, Marian (singer; 1897-1993)

Anderson, Marian. My Lord, What a Morning: An Autobiography. New York: Viking Press, 1956.
St. Paul Campus Library, Lower Level ML429 AN2M

 

Vehanen, Kosti. Marian Anderson: A Portrait. New York: McGraw-Hill, [1941].
St. Paul Campus Library, Lower Level ML420 AN2V

 

Beach, Amy (composer, pianist; 1867-1944)

Jenkins, Walter S. The Remarkable Mrs. Beach, American Composer: A Biographical Account Based on Her Diaries, Letters, Newspaper Clippings, and Personal Reminiscences. Michigan: Harmonie Park Press, 1994.
Performing Arts Library ML410 .B36 J46 1994

 

Block, Adrienne Fried. Amy Beach, Passionate Victorian: The Life and Work of an American Composer, 1867-1944. New York: Oxford University Press, 1998.

Performing Arts Library ML410 .B36 B56 1998

 

Bustabo, Guila (violinist; 1919- )

Roth, Henry. Master Violinists in Performance. Neptune City, NJ: Paganiniana Publications, 1982.
Performing Arts Library ML857 .R6
Contains a chapter, "Women and the Violin," pp. 245-313, which discusses Erica Morini, Ginette Neveu, Ida Haendel, Guila Bustabo, and many other women violinists.

 

Caballé, Montserrat (opera singer; 1933- )

Pullen, Robert and Stephen Taylor. Montserrat Caballé: Casta Diva. Boston: Northeastern Unversity Press, 1995.
St. Paul Campus Library, Lower Level ML420 .C17 P85 1995

 

Callas, Maria (opera singer; 1923-1977)

Ardoin, John and Gerald Fitzgerald. Callas: The Art and the Life; The Great Years. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1974.
Performing Arts Library Oversize ML420 .C18 C33

 

Ardoin, John. The Callas Legacy. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1977.
Performing Arts Library ML420 .C18 A85 1977b

 

Galatopoulos, Stelios. Callas, La Divina: Art That Conceals Art. Elmsford, NY: London House & Maxwell, [1970].
St. Paul Campus Library, Lower Level ML420 .C18 G24 1970

 

Meneghini, Giovanni Battista. My Wife, Maria Callas. New York: Garrar Straus Giroux, 1982.
St. Paul Campus Library, Lower Level ML420 .C18 M43 1982

 

Scott, Michael. Maria Meneghini Callas. Boston: Northeastern University Press, 1992.
Performing Arts Library ML420 .C18 S35 1992

 

Stancioff, Nadia. Maria Callas Remembered. New York: Dutton, 1987.
Performing Arts Library ML420 .C18 S68 1987

 

Stassinopoulos, Arianna. Maria Callas: The Woman Behind the Legend. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1981.
St. Paul Campus Library, Lower Level ML420 .C18 S7

 

Flagstad, Kirsten (opera singer; 1895-1962)

McArthur, Edwin. Flagstad: A Personal Memoir. New York: A.A. Knopf, 1965.
St. Paul Campus Library, Lower Level ML420 F55M

 

Galli-Curci, Amelita (opera singer; 1882-1963)

Le Massena, C. E. Galli-Curci's Life of Song. Beverly Hills, CA: Monitor Book Co., 1978.
Performing Arts Library ML420 .G17 L4 1978

 

Garden, Mary (opera singer; 1874-1967)

Garden, Mary and Louis Biancolli. Mary Garden's Story. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1951.
Performing Arts Library ML420 .G25 A3

 

Haendel, Ida (violinist; 1924- )

Roth, Henry. Master Violinists in Performance. Neptune City, NJ: Paganiniana Publications, 1982.
Performing Arts Library ML857 .R6
Contains a chapter, "Women and the Violin," pp. 245-313, which discusses Erica Morini, Ginette Neveu, Ida Haendel, Guila Bustabo, and many other women violinists.

 

Hensel, Fanny Mendelssohn (composer & pianist; 1805-1847)

The Letters of Fanny Hensel to Felix Mendelssohn. Collected, edited, and translated with introductory essays and notes by Marcia J. Citron. n.p.: Pendragon Press, 1987.
Performing Arts Library ML410 .H482 A4 1987

 

Tillard, Françoise. Fanny Mendelssohn. Translated by Camille Naish. Portland, OR: Amadeus Press, 1996.
Performing Arts Library ML410 .H482 T513 1996

 

Landowska, Wanda (harpsichordist; 1879-1959)

Landowska, Wanda. Landowska on Music. Collected, edited, and translated by Denise Restout. New York: Stein and Day, 1964.
Performing Arts Library ML417 L23L

 

Lehmann, Lotte (opera singer; 1888-1976)

Lehmann, Lotte. Midway in My Song: The Autobiography of Lotte Lehmann. Westport, CT:Greenwood Press, [1970].
St. Paul Campus Library, Lower Level ML420 L33A33

 

Lhévinne, Rosina (pianist; 1880-1976)

Wallace, Robert K. A Century of Music-Making: The Lives of Josef & Rosina Lhévinne. Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press, 1976.
Performing Arts Library ML417 .L65 W3

 

Long, Marguerite (pianist; 1874-1966)

Dunoyer, Cecilia. Marguerite Long: A Life in French Music, 1874-1966. Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press, 1993.
Performing Arts Library ML417 .L85 D86 1993

 

Malibran, Maria (opera singer; 1808-1836)

Bushnell, Howard. Maria Malibran: A Biography of the Singer. University Park: Pennsylvania State University Press, 1979.
Performing Arts Library ML420 .M2 B87

 

FitzLyon, April. Maria Malibran: Diva of the Romantic Age. London: Souvenir Press, 1987.
Performing Arts Library ML420 .M2 F6 1987

 

McCabe, Robin (pianist)

Ruttencutter, Helen Drees. Pianist's Progress. New York: Crowell, 1979.
Performing Arts Library ML417 .M17 R9
"A New Yorker reporter profiles the world of a struggling young musician--from Juilliard to the concert stage."

 

Melba, Nellie (stage name of the opera singer, Mrs. Helen Porter Armstrong, 1859-1931)

Hetherington, John. Melba: A Biography. New York: Farrar, Straus & Giroux, [1968].
St. Paul Campus Library, Lower Level ML420 M35H

 

Moore, Grace (opera singer; 1898-1947)

Farrar, Rowena Rutherford. Grace Moore and Her Many Worlds. New York: Cornwall Books, 1982.
Performing Arts Library ML420 .M57 F4 1982

 

Morini, Erica (violinist; 1904-1995)

Roth, Henry. Master Violinists in Performance. Neptune City, NJ: Paganiniana Publications, 1982.
Performing Arts Library ML857 .R6
Contains a chapter, "Women and the Violin," pp. 245-313, which discusses Erica Morini, Ginette Neveu, Ida Haendel, Guila Bustabo, and many other women violinists.

 

Neveu, Ginette (violinist; 1919-1949)

Roth, Henry. Master Violinists in Performance. Neptune City, NJ: Paganiniana Publications, 1982.
Performing Arts Library ML857 .R6
Contains a chapter, "Women and the Violin," pp. 245-313, which discusses Erica Morini, Ginette Neveu, Ida Haendel, Guila Bustabo, and many other women violinists.

 

Piaf, Edith (singer; 1915-1963)

Berteaut, Simone. Piaf: A Biography. New York: Harper & Row, [1972].
St. Paul Campus Library, Lower Level ML420 P52B53

 

Piaf, Edith. The Wheel of Fortune: The Autobiography of Edith Piaf. Translated by Peter Trewartha and Andree Masoin de Virton. Philadelphia: Chilton Books, 1965.
St. Paul Campus Library, Lower Level ML420 .P52 A33

 

Ponselle, Rosa (opera singer; 1897-1981)

Phillips-Matz, Mary Jane. Rosa Ponselle: American Diva. Boston: Northeastern University Press, 1997.
Performing Arts Library ML420 .P825 P5 1997

 

Powell, Maud (violinist, composer; 1868-1920)

Shaffer, Karen A. and Neva Garner Greenwood. Maud Powell: Pioneer American Violinist. Ames, IA: Iowa State University Press for the Maud Powell Foundation, 1988.
Performing Arts Library ML418 .P79 S5 1988

 

Rice, Helen (impressario; 1901-1980)

McIntosh, Rustin. Helen Rice: The Great Lady of Chamber Music. Burlington, VT: George Little Press, 1983.
Performing Arts Library ML429 .R53 M4 1983

 

Samaroff Stokowski, Olga (pianist; 1882-1948)

Kline, Donna Staley. Olga Samaroff Stokowski: An American Virtuoso on the World Stage. College Station: Texas A & M University Press, 1996.
Performing Arts Library ML417 .S18 K6 1996

 

Schumann, Clara (pianist, composer; 1819-1896)

The Marriage Diaries of Robert & Clara Schumann: From Their Wedding Day through the Russia Trip. Boston: Northeastern University Press, 1993.
Performing Arts Library ML390 .S39713 1993

 

Reich, Nancy B. Clara Schumann: The Artist and the Woman. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1985.
Performing Arts Library ML417 .S4 R4 1985

 

Reich, Nancy B. "Clara Schumann." In Women Making Music: The Western Art Tradition, 1150-1950, pp. 249-281. Edited by Jane Bowers and Judith Tick. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1986.
Performing Arts Library ML82 .W67 1986

 

Sills, Beverly (opera singer; 1929- )

Sills, Beverly and Lawrence Linderman. Beverly: An Autobiography. Toronto; New York: Bantam Books, 1987.
St. Paul Campus Library, Lower Level ML420 .S562 A3 1987

 

Sills, Beverly. Bubbles: A Self-Portrait. Indianapolis: Bobbs-Merrill, 1976.
St. Paul Campus Library, Lower Level ML420 .S562 A3

 

Sutherland, Joan (opera singer; 1926- )

Braddon, Russell. Joan Sutherland. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1962.
St. Paul Campus Library, Lower Level ML420 .S96 B7

 

Sutherland, Joan. A Prima Donna's Progress: The Autobiography of Joan Sutherland. Washington, DC: Regnery Publishing, 1997.
Performing Arts Library ML420 .S96 A3 1997

 

Tebaldi, Renata (opera singer; 1922- )

Seroff, Victor. Renata Tebaldi: The Woman and the Diva. New York: Appleton-Century-Crofts, 1961.
St. Paul Campus Library, Lower Level ML420 T22S

 

Teyte, Maggie (opera singer; 1888-1976)

O'Connor, Garry. The Pursuit of Perfection: A Life of Maggie Teyte. New York: Atheneum, 1979.
Performing Arts Library ML420 .T39 O3 1979b

 

Thursby, Emma (singer; 1845-1931)

Gipson, Richard McCandless. The Life of Emma Thursby, 1845-1931. New York: New York Historical Society, 1940.
St. Paul Campus Library, Lower Level ML420 T42G

 

Viardot-Garcia, Pauline (opera singer and composer; 1821-1910)

FitzLyon, April. The Price of Genius: A Life of Pauline Viardot. London: John Calder, 1964.
Performing Arts Library ML420 .V36 F68 1964

 

Vishnevskaya, Galina (opera singer; 1926- )

Vishnevskaya, Galina. Galina: A Russian Story. Translated from the Russian by Guy Daniels. San Diego: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1984.
Performing Arts Library ML420 .V3975 A313 1984