Music in Maine

Lillian Nordic signed her photograph, "To the library, Lillian Nordica."

The date is uncertain, but it is thought she presented it to the library trustees on the occasion of her last public performance in Farmington on August 17, 1911. The concert was held at Merrill Auditorium at the Farmington Normal School.

Lillian Nordica (Lillian Norton 1857-1914, born in Farmington) was America's first and most glamorous opera singer to attain true international prominence.

She studied in Milan, where she made her operatic debut in 1879.

She sang in St. Petersburg, Paris, and London and in 1883 made her debut at the Academy of Music, New York City, and in 1890 at the Metropolitan Opera.

Nordica (Lillian Norton 1857-1914, born in Farmington, Maine) was America's first and most glamorous opera singer to attain true international prominence. Here she is in Italy in 1878.

Lillian Nordica, famous opera singer born in Farmington in 1857, sang Violetta (Traviata, Verdi) at the Teatro Guillaume, Brescia, in 1879. Her debut of Violetta in London was at the Covent Garden in 1887.

Lillian Nordica, famous opera singer born in Farmington in 1857, as Valentine in London, 1887. Nordica was a friend of British royalty and was commanded to sing at Buckingham Palace.

This tiara of diamonds became Lillian Nordica's trademark. The coronet contained 233 diamonds set in platinum and was presented to her by her fans the night of "Lohengrin" at the Metropolitan Opera House in New York City on April 15, 1896.

Nordica was a famous opera singer born in Farmington in 1857.

Tiffany & Co. of New York made the tiara.

Portrait of opera singer Lillian Nordica by Hermann Schmiechen.

Lillian, a native of Farmington, was the first singer to be heard in the new Trocadero in Paris and her assocation with the Metropolitan Opera House in New York brought her fame.

Her birth home is now a museum called the Nordica Homestead Museum and many of her belongings can be viewed including her gowns, tiaras, furniture, and paintings.

Lillian Nordica (American Soprano, born Lillian Norton, 1857-1914, born in Farmington, Maine) as Margaret of Navarre from the libretto, "The Huguenots" performed in St. Petersburg, Russia.

Nordica was the first American diva to sing Wagner and the first to sing Elsa. She studied the role under Cosima Wagner, Richard Wagner's wife.
Nordica was born Lillian Norton in Farmington in 1857.

Lillian Nordica (1857-1914), a noted American soprano, was a native of Farmington.

This photograph was taken in Berlin in 1894 with her beloved black Standard Poodle, Turk, in moderate Continental clip. Turk traveled with her throughout the USA and Europe. This image appeared in Opera News, June 2004, p. 39.

Poster for a Lillian Nordica concert at the Coliseum in Richmond, Indiana, April 19, 1897.

The year is not certain, but Nordica undertook a tour of the United States in 1897.

Lillian Nordica (Lillian Norton 1857-1914, born in Farmington, Maine) was America's first and most glamorous opera singer to attain true international prominence. On November 28, 1904, she appeared in a revival of La Gioconda with Enrico Caruso at the Metropolitan in New York.

Madame Lillain Nordica's Company sailed for Sydney on the Ventura, landing on July 21, 1913. Here she is seen after a concert surrounded by flowers from her fans. Nordica was a renowed opera singer who was born in Farmington in 1857. She is wearing the black silk bengaline jacket with matching ivory lapels, seen in MMN # 17266.

Lillian Nordica began a "Farewell Tour" in 1913, and most likely this was the year for the June 17th concert. Later that year she was on a voyage when the steamer Tasman struck a reef of the coast of New Guinea. She became ill with pneunomia and died in Batavia, Java on May 11th. 1914. Her performance with the London Symphony Orchestra is an indication of the high regard in which she was held.

Lillian Nordica, opera singer born Lillian Norton in Farmington in 1857, wearing her diamond tiara and holding her black ostrich feather fan. This image was used by Coca-Cola in an advertising campaign starting in 1903.

Gown worn by Lillian Nordica made of ivory satin/satin jacquard with embroidered velvet applique gown by Worth. Charles Frederick Worth was the first couturier as well as couturier to the Empress Eugenie of France.  

Ostrich feather fan used by Lillian Nordica, opera singer born in Farmington in 1857.

Traveling jewelry case with display of various stage jewelry worn by opera singer Lillian Nordica (born in Farmington, 1857).

Bead embroidered headband, made in France, worn by Lillain Nordica, famous opera singer born in Farmington in 1857. Nordica is wearing this headband in the photo on the cover of her book "Hints To Singers" (published in 1901).

Opera singer Lillian Nordica wore this jeweled cap when she sang "Juliette" from French composer Charles-François Gounod's Roméo and Juliette in Monte Carlo, 1891, with Jean de Reszke.

Nordica was born in Farmington in 1857.

Black silk bengaline jacket with matching ivory lapels worn by Lillian Nordica (opera singer born Lillian Norton, Farmington,1857). Nordica is seen wearing this jacket in MMN #17267.