Born: 26 October 1833, United Kingdom
Died: 3 October 1882
Country most active: United States
Also known as: Adelaide Philips or Phillips
The following is excerpted from A Dictionary of Music and Musicians, published in 1900 and edited by George Grove.
PHILLIPPS, Adelaide, a contralto singer, counted as American, though born in England at Stratford-on-Avon, in 1833. Her father was a chemist and druggist, and her mother, who was of Welsh birth, was a teacher of dancing. The family emigrated to America in 1840, going first to Canada, and then to Boston, Mass. Adelaide was early instructed in dancing by her mother, and on Jan. 12, 1842, made her first appearance on the stage at the Tremont Theatre, Boston, as an ‘infant prodigy.’ On Sept. 25, 1843, she began an engagement at the Boston Museum; she remained at this house eight years, playing a great variety of parts besides dancing, alone or with one or both of two brothers. Occasional trips to Philadelphia and New York were taken at this period. Her vocal gifts soon attracted the attention of connoisseurs, and, in 1850, she was introduced to Jenny Lind, then on a professional tour in America. The great singer advised the young actress to give herself up to the study of music, a subscription-list was started for the purpose of paying for her training, and she was sent to Manuel Garcia in London. She had before this received some instruction in music at home from Mme. Arnoult, a teacher of repute in her day, and Thomas Comer, a cultivated English musician and the director of the orchestra at the Boston Museum. Another fund was subscribed to enable Adelaide to pursue her studies for the opera in Italy. On Dec. 17, 1854, she made a début at the Teatro Carcano, Milan, as Rosina. In Aug. 1855 sne returned to Boston, and in October appeared at a concert in Music Hall. She was then engaged for a series of operas of the English ballad school—’The Duenna,’ ‘The Devil’s Bridge,’ and ‘The Cabinet’—at the Boston Theatre. Her American debut in Italian opera was at the Academy of Music, New York, March 17, 1856, as Azucena in ‘Il Trovatore.’ Her success secured for her an engagement for five seasons. She went first to Havana, and subsequently to Paris (where she sang Azucena at Les Italiens in Oct. 1861), Madrid, Barcelona, and through Hungary and Holland. Her repertory comprised all the contralto parts in the operas that held their places on the Italian stage during the twenty-five years that she was known as an opera-singer. In 1879 she became identified with the Boston Ideal Opera Company, devoted to the presentation of operettas. She appeared with this company for the last time in Boston, on the Museum stage, where her early triumphs had been won, on Nov. 30, 1880. Her last appearance on any stage was at Cincinnati in December 1881. Miss Phillipps was a universal favourite with American audiences as a concert and oratorio singer. From Dec. 31, 1860, when she sang in the ‘Messiah,’ to Nov. 24, 1878, when she took part in Verdi’s Requiem, she was a frequent and a welcome contributor to the concerts of the Handel and Haydn Society in Boston. In Sept. 1882, the state of her health induced her to go to Carlsbad. Some improvement was detected, but there came a sudden relapse, and she died on Oct. 3, 1882. Her remains were carried to Boston, and subsequently buried at Marshfield, Massachusetts, where the family had long lived on a fine estate purchased by Adelaide. She left a sister, Mathilde, also a contralto of excellent reputation in America, and. three brothers. Brothers and sister were alike indebted to Adelaide for their education and start in life. Miss Phillipps’s personal reputation was the best that a woman could enjoy. She was especially noted for her freedom from professional jealousy, and for her readiness to advise and encourage young singers. Her life was one of constant and hard labour, the care of a large family having early in life been thrown upon her, but she was always patient and cheerful.