Amy Eliza Castles

Amy Eliza Castles
Amy Eliza Castles in 1917
Amy Eliza Castles in 1917
Born(1880-07-25)25 July 1880
Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Died19 November 1951(1951-11-19) (aged 71)
Fitzroy, Victoria
Occupationdramatic soprano

Amy Eliza Castles (25 July 1880 – 19 November 1951), was an Australian dramatic soprano.[1]

Family

The daughter of Joseph Castles (1849-1933), and Mary Ellen Castles (1855-1937), née Fallon, Amy Eliza Castles was born in Melbourne, Australia on 25 July 1880.

Her two sisters, Ethel Margaret "Dolly" Castles (1884–1971) and Eileen Anne Castles (1886–1970) were also highly regarded, talented sopranos.

Education

She was educated at St Kilian's primary school and St Mary's College.[1]

Career

On 26 March 1910 she sang the title role in the Australian premiere of Giacomo Puccini's Madama Butterfly, at the Theatre Royal in Sydney.[1]

She made her United States début at Carnegie Hall in 1917.[2]

Castles never married. She lived with her sister, Dolly Castles, in Camberwell. She died at a hospital in Fitzroy, Victoria, on 19 November 1951. She was buried in Box Hill Cemetery.[1][3][4][5]

Further reading

References

  1. ^ a b c d Radic, Thérèse (1979). "Castles, Amy Eliza (1880–1951)". Australian Dictionary of Biography. Vol. 7. Canberra: National Centre of Biography, Australian National University. ISBN 978-0-522-84459-7. ISSN 1833-7538. OCLC 70677943. Retrieved 2 January 2015.
  2. ^ "Miss Amy Castles Sings. An Australian Soprano Heard in Carnegie Hall" (PDF). The New York Times. 12 April 1917. Retrieved 18 April 2015.
  3. ^ Dolly Castles, soprano: Bendigo girl makes good overseas, Australian Postal History, ...She was born in Bendigo in 1884, she...made her way to America where she appeared as the principal soprano in the first production of the musical The Tik-Tok Man of Oz,...which was shown in Los Angeles on 31 March 1913. She retired from the stage after World War 1, and died in 1971...
  4. ^ "Miss Dolly Castles. A Chatty Interview". The Critic. Vol. VIII, no. 412. South Australia. 30 August 1905. p. 17. Retrieved 13 June 2018 – via National Library of Australia.
  5. ^ "Format: Postcard, photo mechanical print". 19 December 2012.
  6. ^ Jeff Brownrigg (2006). A New Melba?: The Tragedy of Amy Castles. Crossing Press. ISBN 9780957829190. OCLC 76888363. Retrieved 11 January 2019.