Rose Bampton
Rose Bampton, prima donna at the Metropolitan Opera House, New York, was remarkable for her three octave range; in one week in New York, she sang the contralto role of Laura in LA GIOCONDA at the Met, gave a song recital at the Town Hall as a dramatic soprano and took the mezzo-soprano solo part in the Bach B Minor Mass with the new York Oratorio Society.

Vaslav Nijinsky
Perhaps the most famous of all male dancers, Vaslav Nijinsky was dancing leading roles with Pavlova and Karsavina by the time he was eighteen. As a choreographer, he created L’APRES-MIDI D’UN FAUNE and LE SACRE DU PRINTEMPS, but his most fabulous feat was the seeming ability to stop still in mid air. "It is quite easy", he said. "You jump, you stay still, and then you come down".

Emma Calvé
Emma Calvé was another singer with a great range (she was able to sing Herodias(contralto) and Salome (soprano) in Massenet’s HERODIADE , but it is chiefly for her performance as Carmen in Bizet’s opera that she is remembered today.

Emily Soldene
In the 1870’s, Emily Soldene was the undisputed queen of the form known as ‘opera bouffe’. She made her biggest success as Drogan in GENEVIEVE DE BRABANT by Offenbach, a now almost forgotten piece.

Richard Tauber
A star of the Vienna State Opera, Richard Tauber was famed for his interpretation of the work of Franz Lehar. When Hitler came to power, Tauber came to England which he loved, and whose people loved him.

Maud Allan
Maud Allan was born in Toronto. Her appearance at the Palace Theatre, London, in March 1908 in her dance THE VISION OF SALOME caused a sensation. One critic said ‘London has never seen such graceful and artistic dancing. It is of a magical beauty; but the magic is black and the beauty is baleful and insidious’.

Agnes de Mille
Agnes de Mille trained as a dancer with Marie Rambert and Tamara Karsavina. It was her work as the choreographer of Aaron Copland’s RODEO which attracted Rodgers and Hammerstein and her achievement as the choreographer of OKLAHOMA! began a revolution in musical theatre dance.

Luigi Lablache
The great nineteenth century basso, Luigi Lablache, here seen as Dulcamara in Donizetti’s L’ELISIR D’AMORE. Lablache sang in the Mozart REQUIEM at Beethoven’s funeral, and also gave lessons to Queen Victoria.

Mlle Polaire
Actress and singer as well as dancer, Mlle Polaire was billed in America as ‘the ugliest woman in the world’. She was reputed to have the smallest waist in Paris, wore a pearl ring in her left nostril and took a pig with her wherever she went. It fell overboard on her way to America and she is said to have wept for three days.

Stowitts
Hubert Stowitts (usually known as Stowitts) was a fine athlete as well as dancer; as a young man he was spotted by Anna Pavlova who took him on a five year world tour. He also appeared in revue and English pantomime before turning his many talents to painting and design.