3 signed/inscribed photographs of Golden Age opera singers, 1927-28.

Armand Tokatyan / Anne Roselle / Maria Jeritza

3 signed/inscribed photographs of Golden Age opera singers, 1927-28.

One 6.5x9.5", two 3.5x5.5" b/w photos, one signed two inscribed.

Armand Tokatyan (Tenor, 1894 –1960). 6.5x9.5" b/w, inscribed in black ink to Rudolph Pauw. As a young man, Tokatyan travelled to Egypt with his parents where he sang in cafés to favorable response. He was then sent to Paris to study tailoring, but instead sang in Left Bank cafés. In 1914, he returned to Egypt and earned his living by again singing in the cafés. He took up operetta, soon becoming a matinee idol, then in 1919 went to Milan to pursue an opera career. His operatic debut was in 1921 at the Teatro Dal Verme in Puccini's Manon Lescaut. With the help of Italian conductor Giuseppe Bamboschek, he joined the touring Scotti Opera Company in the United States and was soon noticed by the Metropolitan Opera where he debuted in 1923. For many years he performed there and at many other opera houses in the US and Europe. Tokyatan appears in costume.

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Anne Roselle (Soprano, 1894 –1989) debuted with the NY Metropolitan Opera in 1920. From 1922, she sang for two years with the San Carlo Opera Company, was a guest soloist with the Minneapolis Orchestra, toured in the central United States in the 1922-1923 season, and the private company of Antonio Scotti before moving back to Europe where she joined the Dresden Opera. She also sang in Budapest, Milan, Vienna, London, Paris and Berlin. She was known for singing the title role in Verdi's Aïda and Leonora in Il trovatore, among others. She premiered the first Turandot in the US outside the MET in San Francisco (1927). Roselle appears in costume. 3.5x5.5", signed in black ink.

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Maria Jeritza (Soprano (1887-1982). One of the most glamorous divas to command the Met Stage, Czech-born Maria Jeritza made her US debut in 1921. She was already a star in Vienna, and her decade as a star with the Met included singing the title role in Puccini's Turandot in its 1926 premiere. 3.5.5.5". inscribed in black ink.

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All three photos signed/inscribed in San Francisco during the 1927-28 season.

CONDITION: Residue of black scrapbook pages on the verso, otherwise Very Good with clear, bold signatures. Mounting corner in upper right of Roselle.