Eleonora de Cisneros
| Eleonora de Cisneros | |
|---|---|
Cisneros in 1919
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| Born |
Eleanor Broadfoot October 31, 1878 Manhattan, New York City |
| Died | February 3, 1934 (aged 55) Manhattan, New York City |
| Occupation | Opera singer |
| Parent(s) | John C. Broadfoot, Ellen Small |
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Eleonora de Cisneros (October 31, 1878 – February 3, 1934), was an American opera singer. Cisneros was a major backer towards the sale of Liberty bonds during World War I. She was a singer for the Metropolitan Opera company. Cisneros toured the United States during World War I singing in plays to raise funds for the Red Cross.
Cisneros was born Eleanor Broadfoot in Manhattan, New York City on October 31, 1878 (some sources say November 1, 1878). Her parents were John C. Broadfoot, a New York City clerk, and Ellen Small. Her given name at birth was Eleanor Broadfoot and she was an only child. Her father was of Scottish and her mother of Irish descent. She received her primary schooling at St. Agnes Seminary in Brooklyn. Cisneros started her initial singing studies in the United States under the American opera singers Adelina Murio-Celli d‘Elpeux and Francesco Fanciulli. She became a mezzo-soprano opera singer.
The opera singer Jean de Reszke introduced Cisneros, then known as "Eleanor Broadfoot", to the manager of the Metropolitan Opera company in 1899 and she was hired. Cisneros was the first American trained opera singer the Metropolitan Opera company hired. Previous to this, the opera house would only hire singers formally trained in Europe. She gave her first performance with the Metropolitan Opera company in Chicago on November 24, 1899. Her role was as Rossweise in Die Walküre. She performed the same role in New York City on January 5, 1900 – being her debut in that city. After performing in New York City she then went to Philadelphia in a hurry and filled in as a contralto, with no rehearsal, in Il trovatore by Giuseppe Verdi at the Metropolitan Opera. The manager of the opera company complimented Cisneros on her successful performance and she became a key singer. Cisneros became their key contralto singer from 1906 -1911.
Cisneros married Count Francois de Cisneros, a Cuban journalist, in 1901, becoming Countess Eleonora de Cisneros. She then went to Turin, Italy, in 1902 to perform. The Italians were not receptive to the "American" Eleanor Broadfoot from the Metropolitan Opera unless she paid a fee. She had her business cards reprinted with her married name Countess Eleonora de Cisneros and she was well received then. Cisneros made her début at Turin as Amneris in Giuseppe Verdi's opera Aida. Cisneros debuted in 1906 at La Scala in Milan, Italy. At this opera house in this year she established the part of Candia della Leonessa in the opera La figlia di Iorio by Alberto Franchetti. She sang also the same year in the opera house the first performances of the operas The Queen of Spades by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky and Salome by Richard Strauss. She also sang in the same opera house the first performance of the opera Elektra by Strauss, performed in 1909.
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