Jeanette Scovotti - Herbert: MLLE. MODISTE - The Nightingale and the Star, 1960 High E

THE SONGBIRD: Jeanette Scovotti was born in New York in 1936. Her international operatic career started her with debut in 1960 at the New York City Opera as Monica in "The Medium." She sang 86 performances with The Met in the 1960s (in order: Adele, Echo, Lisa in "Sonnambula," Oscar, Xenia, Pousette, Rosina, Zerlina, Papagena, Zerbinetta, Nannetta, Olympia, Lucy in "The Telephone," Fiakermilli, Adina, and Gilda). She was frequently heard at other leading opera houses in the U.S. and in Europe and appeared in several commercial recordings in the 1970s and 1980s.

THE MUSIC: "Mlle. Modiste" was one of Victor Herbert's most successful operettas. It opened on Broadway in 1905 and ran for 202 performances, only to be remounted again the following season and taken on tour. Herbert wrote the score for Fritzi Scheff, a Viennese lyric-coloratura soprano who he lured away from singing at The Met (140 performances in New York and on tour) with a contract for four operettas at a salary of $1,000 a week (equivalent to about $30,000 in 2021). Scheff plays Fifi, a milliner shop girl who aspires to be an opera singer. "Mlle. Modiste" introduced the world to Fifi's romantic song "Kiss me, again," one of the most popular songs of the era. Her final aria in the operetta is the showpiece "The Nightingale and the Star," which current star soprano Pretty Yende often includes in her recitals.