After the death of his young wife, Russian impresario Max Rabinoff set out to find something that seemed almost impossible: another woman who could sing exactly as she had.
Marie La Salle Rabinoff had been celebrated for her pure coloratura soprano voice, which her husband described as having soft, flute-like tones unlike any other. In 1913, determined to preserve her memory, Rabinoff began auditioning singers in his Broadway studio.
He listened to more than 30 women, but none had the voice he was searching for.
When he finally found a singer who could equal his late wife, Rabinoff promised her an extraordinary opportunity: a scholarship to study with the finest teachers abroad, along with $10,000 worth of concert and operatic gowns.
Seeks Voice Like Dead Wife’s
NEW YORK CITY. — To give the world what is lost by the tragic death of his brilliant young wife, Marie La Salle Rabinoff, the beneficiary of a $50,000 scholarship fund raised by Mrs. W.K. Vanderbilt, Mrs. Otto Kahn and others, Max Rabinoff, the Russian impresario, is searching far and wide for a young woman with a coloratura-soprano voice as pure as that of Mme. Rabinoff.
In his studio on Broadway, Rabinoff has heard more than 30 voices. None of them has completely suited him.
“When I find the perfect voice, the equal of my wife’s, I will grant its owner a scholarship that will permit her to go abroad to study under the best masters,” explained the impresario yesterday.
“I shall also give her $10,000 worth of concert, operatic, and evening gowns.
“My wife’s wonderful voice, her caressing, round, flute-like tones — the purest coloratura in the world — are only a memory to me. I should like to preserve that memory in a living memorial to her.”
Source: The Bamberg Herald. Bamberg, S.C. March 20, 1913.
