Guide to the Lida Brodenova Papers
© Copyright 1994 Special Collections & University Archives. All rights reserved.
1994-06-01
5500 Campanile Dr. MC 8050
San Diego, CA, 92182-8050
URL: http://library.sdsu.edu/scua
Email: scref@rohan.sdsu.edu
Phone: 619-594-6791
Guide to the Lida Brodenova Papers
1917/1992
Special Collections & University Archives
Overview of the Collection
Collection Title: Lida Brodenova Papers
Dates: 1917-1992
Identification: MS-0002
Creator:
Brodenova, Lida, 1902-1990
Physical Description: 12.50 linear ft
Language of Materials:
English
Czech
Repository:
Special Collections & University Archives
5500 Campanile Dr. MC 8050
San Diego, CA, 92182-8050
URL: http://library.sdsu.edu/scua
Email: scref@rohan.sdsu.edu
Phone: 619-594-6791
Biographical Information:
Lida Brodenova, born in Czechoslovakia in 1902, was a performer and producer of Czech operas. Early on she began playing the
piano and taking singing lessons, with the Czech soprano Emma Destinnova as her inspiration. She studied under Leos Janacek,
with her principal voice teacher Sigmund Auspitzer at the Music Conservatory in Brno, Czechoslovakia. She began her career
in the French theatre in Brno, and spent most of the 1930s performing operettas in various German and Czech troupes.
In 1940 Lida and her husband Boris, who was Jewish, emigrated to America to avoid persecution. Once in America Lida began
performing on the radio in New York. It was the beginning of a long career in the theatre in which she performed, wrote,
and taught Czech repertory. She died at the age of eighty-eight in 1990.
Access Terms
This collection is indexed under the following controlled access subject terms.
Genre/Form of Material:
Audio Recordings
Personal Papers
Personal Name:
Brodenov, Boris -- Diaries
Brodenova, Lida
Brodenová, Lida -- Archives
Topical Term:
Opera -- Czechoslovakia -- History -- 20th century -- Sources
Opera -- Czechoslovakia -- Sources
Opera -- United States -- History -- 20th century -- Sources
Opera -- United States -- Sources
Singers -- Biography -- Sources
Singers -- Czechoslovakia -- Biography -- Sources
Singers -- United States -- Biography -- Sources
Administrative Information
Accruals:
1992
Conditions Governing Use:
The copyright interests in these materials have not been transferred to San Diego State University. Copyright resides with
the creators of materials contained in the collection or their heirs. The nature of historical archival and manuscript collections
is such that copyright status may be difficult or even impossible to determine. Requests for permission to publish must be
submitted to the Head of Special Collections, San Diego State University, Library and Information Access. When granted, permission
is given on behalf of Special Collections as the owner of the physical item and is not intended to include or imply permission
of the copyright holder(s), which must also be obtained in order to publish. Materials from our collections are made available
for use in research, teaching, and private study. The user must assume full responsibility for any use of the materials, including
but not limited to, infringement of copyright and publication rights of reproduced materials.
Conditions Governing Access:
This collection is open for research.
The diaries of Boris Brodenov, in the collection of papers of Lida Brodenova, housed in the SDSU Library, may contain sensitive
references to the personal lives of Lida Brodenova and Boris Brodenov. Researchers must agree that discretion will be used
in the research and publication of such passages. Embarrassing or defamatory work will be avoided.
Preferred Citation:
Identification of item, folder title, box number, Lida Brodenova Collection, Special Collections and University Archives,
Library and Information Access, San Diego State University.
Arrangement of Materials:
I. Biographies, Writings, Etc.
II. Correspondence, ca. 1930s-1988
III. Personal
IV. Performance and Production Material
V. Scrapbooks of Performances
VI. Photographs
VII. Unsorted, Unclassified Miscellany
VIII. Audio Recordings
IX. Boris Brodenov Personal
Scope and Contents
The collection includes correspondence, awards, travel accounts, opera and recital programs, clippings, photographs, diaries,
postcards, reviews, scrapbooks, photo albums, tape and phono recordings. Much of the collection is in Czech, and is separated
into personal and professional categories.
Detailed List of Contents
Biographies, Writings, Etc.
Box 1, Folder 1
Personal Documents, Awards, School Degrees
circa 1940-1955
Box 1, Folder 2
Summaries of Lida's life and career by J. Fiehler, L. Brodenova and others
circa 1988-1990
Scope and Contents
(orbit, etc. Includes Lida's memorial concert for her sister, Herma Korcava)
Box 1, Folder 3
Judith Fiehler notes re. Brodenova
Box 1, Folder 4
Map of Czechoslovakia, travel documents (Italy)
1940
Box 1, Folder 6
Miscellaneous Writing (mostly Lida's)
circa 1977-1989
Scope and Contents
Czech tale "Broucci", Plans for concerts and festivals, Poems
Box 1, Folder 7
Announcements of Recitals and Operas
Box 1, Folder 8
Progrmas of Reciatls, Lida's Speeches, Reports and Articles about Czech Music and Operas, Lida's writing about Prague, Czech
Operas in USA
circa 1975-1988
Box 1, Folder 9
Newsletters, newspaper clippings about Lida's career
circa 1962-1985
Box 1, Folder 10
Czech emigre newspaper Nase Hlasy(extensive article about NY Sokol's production of Dve Vdovy
October 5-26, 1974
Box 1, Folder 11
Three Medals: 2 Konservator Brno, 1 Internationaler Wettbewerb Fur Gesanguivioline, Wien 1932
Box 1, Folder 12
"Oral Histories" (notes on the opera): 1) Janoski by Jan Cikker (Sturman, 1992); 2)Cert A Kaca by Dvorak (Brodenova, 1993);
3)Krutnava by Eugen Suchon (Sturman, 1991); 4)Rusalka opera in 3 acts by Dvorak. English translation by Ruth and Thomas Martin
Correspondence
ca. 1930-1988
Box 1
Includes: thanl you letters, clippings, sympathy letters, business letters, invitations, music and personal.
Box 1, Folder 1
Notes about correspondents, by Judith Fiehler
1994
Box 1, Folder 2
1940s and 1950s family correspondence
Box 2, Folder 1
Postcards:
Scope and Contents
9 Easter postcards showing Czechoslovakian embroidered dresses, country houses decorated with ornaments, and colored easter
eggs.
1 Folding postcard of the National Theater of Prague
-Postcards of Prague and other cities and historical places in Czechoslovakia and Europe
Box 2, Folder 2
Address books: 2 files
1954-1980s
Box 2, Folder 3
Address card box
1940-1954
Box 2, Folder 4
Pupils and associates, Includes: pictures, letters, clippings, programs, etc. of pupils L. Brodenova followed
Performance and Production Material
Box 3, Folder 1
Miscellaneous Czech programs, letters, clippings, photographs (most from Brno's Theater Svatobos)
1921
Box 3, Folder 2
Miscellaneous Czech and American programs, letters, clippings, photos (2 files)
circa 1935-1980s
Box 3, Folder 3
Washington Sokol performances (clippings, programs, photos) (2 files)
circa 1954-1987
Box 3, Folder 4
Washington Sokol Opera Productions (all include photos):
Box 3, Folder 4
V Studni, performed in Washington and New York
1964
Box 3, Folder 4
Dratenik, an opera by Frantisek Skroup
1983
Box 3, Folder 4
Selma Sedlak, opera by Dvorak
1961
Box 3, Folder 4
Tvrde Palice, opera by Dvorak
1977
Box 3, Folder 4
Hubicka, opera by Smetana
1967
Box 3, Folder 4
Psohlavci, opera by Kovarovic
1972
Box 3, Folder 4
The Grand Potpurri revue
1976
Box 3, Folder 4
Two Widows, an opera by Smetana
1974
Box 3, Folder 4
Babicka by Bozena Nemcova (no photos)
1962
Box 3, Folder 4
The Bartered Bride,opera by Smethana
1956
Box 3, Folder 4
The Bartered Bride, English version
1969
Box 3, Folder 4
The Gypsy Baron, opera by J. Strauss
1957
Box 3, Folder 4
Tales of Hoffman, opera by J. Offenbach
1958
Box 3, Folder 4
The Merry Widow, operetta by F. Lehar (no photos)
1959
Box 3, Folder 4
The Student Prince, a musical romance
1961
Box 3, Folder 4
Rusalka, opera by Dvorak
1972
Box 3, Folder 5
Mount Vernon Seminar Productions:
Box 3, Folder 5
The Marriage of Figaro (includes photos)
1963
Box 3, Folder 6
Agriculture Symphony Orchestra:
Box 3, Folder 6
The Clemency of Titus (includes photos)
1955
Scrapbooks of Performances
1927-1951
Box 4, Folder 7
Duplicates of originals already in this collection: theatre programs, announcements, thank you letters, clippings, articles
Box 4, Folder 8
1 File loose scrapbook material
Box 5, Folder 1
Hubicka, (the kiss) opera by B. Smetana
1967
Box 5, Folder 2
Cert a Kaca (The Devil and the Kate) opera by Dvorak performed at Kennedy Center
1981
Box 5, Folder 3
Jakobin, Sokol's opera by Dvorak, performed in Washington D.C.
Box 5, Folder 1
Photographs, slides: includes performances, misc., friends, travels, etc.
Box 6, Folder 1
1927-1930, family and friends, Czechoslovakia
Box 6, Folder 1
1930-1937, family and friends, Cezechoslovakia
Box 6, Folder 1
1937-1944, family and friends, Cezechoslovakia and USA
Box 6, Folder 1
1944-1948, Lida and Boris
Box 6, Folder 1
1948-1951, Lida and Boris
Box 6, Folder 1
1960s, Lida and Boris on vacation; friends and relatives
Box 6, Folder 1
1963, Brno, from visit at the Svatoboj Theatre
Box 6, Folder 1
1954-1957, Lida, Boris and friends at Schroon Lake, Kew Gardens, Lake Placid, and other US spots
Box 6, Folder 1
1970s places in Rumania, Czechoslovakia, Austria, and USA (mostly postcards, some snapshots)
Unsorted, Unclassified Miscellany
Box 7, Folder 1
Inclucdes Miscellaneous Czech and American programs, notes; items about Czechoslovakia; Czech publications; sheet music; catalogable
publications. TO BE SORTED
Box 9, Folder 1
Phono Recordings: 78RPM records
Box 9, Folder 1
Christmas songs sung by L. Brodenova, 3 records,
1956
Box 9, Folder 1
Commemoration of President Wilson, 3 recods
1956
Box 9, Folder 1
Memorial tribute-Ripka, Program of "Spring Songs" arranged by L. Brodenova, 1 record
1958
Box 9, Folder 1
La Clemenza di Tito-Vitella, act 1 and 2, 2 records
1955
Box 10, Folder 1
3 Diaries : 1917-1920, 1922-1923, 1935-1960 (condition of use form must be signed before access to diaries)
Box 10, Folder 2
Passports and drivers license
circa 1915-1945
Box 10, Folder 3
Marriage announcements of future Brodenovas, calling cards, theatre membership, clippings
Box 10, Folder 4
12 photographs: all but one B. Brodenova
Box 10, Folder 5
Correspondence: letters to and from friends
1956-1982
Box 10, Folder 6
"Salkind" 1960 (regarding cartoon: Oh, Mi Kary Kiki")
Babicka by Bozen Nemcova (no photos)
1962
