Inventory of the Inez Fabbri collection, 1858-[ca. 1908]

Processed by The Music Library staff; machine-readable finding aid created by Xiuzhi Zhou
Music Library
Hargrove Music Library
University of California, Berkeley
Berkeley, California, 94720-6000
Phone: (510) 642-2623
Email: music_reference@berkeley.edu
URL: https://guides.lib.berkeley.edu/music_library_archives
© 1997
The Regents of the University of California. All rights reserved.

Inventory of the Inez Fabbri Collection, 1858-[ca. 1908]

Collection number: ARCHIVES FABBRI 1

The Music Library



University of California, Berkeley

Berkeley, California

Contact Information

  • Hargrove Music Library
  • University of California, Berkeley
  • Berkeley, California, 94720-6000
  • Phone: (510) 642-2623
  • Email: music_reference@berkeley.edu
  • URL: https://guides.lib.berkeley.edu/music_library_archives
Processed by:
The Music Library staff
Encoded by:
Xiuzhi Zhou
© 1997 The Regents of the University of California. All rights reserved.

Descriptive Summary

Title: Inez Fabbri Collection,
Date (inclusive): 1858-[ca. 1908]
Collection number: ARCHIVES FABBRI 1
Creator: Fabbri, Inez, 1831-1909
Extent: Number of containers: 3 boxes & 1 large oversize portfolio
Repository: The Music Library
Berkeley, California 94720-6000
Shelf location: For current information on the location of these materials, please consult the Library's online catalog.
Language: English.

Administrative Information

Donor:

Constance Horstman, Sacramento; The E. B. Crocker Art Gallery, Sacramento, October, 1976 (see item 22).

Access

Collection is open for research.

Publication Rights

All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the Head of the Music Library.

Preferred Citation

[Identification of item], Inez Fabbri collection, ARCHIVES FABBRI 1, The Music Library, University of California, Berkeley.

Biography

Madame Inez Fabbri, 1831-1909, was prima donna assoluta, originally in Frankfurt am Main, later in San Francisco, Calif. She toured South America, Canada, Puerto Rico, and the United States.

Scope and Content

Collection includes newspaper clippings and scrapbooks; studio photographs of Madame Fabbri wearing her opera gowns, photograph albums of her colleagues and family; an unpublished draft of a romance of Madame Fabbri's life by her grand niece, Agnes Jacoby; a tape recording of an interview by John A. Emerson with Katherine Shortridge in 1977 concerning her great aunt; a volume of 16 published compositions by Fabbri's first husband, Richard Mulder; and other memorabilia.
Twenty-four (24) items in 3 boxes (item 24 is placed in a large oversized portfolio numbered "193," not in a box.)

Box Box 1 , item 1.

Scrapbook of newspaper clippings containing reviews of musical performances by Madame Fabbri.

Scope and Content Note

Bound volume with the cover inscription "Fabbri Album." 125 pp. About 300 clippings dating from May 20, 1858 through January 25, 1862. They cover Madame Fabbri's tours of South America, her first American tour, and performances in Canada and Puerto Rico.
Box Box 2 , item 2.

Scrapbook of newspaper clippings containing reviews of musical performances by Madame Fabbri.

Scope and Content Note

Bound volume (with loose covers) bearing the front cover title "Song Book." 138 pp. About 760 clippings covering the period 1862 through 1897. These clippings cover Madame Fabbri's Germany/Frankfurt period, her second tour of the United States, and the San Francisco period. There are also a few clippings from her period of retirement (after 1880).
Box Box 1 , item 3.

Scrapbook containing nosegays, letters, invitations, and signature of friends and colleagues.

Scope and Content Note

51 leaves (leaves 38-51 are blank). Bound volume (both covers are loose) with gilt edges. Materials dated 1862 to 1898.
item 4.

Promptbook containing favorite arias and songs sung by Madame Fabbri.

Scope and Content Note

Words and soprano melodies. 188 pp. Bound volume with gilt edges; the front cover bears the inscription "I. F." [Inez Fabbri]. Prefaced with a partial table of contents.
item 5.

Richard Mulder, first husband of Madame Fabbri.

Scope and Content Note

16 published compositions for piano (opus 7-22). Bound volume with a red cover bearing the inscription "I. F." [Inez Fabbri].

Spine title: Richard Mulder / Piano / I.

Probably there was a second volume of Mulder's published music, but it is not in the Berkeley collection.

Pazdirek lists 49 opus numbers by Mulder (see enclosure in volume).
item 6.

The back cover--only--of a missing scrapbook.

Scope and Content Note

Very likely this scrapbook contained newspaper clippings of musical performances from the years 1864-1871, when Madame Fabbri was the "Prima donna der Frankfurter Oper."
item 7a.

Twenty-three (23) studio photographs (12 + x 9 3/8" each) of Madame Fabbri wearing her opera gowns.

Scope and Content Note

These dresses were associated with various roles she sang. The photographs date from her Frankfurt period (1864-71) and were made by Hermann Emden, Frankfurt. Portfolio with loose covers bearing the inscription "Fabbri Album." The first photograph bears the printed inscription:

"Fabbri-Album / Photographien / von / Hermann Emden, / in / Frankfurt a. M."
    Photo no. Composer
    Opera: Role
    1. Beethoven
    Fidelio: Leonora/Fidelio
    2. Bellini
    Norma: Norma
    3. Donizetti
    Lucrezia Borgia: Lucrezia
    4. Glinka
    Russlan & Ludmilla: Ludmilla
    5. Gluck
    Iphigénie en Tauride: Iphigénie
    6. Gounod
    Faust: Marguérite
    7. Halévy
    La Juive: Rachel
    8. Marschner
    Templer & die Juden: Rebeca
    9. Meyerbeer
    L'Africaine: Selika
    10. Meyerbeer
    Les huguenots: Valentine
    11. Meyerbeer
    Le Prophète: Bertha
    12. Mozart
    Clemenza di Tito: Vitellia
    13. Mozart
    Don Giovanni: Donna Anna
    14. Mozart
    Idomeneo: Electra
    15. Mozart
    Nozze di Figaro: Gräfin
    16. Nicolai
    Lustigen Weiber: Frau Fluth
    17. Verdi
    Ernani: Elvira
    18. Verdi
    Ballo in maschera: Amelia (Melanie)
    19. Verdi
    OtelloDesdemona
    20. Verdi
    Traviata: Violetta
    21. Verdi
    Trovatore: Leonora
    22. Wagner
    Tannhäuser: Elisabeth
    23. Weber
    Oberon: Reiza
item 7b.

Thirteen (13) duplicate photographs (as above).

item 8.

Photograph album containing about 170 photographs (3 + x 2 1/4" each) of professional colleagues of Madame Fabbri.

Scope and Content Note

These photographs, for the most part, appear to date from her Frankfurt period (1864-71). Bound volume with green covers, brass studs, and gilt edges. Front cover inscription (on a brass plate) "Ines Fabbri."
Box Box 2 , item 9.

Photograph album containing 125 photographs (3 + x 2 1/4" each).

Scope and Content Note

Among these photographs are 55 of Madame Fabbri.
There is a photograph of Richard Mulder, the first husband of Inez, photographs of colleagues, and a series of humorous photos. One picture of a burning cathedral bears the inscription "Father's house burnt down and set fire to the Cathedral." Bound volume, plain leather covers, no front cover or spine inscriptions.
item 10.

Family photographic album. Most of the photographs (5 1/4 x 3 3/4" each) are members of the Jacoby family (Los Angeles) and their relatives and friends.

Scope and Content Note

Conrad and Katherine Toth Jacoby were married in Los Angeles in 1876.Thick bound volume with deeply embossed front and back covers and gilt edges.
item 11.

Two (2) metal crowns.

Scope and Content Note

Madame Fabbri was honored with five major testimonial benefit concerts during her years in San Francisco (1872-1909). The silver crown (sans a gold star) was presented to her on October 29, 1877 and the other gold crown was presented on November 3, 1907.
item 12.

Tape recording: Interview with Mrs. Katherine Shortridge West by John A. Emerson concerning her grand aunt, Madame Fabbri.

Scope and Content Note

Tiburon, California, Saturday, May 15, 1977.
Box Box 1 , item 13.

Jacoby, Agnes (1883-1972), grandniece of Madame Fabbri, who had a passionate admiration for her all of her life.

Scope and Content Note

Drafts and notes of a biographical romance on the life of Madame Fabbri. Never completed, never published. The earliest memoir is dated April 4, 1907. Agnes was then 24 years of age, and was living in the same home with Madame Fabbri. Unquestionably the memoir is of value, because Madame Fabbri certainly related these tales directly to Agnes. The remaining biographical information is of dubious value, for it is filled with factual errors and sentimental exaggerations. About 50 leaves.
item 14.

Eleven (11) miscellaneous items:

Scope and Content Note

2 obituaries from New York newspapers; prospectus for the "Fabbri-Mueller's School of Opera, Concert, and Oratorio" (dates ca. 1905, because of the address); 5 opera programs starring Madame Fabbri (Vienna, May-December, 1863); program "Second Fabbri Opera Night" (San Francisco: California Theater, February 26, 1873); "Souvenir Program: Grand Jubilee Tendered [to] Mme. Inez Fabbri-Mueller in Celebration of her Sixtieth Anniversary on the Lyric Stage" (San Francisco: Van Ness Theatre, Sunday afternoon, November 3d, 1907); a newspaper clipping containing a caricature of Madame Fabbri.
item 15.

Studio portrait of Madame Fabbri. San Francisco, ca. 1908 (Madame Fabbri was 77 or 78 years of age).

Scope and Content Note

Photograph by Arnold Genthe.
item 16.

Studio portrait of Madame Fabbri. San Francisco, ca. 1908 (Madame Fabbri was 77 or 78 years of age).

Scope and Content Note

Photograph by Arnold Genthe.
item 17.

Ten (10) studio and commercial photographs.

 

1. Madame Fabbri, ca. 1880.

 

2. Madame Fabbri, probably 1890's.

 

3. Jacob Mueller, probably 1890's. Inscription: "Jacob Mueller in Aida, Tivoli Teater, San Francisco."

 

4. Jacob Mueller, probably 1890's. Inscription: "Muellers last appearance at the Tivoli, S.F. -- Aida."

 

5. Jacob Mueller, Pawnee Chief "Black Flying Eagle," and others. Omaha, Nebraska, after 1875.

 

6. Camillo von Starhemberg, Archduke of Austria and cousin to Emperor Maximillian of Mexico.

 

7. Fürst Camillo von Starhemberg.

 

8. Emperor Franz-Joseph of Austria, Hungary, 1858. Photo dated 1889, Budapest.

 

9. Jan Kubelik and his wife, Countess Csaky Szell.

 

10. Baldwin Theatre, San Francisco (Gustave Frohman, Lessee).

item 18.

Theater bill.

Scope and Content Note

Souvenir on blue silk. Inscription: "Wade's Opera House. Fabbri Opera, Opening Night. Sunday, January 23rd, 1876. The Huguenots. Grand Opera with Ballet in 5 Acts by G. Meyerbeer."
item 19.

Mulder, Richard, d. San Francisco, December 22, 1874.

Scope and Content Note

Four (4) photographs. Mulder was the first husband of Madame Fabbri. They were married in Santiago, Chile, November 6, 1868.

The photographs date ca. 1863, 1869, 1873 or 1874.
item 20.

Mulder, Richard.

Scope and Content Note

Apparently a flyleaf from a volume of music (perhaps item 5) which bears an inscription to his sister Caecile:

"A ma bonne et chère Soeur / Richard Mulder / [musical incipit] / Paris ce 14 Dec. 1853. R M [Richard Mulder]."
item 21.

Jacoby, Agnes.

Scope and Content Note

Thermofax copy of a memoir of "Ines Fabbri-Mueller." Dated [San Francisco] April 4, 1907 (see folder 13 for a Xerox copy; this copy is very fragile and should not be used).
item 22.

Documents pertaining to the acquisition of the Fabbri memorabilia.

Scope and Content Note

The collection was first presented to the E. B. Crocker Art Gallery, Sacramento, by Mrs. Constance Horstman, 4208 Corona Way, Sacramento, California, 95825, on August 20, 1976. In turn, Mr. Richard Vincent West, Director of the Crocker Art Gallery, deposited the gift with the Music Library, University of California in October, 1976. This transfer was approved by Mrs. Horstman.
item 23.

Emerson, John A.

Scope and Content Note

Article entitled: "Madame Inez Fabbri, Prima Donna Assoluta," published in Encore: The Archives for the Performing Arts Quarterly, vol. 1:1 (San Francisco, Winter, 1984), pp. 2-5 [a biographical sketch of the life of Madame Fabbri. Another biography will appear in the forthcoming Grove's Dictionary of Music of the United States (1986) by the same author].
Oversize Portfolio, item 24.

Portraits.

Scope and Content Note

Hand-drawn and colored of Madame Fabbri and Jacob Mueller (1876). On the occasion of their performance of Marschner's Der Templer und die Jüden(24 x 21").

Stored in a large oversized portfolio; Archival no. 193; Inventory no. Z-970.