Leonora Braham

Leonora Braham, born Leonora Abraham on 3 February 1853 in Bloomsbury, London, and died 23 November 1931, was an English opera singer and actress. The only daughter and eldest of three children of writer and educator Philip Abraham and Harriet Abraham née Boss, she was raised in a Jewish family. She is best remembered as the creator of more principal soprano roles in the Gilbert and Sullivan comic operas than any other soprano, and as the only English soprano to have created more than one such role.

Braham made her first professional stage appearance in 1870 at St George's Hall, London, in a revival of Gilbert and Clay's Ages Ago, produced by Mr and Mrs Thomas German Reed, who also starred in the production. She continued working with the German Reeds for several years in their intimate musical entertainments while simultaneously studying at the Royal Academy of Music, where she won the Llewelyn Thomas gold medal competition. In April 1878, shortly after marrying her first husband, Frederick E. Lucy Barnes — a church organist, conductor, and composer — in Birkenhead near Liverpool, she relocated to Montreal, Canada. The couple had a son, Stanton Barnes. Barnes died in early 1880 while in Canada, his death described variously as a suicide or an accident, leaving Braham with a young child. Before his death, from December 1879, she had taken on the title role in Gilbert and Clay's Princess Toto, performing it in New York, Boston, and Philadelphia. W. S. Gilbert, Arthur Sullivan, and Richard D'Oyly Carte, then in New York for the premiere of The Pirates of Penzance, attended a performance and were favorably impressed. Later in 1880, she played the leading role of Dolly in a revival of Alfred Cellier's The Sultan of Mocha at the Union Square Theatre in New York.

Upon returning to England, Braham briefly rejoined the German Reeds and performed in concerts before being engaged by the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company. In 1881 she created the title role in Gilbert and Sullivan's Patience at the Opera Comique, continuing in the part when the production transferred to the Savoy Theatre. She remained the company's principal soprano until 1887, during which time she created five leading roles. In 1882 she originated the role of Phyllis in Iolanthe at the Savoy. The title role in Princess Ida followed in 1884; Braham had originally been cast as Lady Psyche in that opera, but was elevated to the lead at nearly the last moment after American soprano Lillian Russell was dismissed following a disagreement with Gilbert. She also played Aline in the 1884–85 revival of The Sorcerer to enthusiastic reviews. In 1885 she created what became perhaps her most celebrated role, Yum-Yum in The Mikado. Her final creation for the company was Rose Maybud in Ruddigore, which opened in January 1887. During the run of The Mikado, Gilbert, Sullivan, and Carte had considered allowing her contract to lapse due to concerns about her drinking. Her departure from the Savoy ultimately came when, having secretly married James Duncan Young — formerly a principal tenor with one of Carte's touring companies — during the summer of 1886, she informed Carte in early 1887 that she was pregnant with her second child. She left the company shortly thereafter, and Geraldine Ulmar was brought back from America to take over the role. Braham and Young's daughter was born on 6 May 1887, and the couple later had a son as well.

Later in 1887, Braham, Young, and their children traveled to Australia, where she appeared with J. C. Williamson's opera company alongside other former D'Oyly Carte performers including Alice Barnett. Her Australian appearances included Princess Ida, H.M.S. Pinafore, The Mikado, Patience, and Iolanthe, as well as the title role in Alfred Cellier's Dorothy. She returned to performing in England from 1888 to 1890, appearing in London and the provinces in works including Carina at Toole's Theatre, Manon on tour, and a substantial run in Gretna Green at the Comedy Theatre from 1889 to 1890, the latter alongside her former Savoy colleague Richard Temple. In 1890, and again in 1891–92, she toured South America with the Edwin Cleary Opera Company, joined by other D'Oyly Carte regulars including R. Scott Fishe. The tour brought performances to Buenos Aires, Montevideo, Valparaiso, Lima, Rio de Janeiro, and other cities, with Braham taking on roles including Yum-Yum in The Mikado, Mabel in The Pirates of Penzance, Aline in The Sorcerer, and the title roles in Patience, Dorothy, Erminie, and Pepita, among others. She subsequently performed in South Africa as well.

By the mid-1890s Braham had returned to Britain, where she worked in musical comedy and light opera and briefly rejoined the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company. She continued performing in both Britain and America through 1912, including appearances in plays without music alongside Lillie Langtry. Her Broadway career included an 1899 appearance in the play Because She Loved Him So.