Nanette Guilford

Nanette Guilford, born Nanette Gutman on August 17, 1903, in Harlem, New York, was an American soprano, voice teacher, and recording entrepreneur who built a career spanning opera, Broadway, and music production. She died on March 17, 1990, at St. Vincent Hospital in New York City from an intestinal infection at the age of 86.

Guilford began singing musical comedies at the age of 13 and studied privately with Albert Jeannote. In 1921 she launched her musical theater career with The Midnight Rounders of 1921 at the Century Promenade Theatre. That same year she began pursuing opera, and in May 1923 she signed her first contract with the Metropolitan Opera. Her debut there came in a minor role in Rigoletto, and she continued in smaller parts until March 1926, when she appeared as Ginevra in Umberto Giordano's La Cena Delle Beffe. Some sources identify her first prima donna role as Giordano's The Jest, after which she became known as the "baby star" of the Met, a nickname that originated from her having listed her age as 18 when she signed her initial contract. Among her other roles at the Metropolitan Opera were Aida, Liù in Turandot, and Musetta in La Bohème. She performed scenes alongside singers including Gigli and Tibbett. Guilford departed the Met in 1932 and subsequently sang at the Cosmopolitan Opera House. She is noted as one of the first American singers to establish an operatic career without studying in Europe.

In 1928 Guilford married concert violinist Max Rosen. The two had known each other for three years before their engagement, which they kept secret for six months to avoid publicity. Guilford and Rosen made recordings together during their marriage. The union lasted fifteen months before Guilford filed for divorce in 1930 on grounds of incompatibility of temperament.

Guilford's Broadway credit came in 1934 with the musical Caviar, in which she played the principal role of Elena, a woman who initially seeks to marry a Russian prince for his title but ultimately falls in love with him. Rehearsals began in May 1934, and the production opened on June 7 at the Forest Theatre, where it ran until June 23. The show lasted fewer than three weeks on Broadway.

In the 1960s Guilford operated the Nanette Guilford Corporation, a music production label under which she produced recordings including music for the Girl Scouts of America.