Nearly every brief bio of Metropolitan Opera soprano Anna Case neatly wraps up the story of her life and career with a sentence along the lines of "After her 1931 marriage to telegraph and cable tycoon Clarence H. Mackay, she retired from the concert stage." The problem with that is that the South Branch girl lived for another 53 years! She must have done something between 1931 and her death on January 7, 1984, at the age of 96.
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| With conductor Albert Coates at the New York Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra concert at Lewisohn Stadium, 22 August 1932 |
In fact, although she did announce her retirement from the concert stage soon after the Mackays returned from their honeymoon, by the end of the year Mrs. Mackay was performing some benefit concerts. Over the next couple of years, as she settled into life at Harbor Hill - the Mackays gilded-age Long island mansion - more charitable events were added to the schedule as well as a few professional engagements.
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| Dancing and singing "Sidewalks of New York", with former Governor Al Smith, 2 March 1935 (Collection of Gillette on Hillsborough) |
Still enjoying her celebrity status throughout the 1930s, the former diva was much photographed at events from charity functions to dog shows.
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| At the Westbury Dog Show, 28 September 1936 (Collection of Gillette on Hillsborough) |
In 1936, Anna Case renewed her songwriting efforts, which you can read about here.
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| 30 April 1938 Des Moines Tribune |
She also could be heard occasionally on the radio, most notably on a 1938 Mother's Day special which also featured silent screen star, Mary Pickford.
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| The Golden Rule Mother's Day radio special, 8 May 1938 |
The little village of South Branch was always in her thoughts. In the 1920s she purchased her childhood home just south of the church, renaming it Le Reve - The Dream - and gave it to her mother. She visited often and sang at Somerset County's 250th-anniversary celebration in 1938, and at the dedication of Hillsborough's War Honor Roll in 1943.
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| At Somerset County's 250th anniversary, 23 May 1938 Home News |
As she had during the first World War, Anna Case dedicated herself to the war effort. She entertained servicemen at the weekly dances held in New York City at the Arcadia Ballroom, and even wrote a song to rally America - "Hallelujah! Hallelujah! We'll Pull Together."
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| Performing for servicemen during WWII at the Arcadia Ballroom in New York, December 1943 |
After her mother died in 1949, she kept Le Reve and used it as a country retreat, dividing her time between her New York apartment and Hillsborough.
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At the unveiling of fellow Metropolitan Opera diva Frieda Hempel's portrait,
February 1957 (Collection of Gillette on Hillsborough)
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Always ready for a photo-op, Anna Case was on hand to honor past and current divas in the 50s and 60s.
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| Veterans Benefit with Maria Callas, 11 January 1957 (Collection of Gillette on Hillsborough) |
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| Congratulating Joan Sutherland at her Englewood, NJ recital, 23 February 1961 |
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| 22 August 1957 Courier News |
Before she passed away in 1984, she bequeathed her 167-carat emerald necklace to the Smithsonian. She also provided the Metropolitan Opera with an endowment and set up a scholarship fund for young singers through the Santa Fe Opera.
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| At her East 92nd Street home. From the cover of the 28 February 1970 Opera News |
With all of the many "firsts" Anna Case had throughout her long career in the opera, concert, recording, film, and radio fields, one of the most interesting just might be something that took place twenty years after she passed away.
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In 2004 composer Nicholas Brooke debuted a new one-act opera titled "Tone Test" about a man obsessed with the music he hears on old Edison Phonograph records. The score for the opera actually uses samples of Edison Diamond Discs. The other character in the opera is none other than Anna Case - played by singer Dina Emerson. So, it appears that Anna Case may be the only real-life opera star that is also a character in an opera!
Now that's the way those bios should wrap it up!
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