Christina Nilsson
Christina Nilsson, Countess de Casa Miranda, also called Christine Nilsson[1] (20 August 1843 – 22 November 1921)[2] was a Swedish operatic dramatic coloratura soprano. Possessed of a pure and brilliant voice (B3-F6), first three then two and a half octaves trained in the bel canto technique, and noted for her graceful appearance and stage presence,[3][4][5] she enjoyed a twenty-year career as a top-rank international singer before her 1888 retirement.[3] A contemporary of one of the Victorian era's most famous divas, Adelina Patti,[6] the two were often compared by reviewers and audiences, and were sometimes believed to be rivals.[4][7] Nilsson became a member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Music in 1869.
For other people named Christina Nilsson, see Christina Nilsson (disambiguation).
Christine Nilson
22 November 1921 (aged 78)
opera singer
In literature[edit]
She is a minor character in The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton.[27]
She is mentioned in Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy.[28]
She is widely believed to have been the inspiration for Christine Daaé, the heroine of Gaston Leroux's novel The Phantom of the Opera.[29][30] Towards the end of his life, Leroux claimed the character was based on a real opera singer "whose real name I hid under that of Christine Daaé",[30] and details of Nilsson's early life heavily reflect details in the fictitious Christine Daaé's history,[29][30][31] even to the point of using ideas and language from contemporary reviews of Nilsson's performances in Faust in 1869.[32]
In popular culture[edit]
Nilsson is a minor character in the first episode of Season 2 of the television series The Gilded Age, and was played by Sarah Joy Miller. [33]
