Summary
MAAS, Joseph, born Jan. 30, 1847, at Dartford; began his career as a chorister at Rochester Cathedral, and was taught singing by J. L. Hopkins, the organist, and later by Mme. Bodda-Pyne. He was for some time a clerk in Chatham dockyard, but went to Milan in 1869, and studied under San Giovanni. He made his début at one of Leslie's concerts, Feb. 26, 1871, and sang ‘Annabell Lee’ in the place of Sims Reeves, with great success, ‘inasmuch as he was not only compelled by unanimous desire to repeat it, but there was a strong attempt to induce him to sing it a third time, which, however, he had the good sense to resist’ He played the hero in ‘Babil and Bijou’ at Covent Garden, Aug. 29, 1872; he then went to America, and played in Miss Kellogg's English Opera Company. He reappeared in England at the Adelphi under Carl Rosa, as Gontrau on the production of Brüll's ‘Golden Cross,’ March 2, 1878, and was engaged by Rosa for three years as his principal tenor both at Her Majesty's and in the provinces. His principal parts were Rienzi on its production at Her Majesty's, Jan. 27, 1879; Raoul, Feb. 12, 1879; Wilhelm Meister on the production in English of ‘Mignon,’ Jan. 12, 1880; Radames on the production in English of ‘Aïda,’ Feb. 19, 1880; also Faust, Thaddeus, Don César, etc., He played at Her Majesty's in Italian in 1880, and at Covent Garden (as Lohengrin) in 1883.
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- Information
- A Dictionary of Music and Musicians (A.D. 1450–1880)By Eminent Writers, English and Foreign, pp. 706 - 727Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2009