Marcella Stengel Sembrich is one of the several prima donnas to whom
the American music-loving public has remained loyal for many years.
As an artist she ranks with the foremost singers of to-day, while her
domestic life is of an ideal nature. As a rule, the law of compensation
takes greatly where it gives freely, and so the woman of talent who
devotes herself to the service of the public is apt to be the loser as
far as home life is concerned. In Mme. Sembrich’s case it is otherwise,
however, and her social popularity, too, is no less than is her vogue
on the operatic stage. The songstress was born at Lemberg, Galatia,
February 18, 1858. Her early musical education was obtained in the
Conservatory of Lemberg, after which she studied at Vienna and Milan.
Her marvelous vocal gifts assured the success of her début as Elvira,
in I Puritani, at the Royal theater, Athens. After a season spent
on the continent in opera she, in 1883, came to this country under
the management of Henry Abbey. Her reception here was of the warmest
nature, and from that time on she has been a constant favorite with the
American public. She has made a number of tours in the United States
and has been uniformly successful in connection therewith. In 1877 she
married Prof. Wilhelm Stengel, who had formerly been her teacher at
Lemberg.