Coretti Genrichovna Arle-Titz (Dec.5, 1881-Dec.15, 1951)
(Russian: Коретти Арле Тиц)
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| Petrograd (1914) |
Born in Upstate New York, Coretté Elisabeth Hardy traveled to Europe in early June 1902 as a replacement dancer/singer in the African-American troupe "Louisiana Amazon Guards". Traveling across Germany and Switzerland for seven months, the group eventually dissolved by early 1903, although the remaining women formed a quartette under an unknown name and performed around Berlin until July 1903.
The group arrived in Russia around January 1904, performing at Moscow's Aumont Theatre and St. Petersburg's Aquarium Theatre. Unfortunately, one of the women returned to Germany and the remaining trio, now as the "Harris Trio" continued to tour across St. Petersburg, Moscow and Helsinki until February 1905. Coretté and companion, Fanny Smith abruptly formed, "Koretty und Kreolin" song and dance duo that toured across the Russia and Poland until the fall of 1907.
Eventually, Coretté settled permanently in St. Petersburg and married into the wealthy Utin family, becoming Coretti Genrichovna de-Utina (Russian: Коретти де-Утина) and became, Mlle. de-Outina, the Indian Nightingale, a popular singer of Russian Romance songs. After possibly producing two children for her husband, she returned to New York in October 1910 for a brief three month tour. Unfortunately, the racism and her family's disapproval of her marriage prompted her to return home to Russia.
After a successful tour across the Ukraine, Baltic coast and other Russian provinces, in late-1913 Coretti enrolled into the St. Petersburg Musical Conservatory. However, this occasion was marred by her sudden divorce from her husband. Around December 1913, after musician Nikolai Burenin, in between her studies she began performing with the Fine Arts Society, who's musical concerts were a front to hide their Bolshevik meetings.
In 1915, on a trip to Finland, she was meet pianist Boris Borisovich Titz, a friendship which soon blossomed into a love affair. The following year, after a concert at the Tenishev School, Burenin introduced Coretti to the revolutionary Maxim Gorky, a friendship which would last until his death.
After the February Revolution, in August 1917 Coretti relocated with Boris to Kharkov, where she performed at the Grotzsk Garden Cabaret as a popular dramatic soprano. In 1919, during the Civil War, she traveled with the Southwestern Front Concert Brigade performing for Red Army troops. After marrying Boris in 1920, the couple moved to Moscow after the Great Famine began to devastate the new Soviet Union.
On April 3, 1924, after continuing her studies at the Tchaikovsky Musical Conservatory, Coretti debuted onstage at the Bolshoi Theatre. Her performance of Negro spirituals and an aria from Verdi's Aida turned her into an overnight success. With Boris accompanying her as her pianist, Coretti toured across every country that comprised the Soviet Union non-stop until 1940. She also recorded numerous Spirituals and Indian Love Songs, and appeared in two Soviet films, Circus (1936) and Fifteen Year Old Captain (1945).
After touring across Siberia during WWII, she retired from the stage in 1947, living quietly in Moscow until her death in 1951.
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