Regina Vicarino

Reine Annette Vicarino was born in New York City, the daughter of Edouard Joseph Vicarino and Leontine Camille Serre Vicarino. Her father was born in Switzerland; her mother was born in New York, to French-born parents.[1] Reine (who used the Italian form of her name, Regina) studied voice with Delia Valeri, and with Arthur Lawrason in New York.[2][3]

In 1906, Vicarino performed several small roles in the first season of Oscar Hammerstein I's Manhattan Opera Company.[4] From there she went on to perform in Italy, and was given "a priceless souvenir" by the Duke and Duchess of Connaught (Prince Arthur and Princess Louise Margaret) for a performance in Malta.[4]

Vicarino's voice was described as having "all the range and limpidity of an ideal coloratura," in the Los Angeles Herald in 1910; the critic went into further detail, writing that "The upper register is clear and brilliant, and the lower tones are wonderfully vibrant and rich for a coloratura voice."[5] She frequently sang the lead role in Donizetti's Lucia di Lammermoor,[6] and she was also considered successful as Violetta in La traviata,[7] and as Micaela in Carmen.[8]

She sang with the Bevani Grand Opera Company in San Francisco in 1910.[9] Shortly after that she performed in Mexico City with Alessandro Bonci and Florencio Constantino, after which she spent two years performing in Europe.[4] In the 1917-1918 season she toured New England and Canada with the Giuseppe Creatore Grand Opera Company.[10] In 1921, she sang a recital at Carnegie Hall,[2] performed in the summer "Zoo Grand Opera" productions in Cincinnati, Ohio,[11] and she toured cities in the western United States and Canada with the San Carlo Opera Company.[12] In 1922 she appeared in a radio production of Mozart's The Impresario.[13] She made recordings for Lyric Records, and for others under the pseudonym "Josepha Donnelli".[14]

Later in her career, she taught voice privately and at Sullins College, Brenau College, and Arlington Hall.[15][16][17] In 1935 and 1937, she appeared at the Mazica Hall in Miami, Florida, giving "operalogues".[18][19][20]

Regina Vicarino married businessman George Vest Guyer in 1912. They had a daughter, Regina "Mimi" Vicarino Guyer, born in 1916.[21] George died suddenly in 1922.[22] Regina Vicarino died in 1957, aged 71.