Marion Talley

Marion Nevada Talley (December 20, 1906 – January 3, 1983)[1] was an American operatic lyric coloratura soprano.

She was at the time (1926) the youngest prima donna to have made a debut at the Metropolitan Opera; her swift rise to fame was followed by a period of decline, although she remained in the public eye for a number of years.

At an early age she was taking piano, violin, and voice lessons, singing with church choirs, and growing a reputation among local music critics and audiences.

At the age of fifteen, Talley appeared in a 1922 Kansas City Grand Opera Company production of Mignon by Ambroise Thomas, and was a local sensation.

Her career became a cause célèbre for the citizens of Kansas City, who attended benefit concerts and contributed money for her to study in New York, under the famed teacher Frank LaForge, and later in Italy.

The short films preceding the feature were a collection of musical performances featuring Talley along with a number of other classical and opera musicians including Henry Hadley conducting the New York Philharmonic, Mischa Elman, Josef Bonime, Efrem Zimbalist, Harold Bauer, Giovanni Martinelli, and Anna Case and Hawaiian guitarist Roy Smeck.

Negative reviews of the Vitaphone premiere focused mainly on Talley, criticizing her inexperience as a performer and her lack of photogenic qualities.

[4][5] Marion Nevada Talley died on January 3, 1983, in Beverly Hills, Los Angeles County, California.