Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)/Nordica, Lillian

​NORDICA, LILLIAN, an American opera singer; born in Farmington, Me., in 1859; family name, Norton. She studied at the Boston Conservatory of Music and afterward in Paris and in Italy. In 1882 she married Mr. Gower, who died a short time afterward. She sang with great success in England, Germany, and on the Continent, and was a favorite in her native country. Being very desirious to sing in Wagner's operas in Bayreuth, she went there and appealed to Mme. Wagner for permission to do so. This granted, she studied German and the role of Elsa in “Lohengrin,” in which she made a triumphant appearance. Marguerite in “Faust” was another famous part. In 1896 she married Zoltain F. Dome, who had appeared for the first time in opera at the Bayreuth Festival, in 1894 as Parsifal. Was a member of Hammerstein's Manhattan Opera Co. (1901). Married George Young, American banker (1909). Died 1913 on the island of Java as the result of exposure from the wreck of the steamer “Tasman.”