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150:, the younger son of Eric Thomas Baker (1810–1882) from a military family, and his wife Georgina Barbara née Crossman, the daughter of a clergyman. Federici eventually returned to Britain. There, he trained for the diplomatic service but decided instead to pursue a singing career and also worked for a time as a theatrical agent and wrote songs.
291:. In March 1880 he switched to the role of Bill Bobstay in the same production. While on that tour, he married fellow D'Oyly Carte artist Lena Monmouth (real name Jane Elenor Finili (1858–1937). The couple eventually had two children, Louis Wallace Horace (born 1881) and Marguerite Ellissa Anita Baker (1882–1936).
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397:. One local reviewer wrote that Federici "has a somewhat powerful voice, which comes out well in the patter song ... "If you want a receipt for that popular mystery," whilst his solo "When first I put this uniform on," was received with great éclat, and another said that he "evoked enthusiastic applause".
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The cast onstage, like the audience, were unaware of his sudden death, but when they were told of what had happened at the end of the opera, they reportedly said that he had just been onstage and taken the bows with them. Since then, members of the theatre's staff have claimed to see a ghostly figure
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The tragic and appalling occurrence ... must command universal sympathy and regret. Mr
Federici achieved considerable success both in England and America in comic opera, but he was also an excellent musician and the composer of several songs of more than average merit, and before his association with
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was playing
Marguerite, and Alfred Cellier was conducting. The opera ended with Mephistopheles sinking dramatically through a trapdoor, as he returned to the fires of hell, bearing Faust with him. However, as Federici was being lowered down into the basement, he had a heart attack and died within
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at St. James's Hall. It seems an act almost of irreverence to criticise the performance of an actor who has only just been carried to his grave. Nevertheless, it is only his due and his proper tribute to say that he both sang and acted on
Saturday night in a truly artistic manner and that he has
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only two days beforehand. Having had only one rehearsal, they travelled to nearby
Paignton for the matinee, where they read their parts from scripts carried onto the stage, making do with whatever costumes they had on hand. Federici thus originated the role of the Pirate King. In August 1880 he
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newspaper in
Melbourne, among many other press reports, carried a detailed account of the incident. It noted that soon after he collapsed, Federici was carried to the theatre's green room, where his doctor was unable to revive him and pronounced him dead.
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in March 1888. On opening night, after he sang the last note of the opera, and as he descended through a trap door in the stage, he had a heart attack and died suddenly. Ever since then, a legend holds that his ghost haunts that theatre.
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on 5 March 1888. The
Federici Bistro in Melbourne is named after him. His wife and children returned to England in June 1888 and moved in with her father, Luigi Finili, a plaster-figures-maker from Lucca. In 1894, she remarried.
556:, in the role of the Marquis de Pontvert. Other roles in Australia included the Mikado, the Pirate King, Dick Deadeye, Colonel Calverley and Strephon. His wife played small roles such as Lady Betty in
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thought that "Strephon was effectively rendered by Mr. F. Federici, who not only acquitted himself very satisfactorily in the singing, but infused into the part a vein of quiet humour". However,
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Early in his career, Federici worked as a talent agent before becoming a concert singer. From 1879 to 1887 he toured extensively in
Gilbert and Sullivan's comic operas with the
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never been seen to greater advantage than he was on that occasion. ... The theatre was closed on Monday evening out of respect to the memory of the deceased artist.
278:. He also taught singing and performed at the Covent Garden proms and other London concerts. But around 1878, he joined the army, avoiding his creditors.
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before taking the latter work on a D'Oyly Carte tour of
Austria and Germany until January 1887. In February 1887 he made his only appearance at the
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in evening dress at the theatre. For many years, a third-row seat in the dress circle was kept vacant in his honour on every opening night.
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In further D'Oyly Carte tours of the
Gilbert and Sullivan operas, from late 1880, Federici appeared as Captain Corcoran in
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Performances had to be given in
Britain before publication in order to secure copyright. See Stephens, John Russell.
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before being sent to New York to play the same role in the first authorised American production of that opera at the
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wrote that "he is too conscious of the importance of the place he holds in the piece". In 1884 he played Florian in
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The Silent Showman: Sir George Tallis, the Man Behind the Worlds Largest Entertainment Organisation of the 1920s
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called him "most artistic" in the role. In the first half of 1885, he toured as the Counsel to the Plaintiff in
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before being sent back to New York to play the same role until April 1887 in the first American production of
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appearing in the opera's first performance in 1879. He also played, among other roles, Captain Corcoran in
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comic opera had successfully appeared as a vocalist at some of the best concerts in London, including the
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had a mixed reaction: "Mr. F. Federici, though a good actor, is a trifle too robust in style", and the
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In 1887, Federici moved to Australia where he played in Gilbert and Sullivan and other operas with the
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wrote that Federici "is capital as the Pirate King". He Played Colonel Calverley from 1882 to 1883 in
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of Melbourne wrote about Federici's career, performance and the events of the evening:
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Federici wrote the song "Dearer than all to me" in 1874. In 1877, he was engaged at the
812:, Who Was Who in the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company, 1 November 2011, accessed 16 June 2014
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Federici began singing in London concerts by age 21, in 1872, at the Schubert Society,
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wrote that "Federici, vocally and otherwise was excellent as Strephon". So did the
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the afternoon before the New York premiere, at the Royal Bijou Theatre in
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in July 1879 and was given the role of Captain Corcoran on a tour of
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1242:'The Not So Final Curtain of Frederick Federici' – Unexplainable.Net
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Federici in the title role of the first American production of
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The Profession of the Playwright: British Theatre 1800–1900
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where he appeared in, among other things, performances of
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Federici as the Mikado on a Straiton & Storm Cigar
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1111:, History of Australian Theatre, accessed 16 June 2014
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and others, despite some ill health in the mid-1870s.
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In July 1885, he toured Britain in the title role in
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328:. The cast, including Federici, which was performing
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On 3 March 1888 Federici was performing the role of
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Through most of 1883 Federici toured as Strephon in
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1237:Federici's Theatre Credits on broadwayworld.com
1166:, Melbourne for Everyone, accessed 16 June 2014
868:, Cambridge University Press (1992), pp. 104–15
770:, Volume XLV, Issue 7025, 29 March 1888, p. 3,
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879:Gilbert and Sullivan : A Dual Biography:
797:Who Was Who in the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company
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1152:"Top Ten Haunted Places in Australia"
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1222:"The Story of Federici"
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1107:19 May 2021 at the
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271:The Sultan of Mocha
884:(2002), pp. 180–81
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139:
137:
129:
102:
92:
85:
79:
75:Princess Ida
73:
67:
61:
55:
49:
43:
35:Savoy Operas
26:
25:
15:
1271:1888 deaths
1266:1850 births
704:Gänzl, Kurt
184:The Messiah
179:Monday Pops
175:Sims Reeves
37:written by
1260:Categories
1141:1862547351
658:References
481:The Mikado
473:The Mikado
464:The Mikado
365:trade card
276:Manchester
131:The Mikado
81:The Mikado
1251:– YouTube
852:The Argus
767:The Press
626:The Argus
596:The Press
586:Melbourne
520:Melbourne
496:Ruddigore
490:Ruddigore
385:in 1881.
296:copyright
197:oratorios
193:Edinburgh
113:Melbourne
101:'s opera
87:Ruddigore
1249:Haunted'
1206:Federici
1125:Archived
1105:Archived
1085:Archived
1082:Federici
1032:Iolanthe
1009:Iolanthe
971:Iolanthe
952:Patience
932:Patience
917:Patience
646:See also
562:Iolanthe
532:operetta
403:Iolanthe
394:Patience
330:Pinafore
318:Paignton
310:Pinafore
206:Maritana
144:Florence
138:Born as
69:Iolanthe
63:Patience
1193:The Age
1069:The Era
1037:The Era
902:The Era
895:Pirates
558:Dorothy
553:Erminie
547:'s hit
536:Dorothy
438:The Era
424:The Era
388:The Era
383:Pirates
338:Pirates
334:Torquay
314:Pirates
230:Lurline
191:and in
187:at the
167:Glasgow
107:at the
1139:
1027:Review
1011:review
973:review
681:(2004)
578:Faust
367:(1885)
302:opera
134:(1885)
99:Gounod
760:Faust
543:, in
218:Faust
169:in a
104:Faust
1137:ISBN
161:and
1029:of
584:in
530:'s
518:in
274:in
268:'s
258:'s
142:in
111:in
1262::
1208:,
1131:,
1067:,
1051:,
1035:,
1013:,
992:,
956:,
936:,
899:,
849:,
833:^
824:,
795:,
778:^
764:,
750:^
741:,
725:,
715:^
706:.
686:^
677:–
665:^
564:.
458:.
436:.
418:.
406:.
351:.
157:,
146:,
950:"
930:"
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