THE SONGBIRD: Lydia Lipkowska [Лідія Липковська] (1882 - 1958) was born in the village of Babyn in Ukraine, which is very close to its borders with Moldova and Romania, during the era of the Russian Empire. Her aunt was a well-regarded stage actress. Lipkowska studied in St. Petersburg and made her debut in at the Mariinsky in 1906. She sang at The Met in New York from 1909 to 1911, including Violetta opposite Caruso's Alfredo. She also sang in Chicago and Boston before singing Mimi at Covent Garden in 1911 and then returning to Russia. Lipkowska fled the newly forming Soviet Union with her husband in 1920; once in New York she quickly got an engagement as Gilda with the San Carlo Opera Company in Manhattan. After retiring from the stage she lived in Romania and taught voice -- Virginia Zeani was one of her students.
THE MUSIC: One sign of soprano stardom in the Gilded Age was having a composer create a showy concert waltz just for you, such as Arditi's "Se saran rose," known as The Melba Waltz. This seems to be the case for Lipkowska. I am not able to discover any information about the composer, other than a listing of composer S. A. Troilin in an article about the influence of Ukrainian Cossacks in Russian culture. So, I assume he (she?) was from Ukraine and was commissioned or offered to compose this concert waltz to custom fit Lipkowska's voice. She likely sang it in recitals and concerts, perhaps as an encore.
American Girl Best Friends Aesthetics: A Dakota Sioux girl who finds and befriends a Scandinavian immigrant girl Kirsten Larson, Singing Bird is a curious, kind, and talented tracker. When she and her family must move to try to find better hunting grounds, she is sad that her friend cannot join her.
Someone said they thought Kavi would make a good Singing Bird, so I grabbed the only Kaya dress I own and took her outside for a quick photo shoot to see.