Coca-Cola used a famous soprano in their ads in the early 1900s. What is her name and the name of the ship she was on that ran aground on a coral reef?

22crows

Lillian Nordica’s story is an operatic fairy tale of sorts, even though the princess did not always live happily ever after. As American as apple pie, this "Yankee Diva" was born in Farmington, Maine, then went on to become the first American at Bayreuth (as Elsa in 1894) and had her image prominently featured in early Coca-Cola advertising campaigns. Late in her career, Lillian Nordica sang with the Manhattan Opera (1907–08) and opened the Boston Opera House in La Gioconda (1909). Her final operatic appearances were to be in that city, as Isolde, in 1913. Late that year she embarked on a recital tour that took her as far as Australia. She nearly missed the ship leaving Sydney on her return, but wired the captain asking him to wait for her, which he unfortunately did. The Tasman wrecked into a coral reef, where it remained for three days, and Nordica suffered from exposure and never recovered. She lingered for months, seeming to improve, only to fail again. She died on May 10, 1914, on the island of Java. http://www.cantabile-subito.de/Sopranos/Nordica__Lillian/nordica__lillian.htm Dec 20 09, 6:24 AM