Maestros and their motor cars (21): Kirsten Flagstad got a Lincoln from the Met
OperaThe great Norwegian diva was presented by the Metropolitan Opera with a 1937 Lincoln Model K 359-B V12 6. 8 litre Semi-Collapsible Cabriolet. Motor/chassi no. K7845.
Later, it was owned by the King of Norway.
Don’t ask how we know.
While he never heard Flagstad sing, President Lincoln did enjoy opera, usually of the lighter sort. In Washington he saw “Martha” and “Daughter of the Regiment,” and he had the Marine Band play music from “Faust.” (The director of the band was then Francesco Scala, a native of Napoli.)
Prior to his inauguration in 1861, Lincoln had attended a New York performance of Verdi’s “A Masked Ball” — an opera about a head of state who is assassinated.