Joanna Simon

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Joanna Simon (born October 20, 1940 in New York ) is an American opera singer with a mezzo-soprano voice .

Life

She is the sister of the two musicians Carly Simon and Lucy Simon , who both also appeared as the Simon Sisters . Her father is the businessman and founder of the Simon & Schuster publishing house , Richard L. Simon .

Simon took piano lessons from the age of six . She received her vocal training from the teachers Marion Freschl and Daniel Ferro and from Sarah Lawrence College in New York City. Further studies later led her to Herbert Graf at the International Opera Studio in Zurich and to Gian Carlo Menotti at the Spoleto Festival USA in Charleston . In 1962 she won the Marian Anderson Award for Young Afro-American Singers.

The mezzo-soprano made her debut at New York City Center Opera in 1962, where she sang the role of Cherubino in Mozart's opera The Marriage of Figaro , opposite Norman Treigle in the title role . Various engagements followed in the United States , including in Baltimore , Cincinnati , Houston , Seattle , Miami and Philadelphia . In 1967 she sang the role of courtesan Pantasilea in the world premiere of the opera Bomarzo by Alberto Ginastera with the Washington Opera Society . From then on she was considered a specialist in the interpretation of contemporary music. At the same time, Simon appeared in numerous concerts and oratorios , where she worked out a repertoire that included works by Georg Friedrich Handel , Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart , Gustav Mahler , Johannes Brahms and Johann Sebastian Bach .

She also performed outside of her home country. From 1971 to 1973 she took part in the Salzburg Festival , where she performed as Piacere in the baroque opera La Rappresentazione di anima e corpo by Emilio de 'Cavalieri , and in 1972 she also sang in church concerts under Ernst Märzendorfer . In 1972 she played the title role in the opera Carmen at the Bordeaux Opera House ; later she sang Carmen in Israel under the musical direction of Zubin Mehta . She sang the role of Brangäne in the opera Tristan und Isolde in a performance with the New York Philharmonic Orchestra under the musical direction of Leonard Bernstein . In March 1972 she sang the role of Raquel in the world premiere of Thomas Pasatieri's opera The Black Widow at Seattle Opera . Other leading roles followed on many important stages around the world, where she worked with famous conductors such as Herbert von Karajan and James Levine . Her repertoire included Charlotte in Werther , Dorabella in Così fan tutte and Marina in Boris Godunow and Countess Geschwitz in Lulu at the American National Opera. In 1981 she sang the role of Fenena in Nabucco at the New York City Opera alongside Grace Bumbry .

She also appeared on television both nationally and internationally. While in the USA the Ed Sullivan Show or the Tonight Show led the singer in the guest list, on February 10, 1968 she was also a guest on the ARD Saturday evening show One will win in the Federal Republic of Germany .

She later worked as a cultural correspondent for the television program MacNeil / Lehrer News Hour from 1986 to 1992 .

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ carly Simon ( Memento of the original from June 27, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / lindaronstadt.de
  2. ↑ Joanna Simon  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. List of roles in the Salzburg Festival@1@ 2Template: Toter Link / www.salzburgerfestspiele.at  
  3. ↑ GRACE BUMBRY IN 'NABUCCO' OPENS SEASON New York Times ; September 18, 1981
personal data
SURNAME Simon, Joanna
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American opera singer (mezzo-soprano)
DATE OF BIRTH October 20, 1940
PLACE OF BIRTH New York City