Lili Chookasian

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Lili Phoebe Chookasian , also Lily Chookasian (born August 1, 1921 in Chicago , Illinois , † April 10, 2012 in Branford , Connecticut ) was an American opera singer ( alto ).

Life

Chookasian was born the daughter of Armenian immigrants; her grandparents had died in the Ottoman Empire in 1915 as victims of the Armenian genocide . Chookasian's father was a machinist and toolmaker ; the family spoke Armenian at home .

Chookasian sang as a soloist at church concerts of the Armenian Church in Chicago since her youth. She studied singing in Chicago with Philip Manuel and later with the famous soprano Rosa Ponselle in Baltimore ; with Ponselle she worked on roles such as Amneris in Aida and Azucena in Il trovatore . At first she sang on the radio ; her professional debut was in the 1940s on Hymns of All Churches , broadcast nationally by the Columbia Network . For the next ten years she performed as a concert singer in Chicago. She also taught singing at Northwestern University .

In 1955 she made her debut as a concert singer in Chicago; she sang under the baton of Bruno Walter , the alto solo in the Resurrection Symphony of Gustav Mahler with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra . 1959 followed her late operatic debut with the Arkansas State Opera as Adalgisa in the opera Norma . In 1961 she sang the solo in the cantata Alexander Newski , op. 78 for mezzo-soprano, choir and orchestra by Sergei Prokofjew at the Spoleto Festival with the New York Philharmonic Orchestra and the conductor Thomas Schippers . After an audition by Chookasians in Baltimore, Schippers had canceled the singer, who had already been engaged for the solo role, and instead entrusted the role to Chookasian. At the Spoleto Festival in 1961 she sang Herodias in Salome and in 1962 Princess Clarissa in Love for the Three Oranges . She gave further guest appearances in Italy in 1961 at the Teatro Verdi in Trieste and in 1962 at the Teatro Regio in Turin , each in the role of Herodias.

In 1962 she was committed to the Metropolitan Opera in New York City . Her debut took place there on March 9, 1962 in the role of Cieca in the opera La Gioconda . Between 1962 and 1986 Chookasian appeared in 290 performances at the MET. Her roles there included Azucena, Ulrica in Un ballo in maschera (1972/1973), Mrs. Quickly in Falstaff , Tisbe in La Cenerentola , Frugola in Il tabarro , Zia Principessa in Suor Angelica , Zita in Gianni Schicchi , Mamma Lucia in Cavalleria rusticana , Mary in The Flying Dutchman , Erda in Das Rheingold and Siegfried , Mother and Witch in Hansel and Gretel , Nurse in Boris Godunow , Filipjewna in Eugen Onegin , Marthe Schwerdtlein in Faust , Geneviève in Pelléas et Melisande and Madelon in Andrea Chénier (1977).

In 1984 she suffered a heart attack on stage during a performance of the opera Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny , in which she sang the role of the widow Leokadja Begbick, and was unable to complete the performance. Chookasian then reduced her opera appearances. Her last appearance at the MET was on May 17, 1986 as Gertrude in Roméo et Juliette by Charles Gounod .

Chookasian has appeared several times in operas by Gian Carlo Menotti . 1963 sang the role of Madame Flora in The Medium at the New York City Center Opera ; in this role she also appeared in 1967 at the Cincinnati Opera. In January 1964 she sang the Maharani in Menotti's opera The Last Savage at the MET at the American premiere.

Chookasian was a guest at the Bayreuth Festival (1965, as Mary, Erda in Der Ring des Nibelungen and 1st Norn in Götterdämmerung ), in Montreal (1966), at the Philadelphia Opera House (1966/1967, as Ulrica), at the San Francisco Opera (1970 as Mrs. Quickly), at the Mexico City Opera House (1973 as Amneris, Palacio de Bellas Artes), at the Lyric Opera in Chicago (1973, as Erda in Siegfried ) and at the Baltimore Opera House (1976 as Queen in the Opera Inés de Castro by Thomas Pasatieri ).

Chookasian was considered an important concert singer. In particular, she repeatedly appeared as an interpreter of the works of Gustav Mahler . In addition to the alto parts in Mahler's symphonies, she sang Das Lied von der Erde , the Kindertotenlieder and Das klagende Lied .

In the mid-1980s, Chookasian retired from her active singing career. One of her last major concert appearances was the alto solo in Giuseppe Verdi's Requiem at the Waterloo Festival in New Jersey in 1984 . From 1985 Chookasian taught singing at the Yale School of Music .

Private

In 1941 Chookasian married her compatriot George Gavejian († 1987). The marriage had three children, two sons and a daughter.

In 1956 Chookasian first developed breast cancer ; she was given a life expectancy of half a year. Chookasian opted for a mastectomy ; she underwent a second mastectomy in 1961 after cancer was again diagnosed. Chookasian kept her illness, a taboo subject in the 1960s, a secret in artistic circles. Her MET debut, which was originally planned for the 1961 season, Chookasian could not make due to her illness.

Chookasian died at her home in Branford, Connecticut, aged 90.

Voice and sound documents

Chookasian was one of the most important contralto of her generation. Her voice can be described as true contrabold . She had a "large, deep voice, with a velvety timbre , similar to the sound of a cello ". Her voice was "dark and of dramatic power".

Chookasian's concert repertoire is largely recorded on audio files. She recorded Mahler's Lied von der Erde in 1966 with the Philadelphia Orchestra under the musical direction of Eugene Ormandy . Under the musical direction of Leonard Bernstein , Chookasian sang the alto solos in the Resurrection Symphony (symphony in C minor) and in the 8th Symphony , the Symphony of the Thousand (Symphony in E flat major) by Gustav Mahler, each appeared on Columbia -CBS. With Bernstein she also recorded Beethoven's 9th Symphony . A recording of Verdi's Requiem was made under the musical direction of Erich Leinsdorf and the Boston Symphony Orchestra .

There are relatively few opera recordings with Chookasian. At Deutsche Grammophon she can be heard as 1st norn in Herbert von Karajan's complete recording of Richard Wagner's Der Ring des Nibelungen (1969/1970). Live recordings of the operas Roberto Devereux (1965, with Chookasian as Sara) and Un ballo in maschera (1973, from the MET with Cornell MacNeil as partner) have now been released on CD.

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e Lili Chookasian, 90, Exhilarating American Contralto Who Found Acclaim on Concert and Opera Stages, Has Died Obituary in: OPERA NEWS of April 12, 2012
  2. ↑ a b c d e f Lili Chookasian, Contralto Praised for Her Velvety Voice, Dies at 90 Obituary in: New York Times, April 12, 2012
personal data
SURNAME Chookasian, Lili
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Chookasian, Lili Phoebe (full name); Chookasian, Lily
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American opera singer (alto)
DATE OF BIRTH August 1, 1921
PLACE OF BIRTH Chicago , Illinois
DATE OF DEATH April 10, 2012
Place of death Branford , Connecticut