Marjorie Lawrence

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Marjorie Lawrence (1939)
Marjorie Lawrence in Sydney Town Hall (1944)

Marjorie Lawrence (born February 17, 1907 in Deans Marsh , Victoria , Australia ; died January 13, 1979 in Little Rock ) was an Australian opera singer with a soprano voice.

Life

Marjorie Lawrence was the daughter of a butcher, her mother played the organ in the parish. She attended the local school and learned to sing. She received her first systematic vocal training at the age of 18 with Ivo Boustead in Melbourne and from 1928 with Cécile Gilly in Paris .

Lawrence made his debut at the Opéra de Monte-Carlo in 1932 as Elisabeth im Tannhäuser . In 1933 she came to the Paris Opera and made her debut as Ortrud in Lohengrin . In the following years she appeared there as Brunehild in Sigurd by Ernest Reyer , as Salomé in Hérodiade by Jules Massenet , as Donna Anna in Don Giovanni , as Brangäne in Tristan und Isolde and as Brünnhilde in Die Walküre . She also took part in the world premiere of the opera Vercingétorix by Joseph Canteloube in June 1933 .

In 1935 Lawrence was invited to the Metropolitan Opera New York, where she made her debut as Brünnhilde in Die Walküre and appeared in eleven roles and 59 performances until 1941, including Ortrud in Lohengrin , Sieglinde in Die Walküre , as Rachel in La Juive von Jacques Fromental Halévy , as Salome ( Richard Strauss ), as Tosca , as Thaïs (Massenet), as Alceste in the opera by Christoph Willibald Gluck .

Lawrence made guest appearances at the Chicago Opera in 1935 , in 1936 at the Teatro Colón Buenos Aires as Kundry and as Ortrud, at the Montevideo Opera House in 1936 as Brünnhilde, at the San Francisco Opera 1939-40 in the title role of Carmen and as Brünnhilde, and in 1937 at the Opera House of Lyon , where she sang her first Isolde. In 1939 she went on a tour of Australia. She also appeared as a guest at Covent Garden Opera London and in 1938 as Brünnhilde at the Sopot Festival .

During a tour in Mexico City in 1941, Lawrence fell ill with poliomyelitis and was henceforth paralyzed on the legs. With the help of physiotherapy treatments based on Elizabeth Kenny's method , she was able to perform as a concert singer while sitting in a wheelchair . In 1943 she sang the part of Venus im Tannhäuser at the Metropolitan Opera in a production in which she did not have to move on the stage. Similarly, in 1946 she took over the role of Amneris in Verdi's Aida at the Grand Opéra Paris, and later in Cincinnati and Montreal .

In 1947 Lawrence sang Strauss' Elektra in a concert performance in Chicago . After another tour of Australia in 1951, she ended her stage career in 1952 and concentrated on vocal pedagogy with students from Tulane University and then Southern Illinois University Carbondale .

Lawrence published her memoirs in 1949, which were filmed in 1954 without her help. She was inducted into the French Legion of Honor in 1946 and appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 1976 at the suggestion of the Australian government . Lawrence had lived on her ranch in Hot Springs , Arkansas , since becoming ill .

Works (selection)

Records
  • Lohengrin , recording by Teatro Colón Buenos Aires from 1936, melodrama
  • Valkyrie , recording of the Metropolitan Opera from 1940, EJS
  • Songs by Brahms, Grieg and Rachmaninoff, 1947, Decca

literature

Web links
personal data
SURNAME Lawrence, Marjorie
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Australian opera singer
DATE OF BIRTH February 17, 1907
PLACE OF BIRTH Deans Marsh , Victoria , Australia
DATE OF DEATH January 13, 1979
Place of death Little rock