Shirley Verrett

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Shirley Verrett (born May 31, 1931 in New Orleans , † November 5, 2010 in Ann Arbor , Michigan ) was an American opera singer in the voices of mezzo-soprano and dramatic soprano .

Life

Verrett was born into an African-American family; she had four siblings. Her father owned a construction company ; her parents were devout members of the Seventh-day Adventist Church . Verrett grew up in California . Her parents supported Verrett's singing talent, but wanted their daughter to have a career as a concert singer modeled on Marian Anderson , as they refused opera. She completed a vocal training with the well-known soprano and singing teacher Anna Fitziu in Chicago and Los Angeles . Verrett later also studied at the Juilliard School of Music with the singing teacher Marion Székély-Freschl . In later years she received private lessons from Giulietta Simionato in the course of her career .

In 1957 she made her operatic debut in Yellow Springs , Ohio , in the title role of The Rape of Lucretia . In 1958 she sang Irina in Kurt Weill's musical Lost in the Stars at the New York City Center Opera . In the season 1959/1960 Verrett was engaged at the Cologne Opera; there she sang in November 1959 in the world premiere of the opera The Death of Grigory Rasputin by Nicolas Nabokov . In 1962 she had great success at the Spoleto Festival in the United States with the title role of the opera Carmen , which she also sang in 1963 at the City Center Opera in New York . In the same year (1963) she also appeared with Carmen at the Bolshoi Theater and in Kiev .

In 1966 Verrett made his debut at the Covent Garden Opera in London (inaugural role: Ulrica in Un ballo in maschera ). There she also sang Azucena in Il trovatore , Amneris in Aida , Princess Eboli in Don Carlo , the title role in Carmen and Orpheus in Orfeo ed Euridice . In 1968 she appeared at the Edinburgh Festival as Elisabetta in Maria Stuarda . In 1968 Carmen made her debut at the Metropolitan Opera in New York, where she had an extremely successful career until the late 1980s. There she sang in over 120 performances and, in addition to her brilliant role as Carmen , appeared as Princess Eboli, Azucena, Adalgisa in Norma , Judith in Bluebeard's Castle and, alongside Luciano Pavarotti , as Leonora in Gaetano Donizetti's bel canto opera La favorita on. In 1973 she took on the roles of Cassandre in the American premiere of the opera Les Troyens and, for a short time, Didon for the sick Christa Ludwig , alongside Jon Vickers .

She has appeared at the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino (1969 as Elisabetta in Maria Stuarda ), at the Vienna State Opera (1970, as Eboli), at the Dallas Opera House (1971, as Leonora in La favorita ), at the San Francisco Opera (1972, as Selika in Die Afrikanerin ) and at the Grand Opéra Paris (1973 as Selika, 1983 as Sinaide in Mosè ). In 1975 she sang Lady Macbeth in a production of the opera Macbeth at La Scala in Milan . Her interpretation of this role, which for Verrett represented a change of subject to the dramatic soprano subject, was recorded on record for Deutsche Grammophon in 1976 under the musical direction of Claudio Abbado . From the mid-1970s to the mid-1980s Verrett could then be heard almost exclusively in soprano parts; time and again, however, she also took on roles that alternated between subject boundaries, such as Lady Macbeth (1986, at the San Francisco Opera) or Selika. She appeared as Norma (1976 on an American tour of the Metropolitan Opera, 1979 also at the Metropolitan Opera), as Leonore in Fidelio , as Amelia in Un ballo in maschera , in the title role of the opera Tosca (1978 at the Metropolitan Opera, 1989 at the Boston Opera House ), as Aida and as Desdemona in Otello . She sang the latter role in 1981 as a colored singer alongside the white tenor James McCracken , which led to a bold reversal of the original role conception.

In 1990 she sang Didon in the opening concert of the newly built Opéra Bastille . In 1991 she appeared at the Teatro San Carlo in Naples as Santuzza in Cavalleria rusticana and at the Teatro Carlo Felice in Genoa as Azucena. In 1991 she also appeared in the female title role of the opera Samson et Dalila in Adelaide . In 1994 she made her Broadway debut as Nettie Fowler in the musical Carousel at the Vivien Beaumont Theater in Lincoln Center .

Since 1996, Verrett has taught singing at the University of Michigan School of Music, Theater & Dance in Ann Arbor. In 2003 she published her autobiography under the title I Never Walked Alone , a reference to the song You'll Never Walk Alone by Richard Rodgers .

Shirley Verrett died of heart failure at her Ann Arbor home at the age of 79. Her death was preceded by a lengthy illness.

Private

In 1951 she married James Carter, fourteen years her senior, and performed temporarily under the name Shirley Verrett-Carter. The marriage failed. In 1963, Verrett married the artist Lou LoMonaco, who survived them. The couple adopted a daughter.

voice

Shirley Verrett had a "large," expressive, and powerful voice that spanned several octaves. Critics appreciated the breadth of the pitch range as well as the “glowing drama of the performance”. Verrett had an unusually large vocal range and was therefore able to sing both large mezzo-soprano parts and the dramatic soprano part. It had a pronounced low register that easily reached into the depths of the contra-alto range. Critics also criticized that Verrett's singing lacked a clear vocal line and that her voice fell apart into different, unconnected registers.

literature

Web links

Remarks

  1. ↑ New York Times : Shirley Verrett Sings Norma at the Met, March 19, 1979, online archive, accessed April 6, 2020
personal data
SURNAME Verrett, Shirley
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Verrett-Carter, Shirley
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American opera singer (mezzo-soprano, soprano)
DATE OF BIRTH May 31, 1931
PLACE OF BIRTH New Orleans
DATE OF DEATH 5th November 2010
Place of death Ann Arbor , Michigan