Judith Blegen

Last updated

Judith Blegen (April 27, 1943, Lexington, Kentucky) [1] is an American soprano, particularly associated with light lyric roles of the French, Italian and German repertories.

Contents

Life and career

Blegen was raised and attended high school in Missoula, Montana, during which time she began voice lessons with John L. Lester, head of the voice department at the University of Montana. [2] [3] She studied first the violin with Toshiya Eto, and later voice at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia with Eufemia Giannini-Gregory. In 1962, she attended the Music Academy of the West [4] where she studied with Martial Singher. In Rome, she studied with Luigi Ricci. She made her operatic debut in Nuremberg, Germany, as Olympia in The Tales of Hoffmann , in 1965, where she subsequently sang Lucia, Susanna, and Zerbinetta. That same year, she appeared in Spoleto, Italy, as Mélisande in Pelléas et Mélisande . [5]

Blegin made her debut with the Vienna State Opera as Olympia in Les contes d'Hoffmann in January 1969, and later that year appeared at the Santa Fe Opera as Emily in the premiere of Gian Carlo Menotti's Help, Help, the Globolinks! , a role requiring her both to sing and play the violin. Her New York Metropolitan Opera debut took place on January 19, 1970, as Papagena in The Magic Flute . She sang over 200 performances of 19 roles at the Met including Marzelline, Zerlina, Susana, Nanetta, Sophie, Mélisande, Adina, Gilda, Oscar, Juliette, Blondchen, Gretel, and Adele. She made her debuts at the London Opera House in London, in 1975, and at the Palais Garnier in Paris, in 1977.

During the 1970s, Blegen was a frequent guest on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson .

A singer with a radiant voice, polished musicianship, and charming stage presence, Blegen retired from the stage in 1991. She was married to former Metropolitan Opera Orchestra concertmaster Raymond Gniewek.

Blegen is a 1983 recipient of the Montana Governor's Arts Award. [6]

Recordings

Among Blegen's recordings are Alban Berg's "Lulu-Suite" (conducted by Pierre Boulez), Menotti's The Medium (with Regina Resnik), The Grammy Award winning RCA Red Seal recording of Puccini's La bohème (as Musetta, opposite Montserrat Caballé, Plácido Domingo, Sherrill Milnes, Vicente Sardinero and Ruggero Raimondi, conducted by Sir Georg Solti), Mozart's The Marriage of Figaro (as Susanna, with Heather Harper as the Contessa, conducted by Daniel Barenboim), Mozart's Zaide on the Orfeo label conducted by Leopold Hager, Carl Orff's Carmina Burana (with Robert Shaw conducting) and Joseph Haydn's oratorio The Creation conducted by Leonard Bernstein on Deutsche Grammophon. She was also a featured soloist on James Levine's Deutsche Grammophon recording of Mendelssohn's A Midsummer Night's Dream , the soprano soloist on his RCA Red Seal recording of Mahler's Fourth Symphony and the Grammy award-winning Telarc recording of Gabriel Fauré's Requiem with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, under Robert Shaw. She was the soprano soloist on the album The Angelic Sounds of Christmas: Music for the Glass Armonica . She was also the soprano soloist on the first complete all-digital recording of Handel's Messiah , with the Musica Sacra Chorus and Orchestra, conducted by Richard Westenburg released by RCA Red Seal. Her performance of Carl Ruggles's song "Toys" is the opening track of Michael Tilson Thomas's The Complete Music of Carl Ruggles.

Blegen recorded three solo recital discs in her prime years including an acclaimed collection of lieder by Richard Strauss and Hugo Wolf issued by RCA Red Seal, arias by Mozart with Pinchas Zukerman conducting, and arias and cantatas by Handel and Alessandro Scarlatti conducted by Gerard Schwarz, both on Columbia Masterworks). She also made a joint recital recording of art songs and duets with Frederica von Stade, also for the Columbia label, which introduced both young singers to the record-buying public in 1975.

Discography

Videography

Related Research Articles

Ileana Cotrubaș is a Romanian operatic soprano whose career spanned from the 1960s to the 1980s. She was much admired for her acting skills and facility for singing opera in many different languages.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kiri Te Kanawa</span> New Zealand opera singer

Dame Kiri Jeanette Claire Te Kanawa,, is a New Zealand opera singer. She had a full lyric soprano voice, which has been described as "mellow yet vibrant, warm, ample and unforced". On 1 December 1971 she was recognised internationally when she appeared as the Countess in Mozart's Le nozze di Figaro at the Royal Opera House in London.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Montserrat Caballé</span> Spanish operatic soprano (1933–2018)

María de Montserrat Bibiana Concepción Caballé i Folch or Folc, known simply as Montserrat Caballé, was a Spanish operatic soprano from Catalonia. Widely considered to be one of the best sopranos of the 20th century, she won a variety of musical awards thoroughout her six-decade career, including three Grammy Awards.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kathleen Battle</span> American operatic soprano (born 1948)

Kathleen Deanna Battle is an American operatic soprano known for her distinctive vocal range and tone. Born in Portsmouth, Ohio, Battle initially became known for her work within the concert repertoire through performances with major orchestras during the early and mid-1970s. She made her opera debut in 1975. Battle expanded her repertoire into lyric soprano and coloratura soprano roles during the 1980s and early 1990s, until her eventual dismissal from the Metropolitan Opera in 1994. She later has focused on recording and the concert stage. After a 22-year absence from the Met, Battle performed a concert of spirituals at the Metropolitan Opera House in November 2016, and again in May 2024.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Helen Donath</span> American opera singer

Helen Jeanette Donath is an American soprano with a career spanning fifty years.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Frederica von Stade</span> American mezzo-soprano

Frederica von Stade is a semi-retired American classical singer. Best known for her work in opera, she was also a recitalist and concert artist, and she recorded more than a hundred albums and videos. She is especially associated with operas by Mozart and Rossini, and also with music by French and American composers, most notably Jake Heggie. A Chevalier of France's Ordre des Arts et des Lettres, twice the winner of a Grand Prix du Disque and nominated nine times for a Grammy award, she is widely regarded as the pre-eminent lyric mezzo-soprano of her generation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lucia Popp</span> Slovak operatic soprano

Lucia Popp was a Slovak operatic soprano. She began her career as a soubrette, and later moved into the light-lyric and lyric coloratura soprano repertoire and then the lighter Richard Strauss and Wagner operas. Her career included performances at Vienna State Opera, the Metropolitan Opera, Covent Garden, and La Scala. Popp was also a highly regarded recitalist and lieder singer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eleanor Steber</span> American opera singer

Eleanor Steber was an American operatic soprano. Steber is noted as one of the first major opera stars to have achieved the highest success with training and a career based in the United States.

Ida Kavafian is an American classical violinist and violist.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ryland Davies</span> Welsh operatic tenor (1943–2023)

Ryland Davies was a Welsh operatic tenor who appeared internationally at leading opera houses and festivals. He focused on Mozart roles such as Belmonte in Die Entführung aus dem Serail, Ferrando in Così fan tutte and Tamino in Die Zauberflöte. He performed as Ferrando first with the Scottish Opera, then at the Glyndebourne Festival, and for his debuts at both the San Francisco Opera in 1970, and the Metropolitan Opera in 1975. His lyric tenor was also well suited to roles such as Rossini's Almaviva, Donizetti's Ernesto, Verdi's Fenton and Britten's Lysander. He later turned successfully to character roles, and performed at the Royal Opera House in London until 2015. He made many recordings, including videos of performances in Glyndebourne and at the Salzburg Festival. Parallel to his singing career, Davies was a voice teacher, from 1987 at the Royal Northern College of Music, also at the Royal College of Music, the Royal Academy of Music, and the Reina Sofía School of Music in Madrid.

<i>Song Recital</i> 1978 studio album by Frederica von Stade

Song Recital is a 54-minute studio album of Lieder, mélodies and English and American songs performed by Frederica von Stade with piano accompaniment by Martin Katz. It was released in 1978.

<i>Judith Blegen & Frederica von Stade: Songs, Arias & Duets</i> 1975 studio album by Judith Blegen and Frederica von Stade

Judith Blegen & Frederica von Stade: Songs, Arias & Duets is a 42-minute studio album of art songs, art duets and operatic arias performed by Blegen and von Stade with members of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center. It was released in 1975.

<i>A Midsummer Nights Dream</i> (Eugene Ormandy recording) 1977 studio album by Eugene Ormandy

A Midsummer Night's Dream is a 51-minute studio album containing the overture and most of the incidental music that Felix Mendelssohn wrote to accompany William Shakespeare's play of the same name. It is performed by Judith Blegen, Frederica von Stade, the Women's Voices of the Mendelssohn Club of Philadelphia and the Philadelphia Orchestra under the direction of Eugene Ormandy. It was released in 1977.

<i>A Midsummer Nights Dream</i> (Seiji Ozawa recording) 1994 studio album of Mendelssohns A Midsummer Nights Dream by Seiji Ozawa

A Midsummer Night's Dream is a 55-minute studio album containing the overture and almost all of the incidental music that Felix Mendelssohn wrote to accompany William Shakespeare's play of the same name. It is performed by Kathleen Battle, Frederica von Stade, the Tanglewood Festival Chorus and the Boston Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Seiji Ozawa, with interlinking passages of verse spoken by Judi Dench. It was released in 1994.

<i>Cendrillon</i> (Julius Rudel recording) 1979 studio album by Julius Rudel

Cendrillon is a 136-minute studio album of Jules Massenet's opera, performed by a cast led by Elizabeth Bainbridge, Jules Bastin, Jane Berbié, Teresa Cahill, Nicolai Gedda, Frederica von Stade and Ruth Welting with the Ambrosian Opera Chorus and the Philharmonia Orchestra under the direction of Julius Rudel. It was released in 1979.

<i>Chérubin</i> (Pinchas Steinberg recording) 1992 studio album by Pinchas Steinberg

Chérubin is a 115-minute studio album of Jules Massenet's comic opera, performed by a cast headed by June Anderson, Samuel Ramey, Frederica von Stade and Dawn Upshaw with the Chorus of the Bavarian State Opera and the Munich Radio Orchestra under the direction of Pinchas Steinberg. It was released in 1992.

<i>Marilyn Horne: Divas in Song</i> 1994 live album by Marilyn Horne

Marilyn Horne: Divas in Song: A 60th Birthday Celebration is a 77-minute live album of art and popular songs performed by Olafur Bjarnason, Montserrat Caballé, Helen Donath, Renée Fleming, Samuel Ramey, Frederica von Stade, Ruth Ann Swenson and Marilyn Horne herself, with piano accompaniment by Manuel Burgueras, Klaus Donath, Warren Jones, Martin Katz and James Levine. It was released in 1994.

<i>Pelléas et Mélisande</i> (Herbert von Karajan recording) 1979 studio album by Herbert von Karajan

Pelléas et Mélisande is a 162-minute studio album of Claude Debussy's opera, performed by Christine Barbaux, José van Dam, Nadine Denize, Ruggero Raimondi, Frederica von Stade, Richard Stilwell and Pascal Thomas with the Chorus of the German Opera Berlin and the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra under the direction of Herbert von Karajan. It was released in 1979.

<i>The Metropolitan Opera Centennial Gala</i> Televised concert celebrating the Metropolitan Operas one hundred year anniversary

The Metropolitan Opera Centennial Gala was a televised concert, lasting more than eight hours, that New York City's Metropolitan Opera staged on 22 October 1983 to commemorate the hundredth anniversary of its first performance. A 230-minute selection of excerpts from the concert was first released in 1985 on a pair of Pioneer Artists Laserdiscs, subsequently appearing on a pair of Bel Canto Paramount Home Video VHS videocassettes in 1989 and on a Pioneer Classics DVD in 1998. A remastered double DVD of the film was issued by Deutsche Grammophon in 2009.

<i>Glyndebourne Festival Opera: A Gala Evening</i> British TV series or programme

Glyndebourne Festival Opera: A Gala Evening was a 111-minute concert staged by Glyndebourne Festival Opera on 24 July 1992, performed by Kim Begley, Montserrat Caballé, Cynthia Haymon, Felicity Lott, Benjamin Luxon, Ruggero Raimondi and Frederica von Stade with the Glyndebourne Festival Chorus and the London Philharmonic Orchestra under the direction of Sir Andrew Davis and Sir Bernard Haitink. It was televised in the United Kingdom by the BBC and released on VHS Videocassette by Kultur Video and on DVD by Image Entertainment, Arthaus Musik and Geneon.

References

General

Specific

  1. ↑ A Conversation with Judith Blegen [ permanent dead link ]
  2. ↑ "Judith Blegen". Montana Kids. Montana Office of Tourism. Retrieved August 6, 2011.
  3. ↑ Funk, Gary; Robert Hoyem (Spring 2005). "John Lester, Voice Builder 6 November 1899 - 13 May 1994". Montana Professor. 15 (2). Retrieved September 5, 2011.
  4. ↑ "Alumni Roster". musicacademy.org. Archived from the original on 5 June 2012. Retrieved 27 January 2020.
  5. ↑ "Biography: Judith Blegen". Allmusic. Retrieved September 6, 2011.
  6. ↑ "Governor's Arts Awards". Montana Arts Council. Retrieved September 5, 2011.
  7. ↑ MET OPERA: JUDITH BLEGEN AND PAVAROTTI IN 'ELISIR' Donal Henahan, The New York Times, 3 March 1981
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.