Judith Blegen (born April 27, 1941) [1] [2] [a] is an American soprano, particularly associated with light lyric roles of the French, Italian and German repertories.
Blegen was born in Fayette County, Kentucky [2] on April 27, 1941. [2] [1] She 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. [3] [4] 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 [5] 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 . [6]
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. [7]
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.
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.
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.
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.
Ida Kavafian is an American classical violinist and violist.
Antonio de Almeida was a French conductor and musicologist of Portuguese-American descent.
Evelyn Mandac is a soprano opera singer, orchestra soloist, recitalist and voice teacher from the Philippines. She is based in New York City. She's also listed in "Who's Who in Music and Musicians."
The Faces of Love is a 78-minute studio album of contemporary classical songs composed by Jake Heggie, performed by Brian Asawa, Zheng Cao, Kristin Clayton, Renée Fleming, Nicolle Foland, Jennifer Larmore, Sylvia McNair, Frederica von Stade and Carol Vaness, with piano accompaniment by Heggie and with two contributions by cellist Emil Miland. It was released in 1999.
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.
Nuits d'été & La damoiselle élue is a 51-minute studio album of songs by Hector Berlioz and a cantata by Claude Debussy performed by Frederica von Stade, Susanne Mentzer, the Tanglewood Festival Chorus and the Boston Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Seiji Ozawa. It was released in 1984.
Voyage à Paris is a 70-minute studio album of French art songs performed by Frederica von Stade with piano accompaniment by Martin Katz. It was released in 1995.
Il ritorno d'Ulisse in patria is a 166-minute studio album of Claudio Monteverdi's opera, performed by a cast of singers headed by Ann Murray, Patrick Power, Frederica von Stade and Richard Stilwell with the Glyndebourne Chorus and the London Philharmonic Orchestra under the direction of Raymond Leppard. It was released in 1980.
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.
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.
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.
Mahler Symphony No. 4 is a 73-minute studio album on which Mahler's Fourth and his song cycle Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen are performed by Frederica von Stade and the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Yoel Levi. The recording was released in 1999.
Marilyn Horne & Frederica von Stade: Lieder & Duets is a 49-minute classical studio album in which Horne sings songs by Robert Schumann and Antonin Dvoŕák, and Horne and von Stade sing duets by Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy, all accompanied by Martin Katz on the piano. The recording was released in 1993.
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.
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.
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.
Hänsel und Gretel is a 107-minute studio album of Engelbert Humperdinck's 1893 opera of the same name, performed by Ileana Cotrubaș, Dame Kiri Te Kanawa, Christa Ludwig, Siegmund Nimsgern, Elisabeth Söderström, Frederica von Stade and Ruth Welting with the Children's Chorus of Cologne Opera and the Gürzenich Orchestra under the direction of Sir John Pritchard. It was released in 1979.
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