Mario Chamlee

A useful tenor at the Metropolitan Opera during the 1920s and 1930s, Chamlee also had an estimable career in Europe. Retiring at 47, he spared himself and his public the decline that eats away at positive memories. While known in America primarily as a lyric tenor, elsewhere he ventured into heavier territory, including the lighter principal tenor roles of Wagner (at San Francisco). Chamlee's voice, except for some tightness in the uppermost register, was a fine one and he could be counted upon for polished voice production. Born Archer Cholmondeley, Chamlee came late to serious voice training. The son of a minister, he studied violin and didn't express interest in singing as a career until he neared graduation from the University of Southern California where he had majored in science. A Glee Club minstrel show had brought him before the public as a singer for the first time, but once he had determined he wished to pursue singing, he wasted no time, undertaking vocal studies with Achille Alberti in Los Angeles. Hired by the Lombardi Opera Company shortly after finishing at U.S.C., he made his debut with the company in 1916 as Edgardo. After a few more performances, however, he was declared incompetent and, without train fare home, traveled back to Los Angeles clinging to the underside of a boxcar. After earning sufficient money to travel to New York, Chamlee undertook further studies there, studies soon interrupted by the United States' entry into WWI. For a year and a half, Chamlee served his country as a member of the Argonne Players whose assignment was entertaining troops on the front lines. The tenor was selected by General Pershing to be a part of the ensemble sent to perform for the delegates at the 1919 Paris Peace Conference. Upon return to America, Chamlee supported himself by singing at movie houses. At one of them, he was heard by baritone Antonio Scotti, who offered him a contract to appear with his company. Performances with the Scotti Opera Company led to engagement by the Metropolitan Opera. On November 22, 1920, Chamlee made his Metropolitan debut singing Cavaradossi, winning from critic Richard Aldrich (who, four nights later, would have reservations about Beniamino Gigli at his debut) unalloyed praise for "a tenor voice of excellent quality" and his "intelligent use of it." At the Vienna Volksoper, the Deutsches Theater in Prague, and the Opéra de Paris, Chamlee enjoyed grand successes in a variety of roles, winning particular favor for his performances in a 1929 production of Rabaud's Mârouf at Brussels' Théâtre de la Monnaie. So great was the clamor that more than a dozen extra performances had to be scheduled. Later, Chamlee repeated the role in a production at the Metropolitan Opera (where his Mârouf was described as "suave-sounding") and won enthusiastic reviews for his interpretation of Hans in an English-language Bartered Bride. In 1937, he enjoyed in the title role of Richard Hageman's Caponsacchi (based upon Robert Browning's The Ring and the Book), even though the opera was declared dramatically inert. Chamlee's Lover in Menotti's Amelia Goes to the Ball was also found an especially winning interpretation. Chamlee occasionally appeared in recitals with his wife, soprano Ruth Miller.
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