Risë Stevens
Mezzo-soprano Risë Stevens was one of the most prominent American opera stars during World War II and for nearly two decades afterwards. She was of Norwegian descent; her original name was Risë Steenberg. She showed early promise as a singer and studied with a teacher named Orry Prado. After graduating from high school, she landed a job with the New York Little Theater Opera Company. After that company went bankrupt, she became a dress model.
Anna Schoen-René, a voice teacher at the Juilliard School, offered her free singing lessons. Risë received a tempting job offer from the Metropolitan Opera Company, but judged she was not ready and declined it. Instead, she went to Europe to hone the various crafts of an opera singer. These included classes in stagecraft with Herbert Graf and continued voice training with Marie Gutheil-Schoder at the Salzburg Mozarteum.
In 1936 she accepted conductor Georg Szell's offer of a contract with the Prague Opera, where she was listed as a contralto. There she was coached in standard contralto and mezzo repertory by Herbert Graf, and appeared in Prague, Vienna, and in Cairo, Egypt (where she traveled as part of a Viennese-based opera group). She traveled to the Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires, continuing to mature and to draw increasing attention. She finally sang with the Met in one of its appearances in Philadelphia, as Octavian in Der Rosenkavalier, received a contract with the company, and made her New York Met debut on December 17, 1938, as Mignon.
In 1939, she married Walter Surovy, a Czech actor, who managed her career. She debuted at Glyndebourne in 1939, and in 1940 at the San Francisco Opera. In 1941 she sang opposite Nelson Eddy in the Hollywood film The Chocolate Soldier, and appeared in Bing Crosby's film Going My Way (1944), in which she sang the Habañera from Carmen. This led to her first actual stage performance as Carmen at the Met, December 28, 1945. For some time she virtually owned the role at the Met and sang it there 75 times. She debuted at Milan's La Scala in 1954.
Stevens retired from the Metropolitan in 1961, and retired altogether from singing in 1964. Shortly after her resignation from the Met, the company went through one of the worst crises in its history. General Director Rudolf Bing cancelled the entire 1961-1962 season after the company's major unions reached an impasse. Stevens sent a telegram to President John F. Kennedy outlining the importance of the Metropolitan to the United States and the world, and requested his intervention. The president honored her request, and personally persuaded the sides to accept the Secretary of Labor, Arthur Goldberg, to arbitrate their disputes. The season was saved.
Stevens' mezzo-voice quality was unusual: it was warm, light, and lyrical. This suited her to many of the important "trouser" roles. In addition to Octavian, she sang Mozart's Cherubino and Prince Orlovsky in Fledermaus. Other of her favorite roles were Dorabella, Delilah, Orpheus, Laura (La Gioconda), and Carmen, her most famous role.
After she retired from the Met stage, she became director of the company's new Metropolitan Opera National Company, a touring group providing opportunities for young singers and conductors, as well as designers and directors to participate in opera on a steady professional level. She was appointed to the faculty of the Juilliard School of Music in 1975, and was president of the Mannes College of Music in New York (1975-1978). She was again associated with the Metropolitan from 1980 to 1988 as director of its National Council Auditions.
© TiVo
Diskografie
20 Album, -en • Geordnet nach Bestseller
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Saint-Saëns: Highlights from Samson and Delilah - Tchaikovsky: Eugene Onegin
Licia Albanese, Jan Peerce, Risë Stevens
Oper - Erschienen bei Signum-Cala am 26.04.2019
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Saint-Saëns: Highlights from Samson and Delilah - Tchaikovsky: Eugene Onegin
Risë Stevens, Jan Peerce, Robert Merrill, Licia Albanese
Klassik - Erschienen bei Cala Records am 01.01.2005
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Gluck: Orfeo ed Euridice (Recordings 1957)
Orchestra del Teatro dell'Opera di Roma, Risë Stevens, Roberta Peters, Lisa Della Casa, Pierre Monteux, Coro del Teatro dell' Opera di Roma
Oper - Erschienen bei Urania Records am 01.08.2014
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Saint-Saëns: Samson et Dalila, extraits (Mono Version)
Risë Stevens, Mario del Monaco, Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, Fausto Cleva
Verschiedenes - Erschienen bei BNF Collection am 01.01.1959
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Gluck · orfeo ed euridice
Risë Stevens, Lisa Della Casa, Roberta Peters, Pierre Monteux, Rome Opera Orchestra
Klassik - Erschienen bei G.O.P. am 28.10.2023
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Gluck: Orfeo ed Euridice (Mono Version)
Risë Stevens, Lisa Della Casa, Pierre Monteux, Orchestra del Teatro dell'Opera di Roma
Verschiedenes - Erschienen bei BNF Collection am 01.01.2013
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Kurt Weill's Lady in the Dark (Album of 1963)
Klassik - Erschienen bei September Song am 30.09.2021
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Lebendige Vergangenheit - Risë Stevens
Klassik - Erschienen bei Preiser Records am 24.08.2006
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Gershwin: Porgy and Bess, extraits (Mono Version)
Risë Stevens, Robert Merrill, RCA Victor Symphony Orchestra, Robert Russell Bennett
Verschiedenes - Erschienen bei BNF Collection am 01.01.1958
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Gipsy Love Song (Mono Version)
Pop - Erschienen bei BNF Collection am 01.01.1956
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Bizet: Carmen (Mono Version)
RCA Victor Orchestra, Fritz Reiner, Risë Stevens, Jan Peerce
Verschiedenes - Erschienen bei BNF Collection am 01.01.2013
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
The Best of Risë Stevens
Oper - Erschienen bei Vintage Jukebox am 26.03.2020
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Risë Stevens - Platinum Selection
Pop - Erschienen bei Retro Music Box am 07.08.2020
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
All The Best
Jazz - Erschienen bei Retro Music Box am 06.04.2020
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Gershwin: Porgy and Bess, extraits (Mono Version)
Risë Stevens, Robert Miller, Robert Russell Bennett, RCA Victor Symphony Orchestra
Verschiedenes - Erschienen bei BNF Collection am 01.01.1956
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Climb Ev’ry Mountain (Live On The Ed Sullivan Show, June 26, 1960)
Pop - Erschienen bei SOFA - AV Catalog DD am 21.03.2022
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
So In Love (Live On The Ed Sullivan Show, June 26, 1960)
Pop - Erschienen bei SOFA - AV Catalog DD am 07.04.2022
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
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Firestone, Favorite Christmas Carols (Joy to the World/Away in a Manger/We Three Kings of Orient Are/Hark! The Herald Angels Sing/What Child Is This/O Come, All Ye Faithful/A Virgin Unspotted/God Rest You Merry, Gentlemen/Deck the Halls/O Little Town of Bethlehem/O Holy Night/It Came Upon a M)
Risë Stevens, Brian Sullivan, Firestone Chorus
Pop - Erschienen bei JB Production CH am 13.10.2022
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -