Eileen Farrell
While opera singers who dabble in popular music are common, those who do so successfully are rare, and those with large dramatic voices who do so are rarer still. Eileen Farrell was as authentic and natural a blues and jazz singer as she was an operatic soprano. She was in fact much more comfortable on the concert stage, on radio, and in the recording studio than in the opera house. She sang relatively few fully-staged performances and was ambivalent about opera and particularly opera house management throughout her entire career (when she taught at Indiana University, she hung a sign outside her office that read, "Help stamp out opera.") Her voice was huge, but capable of great nuances in volume and expressiveness as well as rapid and accurate coloratura, letting her sing bel canto roles such as Cherubini's Medea, the spinto-coloratura Leonora in Verdi's Il trovatore, the verismo Santuzza in Cavalleria Rusticana, and the great Wagner parts of Isolde and Brünnhilde (in concert).
Her parents were both singers, The Singing O'Farrells, and recognizing her potential, sent her to study voice in New York. She auditioned for various radio shows and was hired by CBS for chorus and ensemble work. In 1941, she got her own program, Eileen Farrell Sings, where she performed songs and lighter classical music. She remained with them until 1947, when she began to explore other venues, including the Bach Aria Group. She also began studying with Eleanor McLellan, who helped her hone her vocal technique, particularly helping her develop a pianissimo. In 1955, she sang for the film dramatization of singer Marjorie Lawrence's life, Interrupted Melody (Eleanor Parker acted the role), and the music, ranging from folk to Brünnhilde's immolation scene, showed off her power, rich voice, and versatility. In 1957, she appeared for the first time on the opera stage, as Santuzza in Mascagni's Cavalleria Rusticana in Tampa, FL, and two years later, sang for the first time in London, in a recital. She made her Metropolitan Opera debut in 1960 in the title role of Gluck's Alceste, and in 1962, won a Grammy for her recording of Wagner's Wesendonck Lieder and the "Immolation Scene" from Götterdämmerung, conducted by Leonard Bernstein. Her relationship with Met management was an uncomfortable one, partly due to differences of personalities and her finding the repertoire they offered unchallenging, and her contract was allowed to drop in 1965. Towards the end of the decade, her voice was beginning to show signs of wear at the very top, and Farrell moved back into jazz and blues recordings, and taught music at Indiana University. She made her last record in 1993, at the age of 72. Farrell died on March 23, 2002.
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Arias In The Great Tradition
Lounge - Released by Vinyle Numérique on 6 Oct 2022
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
O Little Town of Bethlehem
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R&B - Released by Satisfied Rhythms on 1 Apr 2023
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Waiting for Santa Claus
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Christmas Music - Released by Baby One Records on 27 Nov 2015
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Great Duets From Verdi Operas
Eileen Farrell, Giuseppe Verdi, Fausto Cleva, Columbia Symphony Orchestra, Richard Tucker
Classical - Released by Music Manager on 1 Jan 2000
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Anthologies: Snow in the Street (Christmas Deluxe) (Eileen Farrell, Luther Henderson & His Orchestra Collection)
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Christmas Music - Released by RedRome Records on 18 Nov 2016
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Hark! The Herald Angels Sing/Oh Little Town Of Bethlehem/Away In The Manger/Silent Night/Deck The Halls With Boughs Of Holly/White Christmas/It Came Upon A Midnight Clear/The First Noel/God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen/Adeste Fideles (Oh Come All Ye Faithful)/ (Goodyear 1962)
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Pop - Released by JB Production CH on 13 Oct 2022
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Christmas Time
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Christmas Music - Released by Good Auspices Records on 6 Nov 2015
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
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Arias In The Great Tradition
Lounge - Released by Ancien Prodige on 6 Oct 2022
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
I've Got A Right To Sing The Blues!
Vocal Music (Secular and Sacred) - Released by PnR on 1 Jan 2000
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
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I've Got a Right to Sing the Blues
Blues - Released by Ancien Prodige on 20 Apr 2023
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International Pop - Released by Jasnet Records on 14 Aug 2015
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Silent Night (The Christmas Songs)
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Christmas Music - Released by Silan Records on 8 Nov 2019
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Together with Love (Album of 1962)
Jazz - Released by Vocal Classics on 31 Mar 2019
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Christmas Compilation
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Christmas Music - Released by Valley Records on 18 Nov 2016
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Christmas Time
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Christmas Music - Released by Simple Moments Records on 20 Nov 2015
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Christmas Music Family
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Delicious Christmas
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Christmas Music - Released by Simple Moments Records on 18 Nov 2016
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Merry Christmas
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Christmas Music - Released by Serious Class Record on 6 Nov 2015
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The First Noel
Christmas Music - Released by Wintertime Love on 27 Oct 2015
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo