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.
© TiVo
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Masterworks Heritage: Eileen Farrell
Klassiek - Released by Sony Classical on 12 dec. 1996
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Eileen Farrell as Medea (Remastered)
Klassiek - Released by Sony Classical on 31 jan. 2020
24-Bit 192.0 kHz - Stereo -
Eileen Farrell: Verdi Arias
Klassiek - Released by Sony Classical on 22 jul. 1992
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Eileen Farrell in Grand Opera
Klassiek - Released by Warner Classics on 7 feb. 2020
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Eileen Farrell - Arias in the Great Tradition
Klassiek - Released by Sony Classical on 31 jan. 2020
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Eileen Farrell Sings French and Italian Songs (Remastered)
Klassiek - Released by Sony Classical on 31 jan. 2020
24-Bit 192.0 kHz - Stereo -
Eileen Farrell - Together with Love (Remastered)
Klassiek - Released by Sony Classical on 31 jan. 2020
24-Bit 192.0 kHz - Stereo -
Eileen Farrell - Here I Go Again (Remastered)
Klassiek - Released by Sony Classical on 31 jan. 2020
24-Bit 192.0 kHz - Stereo -
Under The Christmas Tree - Lanza meets Farrell
Mario Lanza, Eileen Farrell, The Jeff Alexander Choir, Luther Henderson and his Orchestra, Henri Rene And His Orchestra
Kerstmuziek - Released by Jube Classic on 4 dec. 2020
24-Bit 48.0 kHz - Stereo -
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Victor de Sabata conducting New York Philharmonic Orchestra - Wagner: Orchestral Works
Eileen Farrell, Victor De Sabata, New York Philharmonic
Klassiek - Released by Mangora Classical on 16 jul. 2021
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Wagner: Orchestral Works
Victor De Sabata, Eileen Farrell
Opera - Released by Urania on 6 feb. 2008
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
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Merry Christmas and A Happy New Year from Eileen Farrell
Kerstmuziek - Released by Past Heroes on 11 nov. 2022
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Beethoven Symphony No. 9 'Choral'
Symfonische muziek - Released by Infinity on 21 jul. 2020
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Verdi Arias
Eileen Farrell, Max Rudolf, Columbia Symphony Orchestra
Opera - Released by Music Manager on 9 nov. 2012
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Eileen Farrell as Medea - Scenes from the Opera by Luigi Cherubini
Eileen Farrell, Andre Turp, Ezio Flagello, Arnold Gamson, Columbia Symphony Orchestra
Klassiek - Released by G.O.P. on 31 jul. 2023
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Gluck · Alceste
Eileen Farrell, Nicolai Gedda, Kurt Adler, Orchestra del teatro Metropolitan
Klassiek - Released by G.O.P. on 31 mei 2021
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Feliz Navidad y próspero Año Nuevo de Eileen Farrell
Kerstmuziek - Released by Amamos la navidad on 10 nov. 2023
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
I've Got a Right to Sing the Blues
Blues - Released by Vinyle Numérique on 20 apr. 2023
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Merry Christmas and A Happy New Year from Eileen Farrell
Kerstmuziek - Released by Past Heroes on 11 nov. 2022
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo