Marilyn Horne

Marilyn Horne and Henry Lewis in 1961, photo by Carl Van Vechten

Marilyn Horne (b. January 16, 1934, Bradford, Pennsylvania) is an American mezzo-soprano opera singer who is particularly associated with the music of Rossini and Handel. She began her career as a light lyric soprano; however, as the years progressed, the voice settled and matured into a mezzo-soprano instrument with a full and rich timbre equipped with extreme flexibility and great size. She specialized in roles requiring a large sound, beauty of tone, excellent breath support, and the ability to execute difficult coloratura passages.

Biography

Horne was born in Bradford, Pennsylvania, but moved with her parents to Long Beach, California when she was 11. At the age of 13, she became part of the newly formed Los Angeles Concert Youth Chorus -- whose other members included a 14-year old Marni Nixon and a 19-year old Paul Salamunovich, among many others -- under famed conductor Roger Wagner; this choir evolved into the Roger Wagner Chorale in 1948, and later into the Los Angeles Master Chorale in 1964. She eventually graduated high school from Long Beach Polytechnic High School.

She studied voice under William Vennard at the University of Southern California School of Music and participated in Lotte Lehmann's vocal master classes. ^[1]

Career

Horne's first major professional engagement was in 1954, when she dubbed the singing voice of Dorothy Dandridge in the film Carmen Jones. Until that point, she had worked as a background singer for several TV sitcoms, as well as recorded covers of popular songs of the early 1950s, which were sold in dimestores around the country for $1.98. She made an appearance on The Odd Couple as a character named "Jackie," her own nickname, a meek and nervous would-be singer who develops into a full-blown diva and essays the role of Carmen with brilliant results; she also sang on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson. She made her Los Angeles debut the same year when she performed the role of Hata in The Bartered Bride with the Los Angeles Guild Opera.

Her first major breakthrough came when her singing ability was recognized by Igor Stravinsky; her operatic career began when he invited her to perform in the 1956 Venice festival. She remained in Europe for three seasons singing for the Gelsenkirchen Opera.

She was highly acclaimed for her performance as Marie in Alban Berg's Wozzeck at the inauguration of Gelsenkirchen's new opera house on May 22, 1960. In 1964, she returned to the United States to appear in Wozzeck at the San Francisco Opera.

For many years, Horne was associated with the Australian soprano Dame Joan Sutherland in their performances of the bel canto repertoire. They first performed together in a concert version of Vincenzo Bellini's Beatrice di Tenda at Carnegie Hall in February 1961. In 1965, they were paired again in a performance of Rossini's Semiramide with the Opera Company of Boston.

Horne made her debut at Covent Garden in October 1964 as Marie in Wozzeck. Her La Scala debut was as Jocasta in Stravinsky's opéra-oratorio, Œdipus rex on March 13, 1969. Another of Horne's breakthroughs occurred that same year during a performance of Rossini's Le siège de Corinthe at La Scala, when Horne received a remarkable mid-act seven minute ovation. Horne made her debut at the Metropolitan Opera in 1970 as Adalgisa in Bellini's Norma with Sutherland in the title role. She thereafter appeared regularly at the Met, opening the 1972-1973 season as Carmen. A great success there was in Meyerbeer's Le prophète, in John Dexter's production. In 1984, she sang the title role of Handel's opera seria Rinaldo (directed by Frank Corsaro), the first Handel opera ever performed at the Met.

Although best known for her bel canto and opera seria roles, Horne also performed much American music, both contemporary music, by composers such as William Bolcom, and traditional popular songs. She can be heard on the soundtrack of Flower Drum Song singing "Love, Look Away" and sings the role of Lady Thiang on the Philips recording of The King and I which stars Julie Andrews and Ben Kingsley.

Horne was married from 1960 to 1974 to the conductor Henry Lewis, with whom she maintained a home in Echo Park for many years, and by whom she had a daughter, Angela.

In 1983 she published (with co-writer Jane Scovell) a candid autobiography, My Life, and a continuation volume, Marilyn Horne, The Song Continues, appeared in 2004.

Horne received many honors during her career. A particularly notable one was a New York Times article, penned by then editor of Opera News, Robert Jacobson, in celebration of the Met's 100th anniversary in 1983. Jacobson listed the 100 greatest singers to ever perform at the house. Horne was the only one still actively singing at that time. She is a recipient of Yale University's Sanford Medal.^[2]

In January of 1993, Horne performed "Make A Rainbow" by American singer/songwriter Portia Nelson, along with the Shaker hymn "Simple Gifts," at the inauguration of US President Bill Clinton.

Horne retired from the concert stage in 1999 with a recital at the Chicago Symphony Center. She still occasionally performs at pop concerts (most recently with cabaret star Barbara Cook), her voice undimmed by age. Horne has also established The Marilyn Horne Foundation to help preserve the art of vocal recitals. She teaches a series of annual Master Classes at the Oberlin Conservatory of Music, the University of Maryland College Park, and the University of Oklahoma.

It was reported in January 2006, shortly after Horne's 72nd birthday, that she had been diagnosed the previous month with localized pancreatic cancer, but her prognosis was good.^[3] In January 2007, she appeared at a public function for her Foundation.^[4]

Abridged Discography

• Bellini: Norma (Sutherland, J. Alexander, Cross; Bonynge, 1964) Decca
• Bernstein: West Side Story (Te Kanawa, Troyanos, Carreras; Bernstein, 1984) Deutsche Grammophon
• Bizet: Carmen (Maliponte, McCracken, Krause; Bernstein, 1972) Deutsche Grammophon
• Donizetti: Anna Bolena (Souliotis, J. Alexander, Ghiaurov; Varviso, 1968-69) Decca
• Donizetti: Lucrezia Borgia (Sutherland, Aragall, Wixell; Bonynge, 1977) Decca
• Gluck: Orfeo ed Euridice (Lorengar, Donath; Solti, 1970) Decca
• Handel: Semele (Battle, Ramey; Nelson, 1990) Deutsche Grammophon
• Massenet: La navarraise (Domingo, Milnes, Zaccaria; Lewis, 1975) RCA
• Meyerbeer: Le prophète (Scotto, McCracken, Hines; Lewis, c1976) Sony
• Mozart: Don Giovanni (Sutherland, Lorengar, Krenn, Bacquier, Gramm; Bonynge, 1968) Decca
• Ponchielli: La Gioconda (Tebaldi, Dominguez, Bergonzi, Merrill; Gardelli, 1967) Decca
• Puccini: Suor Angelica (Scotto, Cotrubas; Maazel, 1976) Sony
• Rossini: Il barbiere di Siviglia (Barbacini, Nucci, Dara, Ramey; R.Chailly, 1982) Sony
• Rossini: Bianca e Falliero (Ricciarelli, Merritt; Renzetti, 1986) [live] Fonit Cetra
• Rossini: L'italiana in Algeri (Battle, Ramey; Scimone, 1980) Erato
• Rossini: Semiramide (Sutherland, Rouleau; Bonynge, 1965-66) Decca
• Rossini: Tancredi (Cuberli, Zaccaria; Weikert, 1982) Sony
• Roussel: Padmâvatî (Gedda, van Dam; Plasson, 1982-83) EMI
• Thomas: Mignon (Welting, von Stade, Vanzo, Zaccaria; de Almeida, 1977) Sony
• Verdi: Falstaff (Sweet, Lopardo, Panerai, Titus; C.Davis, 1991) RCA
• Verdi: Requiem (Sutherland, Horne, Pavarotti, Talvela; Solti, 1967) Decca
• Verdi: Il trovatore (Sutherland, Pavarotti, Wixell, Ghiaurov; Bonynge, 1976) Decca
• Vivaldi: Orlando furioso (de los Ángeles, Valentini Terrani; Scimone, 1977) Erato

Abridged Videography

• Corigliano: The Ghosts of Versailles (Stratas, Fleming; Levine, Graham, 1992) [live] Deutsche Grammophon
• Rossini: L'italiana in Algeri (M.Merritt, Ahlstedt; Levine, Ponnelle, 1986) [live] Deutsche Grammophon
• Rossini: Semiramide (Anderson, Ramey; Conlon, Copley, 1990) [live] Kultur
• Verdi: Falstaff (Freni, Bonney, Lopardo, Plishka; Levine, Zeffirelli, 1992) [live] Deutsche Grammophon
• Vivaldi: Orlando furioso (Behr, Pizzi, 1989) [live] Kultur

Works

• Marilyn Horne: The Song Continues by Marilyn Horne and Jane Scovell | Baskerville Publishers; ISBN 1880909715
• Marilyn Horne: My Life by Marilyn Horne and Jane Scovell | Atheneum Books; ISBN 068911401X

Sources

External links

• IMDb
• The Marilyn Horne Foundation
• Discography (Capon's Lists of Opera Recordings)