Opera Singer. A mezzo soprano, she followed a distinguished career at the Metropolitan Opera with an even longer one as a respected music professor. Raised in New York City, she attended the Juilliard School on a scholarship and made her 1941 professional bow with the now defunct New Opera Company as Pauline from Tchaikovsky's "The Queen of Spades". Martha first sang with the New York City Opera in February 1944 as Nancy in Friedrich Flotow's "Martha" then on November 27th. of that year had the first of her 401 Metropolitan Opera performances as Siebel from Charles Gounod's "Faust". She was a hit as the prostitute Maddalena in Verdi's "Rigoletto" though over the course of her career her signature pieces were to be Annina of Richard Strauss' "Der Rosenkavalier" and Emilia, Desdemona's maid from Verdi's "Otello", a 1948 performance of the latter which starred Ramon Vinay, Licia Albanese, and Leonard Warren being the first complete opera ever telecast. Having sung the role of Mrs. Sedley from Benjamin Britten's "Peter Grimes" at the Metropolitan she traveled to England in 1954 to appear in the same composer's "The Rape of Lucretia" with the English Opera Group. On July 7, 1956, Martha was Augusta Tabor for the world premiere of Douglas Moore's "The Ballad of Baby Doe" with Colorado's Central City Opera; she was to earn praise in important European venues including London, Paris, and Vienna and was to retire from the Metropolitan following her January 7, 1961, appearance as the Innkeeper from Modest Mussorgsky's "Boris Godonov". A faculty member at Indiana University's Jacobs School of Music from 1960 on she returned to the Metropolitan for galas in 1966 and 1983, retired to Professor Emerita status in 1983, and continued teaching until her death. She can be heard on a number of archived Metropolitan broadcasts and on several studio sets from the 1950s including Fritz Reiner's presentation of Verdi's "Falstaff", Leonard Bernstein's recording of Gustav Mahler's Symphony No. 3, and Eugene Ormandy's highly regarded 1959 preservation of Handel's "Messiah".
Opera Singer. A mezzo soprano, she followed a distinguished career at the Metropolitan Opera with an even longer one as a respected music professor. Raised in New York City, she attended the Juilliard School on a scholarship and made her 1941 professional bow with the now defunct New Opera Company as Pauline from Tchaikovsky's "The Queen of Spades". Martha first sang with the New York City Opera in February 1944 as Nancy in Friedrich Flotow's "Martha" then on November 27th. of that year had the first of her 401 Metropolitan Opera performances as Siebel from Charles Gounod's "Faust". She was a hit as the prostitute Maddalena in Verdi's "Rigoletto" though over the course of her career her signature pieces were to be Annina of Richard Strauss' "Der Rosenkavalier" and Emilia, Desdemona's maid from Verdi's "Otello", a 1948 performance of the latter which starred Ramon Vinay, Licia Albanese, and Leonard Warren being the first complete opera ever telecast. Having sung the role of Mrs. Sedley from Benjamin Britten's "Peter Grimes" at the Metropolitan she traveled to England in 1954 to appear in the same composer's "The Rape of Lucretia" with the English Opera Group. On July 7, 1956, Martha was Augusta Tabor for the world premiere of Douglas Moore's "The Ballad of Baby Doe" with Colorado's Central City Opera; she was to earn praise in important European venues including London, Paris, and Vienna and was to retire from the Metropolitan following her January 7, 1961, appearance as the Innkeeper from Modest Mussorgsky's "Boris Godonov". A faculty member at Indiana University's Jacobs School of Music from 1960 on she returned to the Metropolitan for galas in 1966 and 1983, retired to Professor Emerita status in 1983, and continued teaching until her death. She can be heard on a number of archived Metropolitan broadcasts and on several studio sets from the 1950s including Fritz Reiner's presentation of Verdi's "Falstaff", Leonard Bernstein's recording of Gustav Mahler's Symphony No. 3, and Eugene Ormandy's highly regarded 1959 preservation of Handel's "Messiah".
Bio by: Bob Hufford
Advertisement
