Frederica von Stade: Difference between revisions

 

==Career==

 

In 1971, the Met allowed her to moonlight in [[San Francisco Opera|San Francisco]] and in [[Santa Fe Opera|Santa Fe]] as [[La clemenza di Tito|Sesto]] and [[Le nozze di Figaro|Cherubino]] respectively, but in 1972, hungry for more challenging roles, she decided to embark on a career as a freelance. She debuted as Cherubino in [[Houston Grand Opera|Houston]] and as [[Il barbiere di Siviglia|Rosina]] in [[Washington National Opera|Washington DC]] in 1973. That was also the year when she first sang in Europe: she was highly acclaimed as Cherubino—her signature role—in celebrated productions by [[Giorgio Strehler]] in [[Opéra de Paris|Paris]] and by [[Peter Hall (director)|Peter Hall]] at [[Glyndebourne Festival|Glyndebourne]]. Soon she was singing in all of opera's most prestigious houses, appearing as Cherubino in Salzburg in 1974, as Rosina at [[Royal Opera House Covent Garden|Covent Garden]] in 1975, as Rosina at [[Teatro alla Scala|La Scala]] in 1976 and as Cherubino in [[Vienna State Opera|Vienna]] in 1977. Her recording of [[Joseph Haydn]]'s ''[[Harmoniemesse]]'' (taped under [[Leonard Bernstein]] in 1973) was the first item in what grew to be a large and eclectic discography, and a telecast of ''[[Le nozze di Figaro]]'' from Glyndebourne in 1973 launched her on a television career that eventually made her a familiar face on screens in America and across the world. The highlights of her performing life included singing in Washington DC for Presidents [[Richard Nixon|Nixon]], [[James Earl Carter|Carter]], [[Ronald Reagan|Reagan]] and [[George Herbert Walker Bush|George H. W. Bush]], starring in a gala staged in honour of the [[1992 Winter Olympics]] and participating in a televised concert led by [[Leonard Slatkin]] to mourn those murdered in the terrorist atrocities of [[September 11 attacks|9/11]].

With a coltish physique and a warm, soft-grained, lyric mezzo-soprano voice that extended into [[soprano]] territory, she was a celebrated exponent of ''travesti'' roles like [[Hänsel und Gretel|Hänsel]], [[Idomeneo|Idamante]], and [[Der Rosenkavalier|Octavian]], and—aided by her striking beauty—she was also much admired playing leading ladies like [[La Cenerentola|Angelina]], [[Werther|Charlotte]], [[Così fan tutte|Dorabella]], [[Cendrillon|Lucette]], [[Pelléas et Mélisande (opera)|Mélisande]], [[Il ritorno d'Ulisse in patria|Penelope]] and [[Don Giovanni|Zerlina]]. In the autumn of her career, she transitioned into character parts, among them [[Così fan tutte|Despina]], [[Lulu (opera)|Geschwitz]], [[The Aspern Papers (opera)|Tina]], [[The Dangerous Liaisons|the Marquise de Merteuil]], [[Dead Man Walking (opera)|Mrs De Rocher]], [[Three Decembers|Madeline Mitchell]], [[Great Scott (opera)|Winnie Flato]] and [[A Coffin in Egypt|Myrtle Bledsoe]]. Her repertoire spanned the gamut from the baroque era through the classical and Romantic periods to modern music (including jazz and pop). Her many firsts included the US premiere of [[Claudio Monteverdi|Monteverdi]]'s ''[[Il ritorno d'Ulisse in patria]]'', the Met's first performance of [[Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart|Mozart]]'s ''[[Idomeneo]]'', the first recording of [[Jules Massenet|Massenet]]'s ''[[Cendrillon]]'' and the world premieres of operas by [[Dominick Argento]], Lembit Beecher, [[Ricky Ian Gordon]], Jake Heggie, [[Thomas Pasatieri]], [[Conrad Susa]] and [[Heitor Villa-Lobos]]. Her appearances in musicals by Leonard Bernstein and [[Stephen Sondheim]] reflected a love of musical theatre that had been kindled when she was a little girl listening to her mother's [[78 RPM|78]]s of songs by [[George Gershwin]] and [[Jerome Kern]].

 

 

Von Stade ceased performing full time in 2010, but she continued to make occasional appearances near her [[East Bay]] home and elsewhere throughout the following decade and into the 2020s. Her activities in semi-retirement have included taking part in benefit concerts, judging singing competitions and teaching interpretation in master classes.

 

==Further reading==

 

==Select discography==