Lorraine Hunt Lieberson

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Lorraine Hunt Lieberson (March 1, 1954 – July 3, 2006 ^{[citation needed]}) was a renowned American soprano then mezzo-soprano, originally from the San Francisco Bay Area ^{[citation needed]}.

Contents 1 Early life and career 2 Roles 3 Recordings 4 Personal life 5 External links

[edit] Early life and career

Her parents were both involved with the opera, and she performed as a child in Hansel & Gretel, as a gingerbread boy. ^{[citation needed]}

She returned to opera after doing a charity performance at a prison, singing Hansel's role in Hansel & Gretel. ^{[citation needed]} After this performance, she auditioned for the Met, at age 29. ^{[citation needed]}

She began singing opera professionally at age 29 after beginning her career as principal viola with the San Jose Symphony. She rose to prominence after moving to Boston and meeting Peter Sellars, debuting as an opera singer as Sesto in his 1985 production of Handel's Giulio Cesare. ^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Roles

Her roles included Sesto (Mozart's La clemenza di Tito), Carmen (Bizet), Médée (Marc-Antoine Charpentier, with William Christie & Les Arts Florissants), Theodora and Irene (Handel's Theodora, "Theodora" at Göttingen with Nicholas McGegan, Irene at Glyndebourne with Christie), Minerva (Monteverdi's Il ritorno d'Ulisse in patria with René Jacobs) and Xerxes (Handel). ^{[citation needed]} On December 20, 1999, she made her debut with the Metropolitan Opera as Myrtle Wilson in the world premiere of John Harbison's The Great Gatsby, which she sang eleven times in two seasons. {[fact}} Her only other role at the Met was Dido in Berlioz's Les Troyens, which she sang four times in February 2002. ^{[citation needed]}

In 2004, in the subtitle of a New Yorker article, Charles Michener called Lieberson "a mezzo with the most potent voice since Callas". ^{[citation needed]}

Those who worked with Hunt Lieberson have spoken of her intense commitment to the detail of bringing a piece to life. French vocal coach Denise Massé said in the same New Yorker magazine interview, “Lorraine is like Callas in her determination to dig as deeply as possible into the character—to find all the grain in the wood.”

[edit] Recordings

Her most recent recordings include two of Johann Sebastian Bach's Cantatas, #82 and #199 , which made the New York Times top 10 classical albums of the year and No. 3 on the Billboard classical chart. She also recorded a CD of George Frideric Handel's Arias. Musical America recognized her as the 2001 Vocalist of the Year. ^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Personal life

She married composer Peter Lieberson in 1999 and changed her name to Lorraine Hunt Lieberson; they collaborated professionally as well. ^{[citation needed]}

She died after a long battle with breast cancer on July 3, 2006 at the age of 52 in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Only a few years previously, she had nursed her sister through her final illness with the same disease. ^{[citation needed]}

[edit] External links

• IMDb
• Information about Lorraine Hunt Lieberson
• NPR story on Hunt Lieberson, 2002
• The New Yorker Profile, "The Soul Singer: A mezzo with the most potent voice since Callas." January 5, 2004 issue
• The New York Times Obituary, "Lorraine Hunt Lieberson, Luminous Mezzo, Dies at 52," July 5, 2006
• Los Angeles Times Obituary, "Lorraine Hunt Lieberson, 52; Mezzo-Soprano of Great Range," July 5, 2006
• Radio Open Source tribute "Lorraine Hunt Lieberson Remembered", July 13, 2006