Cornell MacNeil

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Cornell MacNeil (born 24 September 1922 in Minneapolis, Minnesota) is an operatic baritone known for his voice and his phenomenal career with the Metropolitan Opera, which spanned 642 performances in 26 roles. Among his teachers were Friedrich Schorr and Dick Marzollo. He debuted with various companies in the United States from 1953 (including the New York City Opera) and at La Scala and the Metropolitan in 1959. In 1969 he became president of the American Guild of Musical Artists.

MacNeil was known for his enormous sound and volcanic top notes. Although he experienced a long vocal decline through the late 1970's he maintained a high level of Dramatic ability through his long career.

[edit] Abridged Discography

Menotti: The Consul (Neway, Powers; Engel, 1950) Decca
Verdi: La traviata: excerpts (Kirsten, Hayward; Cellini, 1958) [live] VAI
Puccini: La fanciulla del West (Tebaldi, del Monaco, Tozzi; Capuana, 1958) Decca
Verdi: Aïda (Tebaldi, Simionato, Bergonzi; Karajan, 1959) Decca
Leoncavallo: Pagliacci (Tucci, del Monaco; Molinari-Pradelli, 1959) Decca
Mascagni: Cavalleria rusticana (Simionato, del Monaco; Serafin, 1960) Decca
Verdi: Un ballo in maschera (Nilsson, Simionato, Bergonzi; Solti, 1960-1) Decca
Verdi: Rigoletto (Sutherland, Cioni, Siepi; Sanzogno, 1961) Decca
Verdi: Luisa Miller (Moffo, Verrett, Bergonzi, Tozzi, Flagello; Cleva, 1965) RCA
Verdi: Rigoletto (Grist, Gedda; Molinari-Pradelli, 1967) EMI
Leoncavallo: Pagliacci (Carlyle, Vickers; Bartoletti, 1968) [live] VAI
Verdi: La traviata (Stratas, Domingo; Levine, 1982) Elektra

[edit] Abridged Videography

Verdi: Rigoletto (Cotrubas, Domingo, Díaz; Levine, Dexter, 1977) [live]
Verdi: La traviata (Stratas, Domingo; Levine, Zeffirelli, 1982)
Zandonai: Francesca da Rimini (Scotto, Rom, Domingo; Levine, Faggioni, 1984) [live]
Puccini: Tosca (Behrens, Domingo; Sinopoli, Zeffirelli, 1985) [live]