Frances Yeend
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Frances Yeend (28 January 1913 – 27 April 2008) was an American lyric soprano opera singer. Yeend was born Frances Leone Lynch in Vancouver, Washington and grew up in Portland, Oregon. She studied voice at Washington State University (then Washington State College) in Pullman, Washington.[1]
Her first New York appearances were in 1943 in the Broadway run of The Merry Widow with Jan Kiepura and Marta Eggerth. She joined Columbia Artists Management in 1944 and performed the role of "Micaela" in a U.S tour of Bizet's Carmen that autumn.
In April 1946 Yeend made her first appearance as the soprano soloist in Beethoven's Ninth Symphony with the Boston Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Serge Koussevitzky. The following summer she performed the role of "Ellen Orford" in the American premiere of Benjamin Britten's Peter Grimes at the Tanglewood Music Festival. Yeend went on to become one of the members of the Bel Canto Trio with Mario Lanza and George London.[1]
Her debut with the New York City Center Opera was as "Violetta" in Verdi's La traviata in 1948.[1] Other roles there, over the next twelve years, included, "Amelia" in Menotti's Amelia Goes to the Ball, "The Countess" in Mozart's The Marriage of Figaro, "Marguerite" in Gounod's Faust, "Eva" in Wagner's Die Meistersinger, "Micaela" in Carmen, Felice in Wolf Ferrari's The Four Ruffians, the title role in Verdi's Aida "Nedda" in Ruggero Leoncavallo's Il Pagliacci, the title roles in Giacomo Puccini's Tosca and Turandot, "Mimi" in La Boheme, and all the soprano roles in Offenbach's The Tales of Hoffmann.
Yeend made her debut with the Vienna Staatsoper in 1953 in La traviata. She debuted at London's Covent Garden that same year as "Mimi" in La Boheme. In 1958 Yeend sang the title role of Puccini's Turandot at Italy's Arena di Verona.
She married her second husband in 1954.[1]
She made her New York Metropolitan Opera debut as "Chrysothemis" in Richard Strauss's Elektra in 1961.[1] Other Met roles included "Violetta" in La traviata and "Gutrune" in Wagner's Götterdämerung. Yeend appeared as soloist with major orchestras more than 300 times. She was a regular with the New York Philharmonic, the Chicago Symphony, the Philadelphia Orchestra and the Boston Symphony. Her last Metropolitan Opera performance was in 1963.[1]
In 1966 Yeend joined the faculty of West Virginia University as Professor of Voice/Artist in Residence. She retired in 1978.[1]
She appeared extensively in recitals in the U. S., Canada and Europe. She recorded for RCA, Columbia, Mercury, MGM, and DaVinci Records.
[edit] References
- ^ a b c d e f g Margalit Fox (May 8, 2008). "Frances Yeend, 95, Soprano at City Opera and the Met". New York Times.
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