Nell Rankin

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Nell Rankin (January 3, 1924–January 13, 2005) was an American operatic mezzo-soprano.

She was born in Montgomery, Alabama, and studied at the Birmingham Conservatory. After being discovered by Coenraad Bos, the accompanist for the soprano Helen Traubel, she moved to New York City and worked her way up. She sang with the Zurich Opera Company in 1949 and, shortly thereafter, won the International Music Competition in Geneva (the first American to do so).

In 1951 she debuted at the Teatro alla Scala, the Vienna State Opera and the Metropolitan Opera. In 1953, she sang at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, and the San Francisco Opera.

In 1951, the mezzo-soprano also recorded the role of Suzuki in Madama Butterfly, opposite Renata Tebaldi, for Decca Records. A famous "pirate" recording of hers is a 1958 performance of Aïda in Mexico City, with Rankin as Amneris, with Anita Cerquetti, Flaviano Labò, Cornell MacNeil, Fernando Corena and Norman Treigle.

[edit] External links

• Obituary from the New York Times
• Biography at the Alabama Academy of Honor