Teresa Stich-Randall

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Teresa Stich-Randall (December 24, 1927–July 17, 2007) was a European-based American soprano opera singer.^[1]

[edit] Early life and career

She was born in New Hartford, Connecticut in 1927 and studied at the Hartt School of Music in West Hartford.^[2] Her operatic debut was in the role of Henrietta M.^[3] in Virgil Thomson's Mother of Us All in 1947 and she sang in the title role in Otto Leuning's "Evangeline" in 1948.^[3]

She was discovered in the late 1940s by Arturo Toscanini, who engaged her for a series of performances with his NBC Symphony Orchestra in New York.^[3] Toscanini described her at the time as "the find of the century".^[2]

[edit] Singing career

Stich-Randall travelled to Europe on a Fulbright Scholarship where she made her name as a singer.^[3] She made her European debut in Florence and won a competition in Lausanne the following year. This led to appearances with the Basel Opera in Switzerland.

Stich-Randall was a regular performer with the Vienna State Opera and at the Salzburg Festival.^[2] From 1955, she was a regular at summer events at Aix-en-Provence in France, where her portrayal of Donna Anna in Don Giovanni was highly esteemed^[4].

In 1962, the Austrian Government awarded her the title of Kammersängerin given to esteemed artists.^[3] Stich-Randall made her debut at the Chicago Lyric Opera as "Gilda" in Rigoletto in 1955. She first sang at the Metropolitan Opera in New York City in Cosi Fan Tutte in 1961 and remained on their roster of singers until 1966.^[1]

Stich-Randall appeared on a number of notable recordings including Falstaff, Der Rosenkavalier and Orfeo.^[1]

Her career had largely ended by 1980 and she died in Vienna, aged 79, in 2007, "of natural causes".^[3]

[edit] References