Clarence Whitehill
| Clarence Eugene Whitehill | |
|---|---|
Whitehill in 1917
|
|
| Born |
October 20, 1871 Marengo, Iowa |
| Died | December 19, 1932 (aged 61) Manhattan, New York City |
Clarence Eugene Whitehill (November 5, 1871 - December 19, 1932) was a leading American bass-baritone. He sang at the Metropolitan Opera from 1915 to 1932. He sang on both sides of the Atlantic and is best remembered for his association with the music dramas of Richard Wagner, and for his recordings of well-known music hall ballads such as "I'll take you home again, Kathleen".
He was born on November 5, 1871 in Marengo, Iowa.
Whitehill first studied in Chicago with L. A. Phelps, and then in Paris with Giraudet and Giovanni Sbriglia. In 1898, he made his stage debut at La Monnaie in Brussels, as Capulet in Roméo et Juliette. He sang Nilakhanta at the Opéra-Comique the next year, becoming the first ever American singer to perform in that theatre.
Whitehill travelled to Frankfurt, Germany to study with . He appeared on stage in several German cities, while studying the Wagnerian baritone and bass-baritone roles. In 1904, he debuted at the Bayreuth Festival as Wolfram in Tannhäuser. Later, he sang Amfortas and Wotan.
Whitehill went on to appear with considerable success at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, London, in the first Ring Cycle sung in the English. He decided, however, that the time had come for him to leave Europe and return to America, and he made his Metropolitan Opera debut. on November 25, 1909.
He married Isabel Rush on July 24, 1912. She was the widow of James Rervey Simpson.
He would enjoy a long and praiseworthy career at the Met despite a throat ailment which periodically affected one of his vocal cords. He was especially acclaimed in such taxing Wagnerian parts as Hans Sachs in Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg, but he also appeared in the Met premiere of the French operas Louise (in 1921) and Pelléas et Mélisande (in 1925), and in the North American premiere of Erich Wolfgang Korngold's one-act opera Violanta on 5 November 1927).
...
Wikipedia