Marilyn Cotlow

Marilyn Cotlow (born January 10, 1924) is an American lyric coloratura soprano best remembered for originating the role of Lucy in Gian Carlo Menotti's The Telephone. She sang professionally during the 1940s and 1950s in the United States and Europe, performing with such companies as the Metropolitan Opera. After retiring from the stage, Cotlow taught voice at the Peabody Conservatory and currently teaches privately out of her home. Several of her students have gone on to have successful careers, including Alessandra Marc and Jennifer Wilson.

Marilyn Rose Cotlow was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on January 10, 1924, to Sander and Bernice Cotlow. She had two brothers: William and Phillip. During the Great Depression, her father moved the family of five to Los Angeles in an effort to find work as an attorney. He was an amateur singer, who only allowed his family to listen to classical music or singers of good stature and renown.

Marilyn Cotlow began vocal studies with Hans Clemens, a tenor who had been let go by the Metropolitan Opera in 1937 because he was a German citizen at a time of anti-German sentiment in the United States. Clemens moved to Los Angeles and became good friends with Lauritz Melchior, who lived in Beverly Hills. Clemens organized a vocal competition to discover new talent and to procure students for his fledgling studio. Marilyn Cotlow was 15 when she auditioned, and Clemens appreciated her innate vocal talent and musicality.

Clemens offered her the chance to study six days a week on a half-scholarship. During her first year, Clemens only allowed her to do vocal exercises to make her aware of high forward placement and ensure the correct use of her support mechanism. Clemens learned these exercises while studying with a 90-year-old cantor in Milan, Italy, who was said to sound 25 years old.

Cotlow made her professional operatic debut as the Queen of the Night in Mozart's The Magic Flute with a small company in Los Angeles in the early 1940s. The cast also included Brian Sullivan as Tamino, and Johnny Silver as Monostatos. Cotlow also worked as a voice-over artist during the early to mid-1940s for Hollywood musical movies, often performing high notes in songs for artists who had difficulty singing in the upper register. As most high tones above the ledger are indistinguishable from one soprano to another, the studios hired Cotlow to "cut in" the note.

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