Carol Neblett
Encyclopedia
Carol Neblett is an American operatic soprano.
, and in 1969, made her operatic debut with the New York City Opera
, playing the part of Musetta in Puccini's La bohème
. With that company, she sang many leading roles, in La traviata
, Manon
, Ariadne auf Naxos
, Faust
and Boito's Mefistofele
(opposite Norman Treigle
).
In 1976, she performed Tosca
with Luciano Pavarotti
at the Lyric Opera of Chicago
. Later in 1977, she sang the part of Minnie, in La fanciulla del West (one of her great successes), with Plácido Domingo
, for Queen Elizabeth
's 25th Jubilee Celebration at Covent Garden, which was filmed live.
In 1979, she made her Metropolitan Opera
debut as Senta in Der fliegende Holländer, in Jean-Pierre Ponnelle
's production. She has sung with the Met in Tosca, Don Giovanni
, Manon Lescaut, Un ballo in maschera
, Falstaff
and La fanciulla del West
.http://movies2.nytimes.com/gst/movies/movie.html?v_id=62441
During her career, she has sung all over the world, including in San Francisco, Chicago, Los Angeles, New York City, Buenos Aires, Salzburg, Hamburg, Los Angeles and London. Her recordings include Musetta in La bohème, with Renata Scotto
, Alfredo Kraus
, Sherrill Milnes
and Paul Plishka
, for Angel/EMI, James Levine
conducting (1979); La fanciulla del West, with Domingo and Milnes, Zubin Mehta
conducting (DGG, 1977); Marietta in Korngold
's Die tote Stadt
, with René Kollo
, Erich Leinsdorf
conducting (RCA, 1975); Mahler's Symphony No.2 with Claudio Abbado
and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra
. In celebration of the 100th anniversary of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, a compact disc was issued of Miss Neblett singing in Mahler's Symphony No. 8, Levine conducting. Miss Neblett is featured in "James Levine's 25th Anniversary with the Metropolitan Opera" recording, singing an excerpt of Alice Ford in Falstaff, with Giuseppe Taddei
.
She hasappeared in several performances on television, including a tribute to George London at the Kennedy Center Washington, D.C. She also appeared as a guest on The Tonight Show
with Johnny Carson
.
Miss Neblett is currently an artist in residence and voice instructor at Chapman University
in Southern California. She is also on the faculty of the International Lyric Academy in Rome.
Her brief nude scene in a 1973 staging of Massenet's Thaïs
in New Orleans made international headlines.
Life and career
Neblett studied at the University of California, Los AngelesUniversity of California, Los Angeles
The University of California, Los Angeles is a public research university located in the Westwood neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, USA. It was founded in 1919 as the "Southern Branch" of the University of California and is the second oldest of the ten campuses...
, and in 1969, made her operatic debut with the New York City Opera
New York City Opera
The New York City Opera is an American opera company located in New York City.The company, called "the people's opera" by New York Mayor Fiorello La Guardia, was founded in 1943 with the aim of making opera financially accessible to a wide audience, producing an innovative choice of repertory, and...
, playing the part of Musetta in Puccini's La bohème
La bohème
La bohème is an opera in four acts,Puccini called the divisions quadro, a tableau or "image", rather than atto . by Giacomo Puccini to an Italian libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa, based on Scènes de la vie de bohème by Henri Murger...
. With that company, she sang many leading roles, in La traviata
La traviata
La traviata is an opera in three acts by Giuseppe Verdi set to an Italian libretto by Francesco Maria Piave. It is based on La dame aux Camélias , a play adapted from the novel by Alexandre Dumas, fils. The title La traviata means literally The Fallen Woman, or perhaps more figuratively, The Woman...
, Manon
Manon
Manon is an opéra comique in five acts by Jules Massenet to a French libretto by Henri Meilhac and Philippe Gille, based on the 1731 novel L’histoire du chevalier des Grieux et de Manon Lescaut by the Abbé Prévost...
, Ariadne auf Naxos
Ariadne auf Naxos
Ariadne auf Naxos is an opera by Richard Strauss with a German libretto by Hugo von Hofmannsthal. Bringing together slapstick comedy and consuming beautiful music, the opera's theme is the competition between high and low art for the public's attention.- First version :The opera was originally...
, Faust
Faust (opera)
Faust is a drame lyrique in five acts by Charles Gounod to a French libretto by Jules Barbier and Michel Carré from Carré's play Faust et Marguerite, in turn loosely based on Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's Faust, Part 1...
and Boito's Mefistofele
Mefistofele
Mefistofele is an opera in a prologue, four acts and an epilogue, the only completed opera by the Italian composer-librettist Arrigo Boito.-Composition history:...
(opposite Norman Treigle
Norman Treigle
Norman Treigle was an American operatic bass-baritone, who was acclaimed for his great abilities as a singing-actor, and specialized in roles that evoked villainy and terror....
).
In 1976, she performed Tosca
Tosca
Tosca is an opera in three acts by Giacomo Puccini to an Italian libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa. It premiered at the Teatro Costanzi in Rome on 14 January 1900...
with Luciano Pavarotti
Luciano Pavarotti
right|thumb|Luciano Pavarotti performing at the opening of the Constantine Palace in [[Strelna]], 31 May 2003. The concert was part of the celebrations for the 300th anniversary of [[St...
at the Lyric Opera of Chicago
Lyric Opera of Chicago
Lyric Opera of Chicago is one of the leading opera companies in the United States. It was founded in Chicago in 1952, under the name 'Lyric Theatre of Chicago' by Carol Fox, Nicolà Rescigno and Lawrence Kelly, with a season that included Maria Callas's American debut in Norma...
. Later in 1977, she sang the part of Minnie, in La fanciulla del West (one of her great successes), with Plácido Domingo
Plácido Domingo
Plácido Domingo KBE , born José Plácido Domingo Embil, is a Spanish tenor and conductor known for his versatile and strong voice, possessing a ringing and dramatic tone throughout its range...
, for Queen Elizabeth
Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom
Elizabeth II is the constitutional monarch of 16 sovereign states known as the Commonwealth realms: the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Jamaica, Barbados, the Bahamas, Grenada, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Belize,...
's 25th Jubilee Celebration at Covent Garden, which was filmed live.
In 1979, she made her Metropolitan Opera
Metropolitan Opera
The Metropolitan Opera is an opera company, located in New York City. Originally founded in 1880, the company gave its first performance on October 22, 1883. The company is operated by the non-profit Metropolitan Opera Association, with Peter Gelb as general manager...
debut as Senta in Der fliegende Holländer, in Jean-Pierre Ponnelle
Jean-Pierre Ponnelle
Jean-Pierre Ponnelle was a noted French opera director.-Biography:Ponnelle was born in Paris. He studied philosophy, art, and history there and, in 1952, began his career in Germany as a theatre designer for Hans Werner Henze's opera Boulevard Solitude...
's production. She has sung with the Met in Tosca, Don Giovanni
Don Giovanni
Don Giovanni is an opera in two acts with music by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and with an Italian libretto by Lorenzo Da Ponte. It was premiered by the Prague Italian opera at the Teatro di Praga on October 29, 1787...
, Manon Lescaut, Un ballo in maschera
Un ballo in maschera
Un ballo in maschera , is an opera in three acts by Giuseppe Verdi with text by Antonio Somma. The libretto is loosely based on an 1833 play, Gustave III, by French playwright Eugène Scribe who wrote about the historical assassination of King Gustav III of Sweden...
, Falstaff
Falstaff (opera)
Falstaff is an operatic commedia lirica in three acts by Giuseppe Verdi, adapted by Arrigo Boito from Shakespeare's plays The Merry Wives of Windsor and scenes from Henry IV. It was Verdi's last opera, written in the composer's ninth decade, and only the second of his 26 operas to be a comedy...
and La fanciulla del West
La fanciulla del West
La fanciulla del West is an opera in three acts by Giacomo Puccini to an Italian libretto by Guelfo Civinini and Carlo Zangarini, based on the play The Girl of the Golden West by the American author David Belasco. Its highly-publicised premiere occurred in New York City in 1910...
.http://movies2.nytimes.com/gst/movies/movie.html?v_id=62441
During her career, she has sung all over the world, including in San Francisco, Chicago, Los Angeles, New York City, Buenos Aires, Salzburg, Hamburg, Los Angeles and London. Her recordings include Musetta in La bohème, with Renata Scotto
Renata Scotto
Renata Scotto is an Italian soprano and opera director.Recognized for her sense of style, musicality and as a remarkable singer-actress, Scotto is considered one of the preeminent singers of her generation, specializing in the bel canto repertoire with excursions into the verismo and Verdi...
, Alfredo Kraus
Alfredo Kraus
Alfredo Kraus Trujillo was a distinguished Spanish tenor of partly Austrian descent, particularly known for the artistry he brought to opera's bel canto roles...
, Sherrill Milnes
Sherrill Milnes
Sherrill Milnes is an American operatic baritone most famous for his Verdi roles. From 1965 until 1997 he was associated with the Metropolitan Opera....
and Paul Plishka
Paul Plishka
Paul Plishka is a Ukrainian-American bass opera singer.Mr Plishka comes from Old Forge, Pennsylvania and Paterson, New Jersey; his parents were American-born children of Ukrainian immigrants...
, for Angel/EMI, James Levine
James Levine
James Lawrence Levine is an American conductor and pianist. He is currently the music director of the Metropolitan Opera and former music director of the Boston Symphony Orchestra. Levine's first performance conducting the Metropolitan Opera was on June 5, 1971, and as of May 2011 he has...
conducting (1979); La fanciulla del West, with Domingo and Milnes, Zubin Mehta
Zubin Mehta
Zubin Mehta is an Indian conductor of western classical music. He is the Music Director for Life of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra.-Biography:...
conducting (DGG, 1977); Marietta in Korngold
Korngold
Korngold is surname of:* Julius Korngold , Jewish Austro-Hungarian music critic* Erich Wolfgang Korngold , Jewish Austro-Hungarian film- and romantic music composer* Piano Concerto for the Left Hand...
's Die tote Stadt
Die tote Stadt
Die tote Stadt is an opera in three acts by Erich Wolfgang Korngold. The libretto is by the composer and Paul Schott , and is based on Bruges-la-Morte, a short novel by Georges Rodenbach.-Performance history:When Die tote Stadt had its premiere on December 4, 1920, Korngold was just 23...
, with René Kollo
René Kollo
René Kollo is a German tenor.-Biography:He was born René Kollodzieyski in Berlin and grew up in Wyk auf Föhr. He attended a photography school in Hamburg, although he had always been interested in music, particularly conducting. He did not begin to perform until the mid-50s...
, Erich Leinsdorf
Erich Leinsdorf
Erich Leinsdorf was a naturalized American Austrian conductor. He performed and recorded with leading orchestras and opera companies throughout the United States and Europe, earning a reputation for exacting standards as well as an acerbic personality...
conducting (RCA, 1975); Mahler's Symphony No.2 with Claudio Abbado
Claudio Abbado
Claudio Abbado, Cavaliere di Gran Croce OMRI , is an Italian conductor. He has served as music director of the La Scala opera house in Milan, principal conductor of the London Symphony Orchestra, principal guest conductor of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, music director of the Vienna State Opera,...
and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra
Chicago Symphony Orchestra
The Chicago Symphony Orchestra is an American orchestra based in Chicago, Illinois. It is one of the five American orchestras commonly referred to as the "Big Five". Founded in 1891, the Symphony makes its home at Orchestra Hall in Chicago and plays a summer season at the Ravinia Festival...
. In celebration of the 100th anniversary of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, a compact disc was issued of Miss Neblett singing in Mahler's Symphony No. 8, Levine conducting. Miss Neblett is featured in "James Levine's 25th Anniversary with the Metropolitan Opera" recording, singing an excerpt of Alice Ford in Falstaff, with Giuseppe Taddei
Giuseppe Taddei
Giuseppe Taddei was an Italian baritone, who performed mostly the operas of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Giuseppe Verdi....
.
She hasappeared in several performances on television, including a tribute to George London at the Kennedy Center Washington, D.C. She also appeared as a guest on The Tonight Show
The Tonight Show
The Tonight Show is an American late-night talk show that has aired on NBC since 1954. It is the longest currently running regularly scheduled entertainment program in the United States, and the third longest-running show on NBC, after Meet the Press and Today.The Tonight Show has been hosted by...
with Johnny Carson
Johnny Carson
John William "Johnny" Carson was an American television host and comedian, known as host of The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson for 30 years . Carson received six Emmy Awards including the Governor Award and a 1985 Peabody Award; he was inducted into the Television Academy Hall of Fame in 1987...
.
Miss Neblett is currently an artist in residence and voice instructor at Chapman University
Chapman University
Chapman University is a private, non-profit university located in Orange, California affiliated with the Christian Church . Known for its blend of liberal arts and professional programs, Chapman University encompasses seven schools and colleges: Lawrence and Kristina Dodge College of Film and Media...
in Southern California. She is also on the faculty of the International Lyric Academy in Rome.
Her brief nude scene in a 1973 staging of Massenet's Thaïs
Thaïs (opera)
Thaïs is an opera in three acts by Jules Massenet to a French libretto by Louis Gallet based on the novel Thaïs by Anatole France. It was first performed at the Opéra Garnier in Paris on 16 March 1894, starring the American soprano Sybil Sanderson, for whom Massenet had written the title role...
in New Orleans made international headlines.
Videography
- Mozart: La clemenza di Tito (Troyanos, Tappy; Levine, Ponnelle, 1979)
- Puccini: La fanciulla del West (Domingo, Carroli; Santi, Faggioni, 1982) [live]