Janis Martin (soprano)
Encyclopedia
Janis Martin is a retired American opera singer who sang leading roles first as a mezzo-soprano
and later as a soprano
in opera houses throughout Europe and the United States. She is particularly known for her performances in the operas of Richard Wagner
and sang at the Bayreuth Festival
from 1968 to 1997.
and studied at both California State University, Sacramento
and the University of California, Berkeley
. She began studying singing in Sacramento with Julia Monroe and later studied in New York with Lili Wexberg and Otto Gruth. She made her operatic debut in 1960 at San Francisco Opera
as Theresa in La sonnambula
and at 21 was the youngest member of the company that season. She continued to sing a number of comprimario
mezzo-soprano roles with the company through 1969, including Sister Anne in the 1961 world premiere of Norman Dello Joio
's opera Blood Moon. She returned as a soprano in 1970 in the title role of Tosca
and appeared there regularly though 1990, when she sang the role of Brünnhilde in Die Walküre
, Siegfried
, and Götterdämmerung
for the company's complete performance of Wagner's Ring Cycle
.
On 23 March 1962 she had won the National Finals of Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions
singing "Mon cœur s'ouvre à ta voix" from Samson et Dalila, and later that week made her New York City Opera
debut as Mrs. Grose in The Turn of the Screw
. Her Metropolitan Opera
debut came on 19 December 1962 when she sang Flora Bervoix in La traviata
with Anna Moffo
as Violetta. She went on to sing 147 performances at the Met between 1962 and 1997, first in mezzo-soprano roles, including Singer in the 1964 US premiere of Menotti's The Last Savage
and from 1973 leading soprano roles including Kundry in Parsifal
, Marie in Wozzeck
, Senta in Der Fliegende Holländer, and the title role in Tosca. Her final appearance with the company was in 1997 when she sang Brünnhilde in Die Walküre with Plácido Domingo
as Siegmund and Deborah Voigt
as Sieglinde.
Martin sang with the Deutsche Oper Berlin
from 1971 to 1988 and at the Bayreuth Festival
from 1968 to 1997 as Eva and Magdalena (Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg
); Fricka, Sieglinde, and Brünnhilde (Die Walküre); Gutrune and 2nd Norn (Götterdämmerung); Fricka and Freia (Das Rheingold
) and Kundry (Parsifal). Her performances in other European opera houses include Venus (Tannhäuser
), Marie (Wozzeck) and The Woman (Erwartung
) at La Scala
; Marie at the Royal Opera House
; Brünnhilde at the Vienna State Opera
, Isolde
(1981) and Kundry at the Oper Zürich (1981), and Ariadne
at the Staatsoper Hannover
(1982).
Martin retired from the stage in 2000 to live in Nevada County, California
, where she gives singing lessons and occasional recitals and concerts.
Mezzo-soprano
A mezzo-soprano is a type of classical female singing voice whose range lies between the soprano and the contralto singing voices, usually extending from the A below middle C to the A two octaves above...
and later as a soprano
Soprano
A soprano is a voice type with a vocal range from approximately middle C to "high A" in choral music, or to "soprano C" or higher in operatic music. In four-part chorale style harmony, the soprano takes the highest part, which usually encompasses the melody...
in opera houses throughout Europe and the United States. She is particularly known for her performances in the operas of Richard Wagner
Richard Wagner
Wilhelm Richard Wagner was a German composer, conductor, theatre director, philosopher, music theorist, poet, essayist and writer primarily known for his operas...
and sang at the Bayreuth Festival
Bayreuth Festival
The Bayreuth Festival is a music festival held annually in Bayreuth, Germany, at which performances of operas by the 19th century German composer Richard Wagner are presented...
from 1968 to 1997.
Biography
Martin was born in Sacramento, CaliforniaSacramento, California
Sacramento is the capital city of the U.S. state of California and the county seat of Sacramento County. It is located at the confluence of the Sacramento River and the American River in the northern portion of California's expansive Central Valley. With a population of 466,488 at the 2010 census,...
and studied at both California State University, Sacramento
California State University, Sacramento
California State University, Sacramento, popularly known as Sacramento State, is a public university located in the city of Sacramento, California. It is part of the California State University system...
and the University of California, Berkeley
University of California, Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley , is a teaching and research university established in 1868 and located in Berkeley, California, USA...
. She began studying singing in Sacramento with Julia Monroe and later studied in New York with Lili Wexberg and Otto Gruth. She made her operatic debut in 1960 at San Francisco Opera
San Francisco Opera
San Francisco Opera is an American opera company, based in San Francisco, California.It was founded in 1923 by Gaetano Merola and is the second largest opera company in North America...
as Theresa in La sonnambula
La sonnambula
La sonnambula is an opera semiseria in two acts, with music in the bel canto tradition by Vincenzo Bellini to an Italian libretto by Felice Romani, based on a scenario for a ballet-pantomime by Eugène Scribe and Jean-Pierre Aumer called La somnambule, ou L'arrivée d'un nouveau seigneur.The first...
and at 21 was the youngest member of the company that season. She continued to sing a number of comprimario
Comprimario
A Comprimario is a supporting role in an opera. Derived from the Italian "con primario", or "with the primary", the term refers to a performer who sings small role pieces....
mezzo-soprano roles with the company through 1969, including Sister Anne in the 1961 world premiere of Norman Dello Joio
Norman Dello Joio
- Life :He was born Nicodemo DeGioio in New York City to Italian immigrants. He began his musical career as organist and choir director at the Star of the Sea Church on City Island in New York at age 14. His father was an organist, pianist, and vocal coach and coached many opera stars from the...
's opera Blood Moon. She returned as a soprano in 1970 in the title role of 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...
and appeared there regularly though 1990, when she sang the role of Brünnhilde in Die Walküre
Die Walküre
Die Walküre , WWV 86B, is the second of the four operas that form the cycle Der Ring des Nibelungen , by Richard Wagner...
, Siegfried
Siegfried (opera)
Siegfried is the third of the four operas that constitute Der Ring des Nibelungen , by Richard Wagner. It received its premiere at the Bayreuth Festspielhaus on 16 August 1876, as part of the first complete performance of The Ring...
, and Götterdämmerung
Götterdämmerung
is the last in Richard Wagner's cycle of four operas titled Der Ring des Nibelungen...
for the company's complete performance of Wagner's Ring Cycle
Der Ring des Nibelungen
Der Ring des Nibelungen is a cycle of four epic operas by the German composer Richard Wagner . The works are based loosely on characters from the Norse sagas and the Nibelungenlied...
.
On 23 March 1962 she had won the National Finals of Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions
Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions
The Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions is an annual singing competition sponsored by the Metropolitan Opera. Established in 1954, its purpose is to discover, assist, promote, and develop young opera singers. The competition is held in four stages: Districts, Regional, Semi-Final, and...
singing "Mon cœur s'ouvre à ta voix" from Samson et Dalila, and later that week made her 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...
debut as Mrs. Grose in The Turn of the Screw
The Turn of the Screw (opera)
The Turn of the Screw is a 20th century English chamber opera composed by Benjamin Britten with a libretto by Myfanwy Piper, "wife of the artist John Piper, who had been a friend of the composer since 1935 and had provided designs for several of the operas". The libretto is based on the novella...
. 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 came on 19 December 1962 when she sang Flora Bervoix 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...
with Anna Moffo
Anna Moffo
Anna Moffo was an Italian-American opera singer and one of the leading lyric-coloratura sopranos of her generation...
as Violetta. She went on to sing 147 performances at the Met between 1962 and 1997, first in mezzo-soprano roles, including Singer in the 1964 US premiere of Menotti's The Last Savage
The Last Savage
The Last Savage is an opera in three acts by composer Gian Carlo Menotti. Menotti wrote his own libretto, originally in the Italian language . The opera was translated into French by Jean-Pierre Marty for the work's world premiere performance at the Opéra-Comique in Paris on 21 October 1963...
and from 1973 leading soprano roles including Kundry in Parsifal
Parsifal
Parsifal is an opera in three acts by Richard Wagner. It is loosely based on Wolfram von Eschenbach's Parzival, the 13th century epic poem of the Arthurian knight Parzival and his quest for the Holy Grail, and on Chrétien de Troyes' Perceval, the Story of the Grail.Wagner first conceived the work...
, Marie in Wozzeck
Wozzeck
Wozzeck is the first opera by the Austrian composer Alban Berg. It was composed between 1914 and 1922 and first performed in 1925. The opera is based on the drama Woyzeck left incomplete by the German playwright Georg Büchner at his death. Berg attended the first production in Vienna of Büchner's...
, Senta in Der Fliegende Holländer, and the title role in Tosca. Her final appearance with the company was in 1997 when she sang Brünnhilde in Die Walküre 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...
as Siegmund and Deborah Voigt
Deborah Voigt
Deborah Voigt is an American operatic soprano. Voigt regularly performs in opera houses and concert halls worldwide.- Early life and education :...
as Sieglinde.
Martin sang with the Deutsche Oper Berlin
Deutsche Oper Berlin
The Deutsche Oper Berlin is an opera company located in the Charlottenburg district of Berlin, Germany. The resident building is also home to the Berlin State Ballet.-History:...
from 1971 to 1988 and at the Bayreuth Festival
Bayreuth Festival
The Bayreuth Festival is a music festival held annually in Bayreuth, Germany, at which performances of operas by the 19th century German composer Richard Wagner are presented...
from 1968 to 1997 as Eva and Magdalena (Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg
Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg
Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg is an opera in three acts, written and composed by Richard Wagner. It is among the longest operas still commonly performed today, usually taking around four and a half hours. It was first performed at the Königliches Hof- und National-Theater in Munich, on June 21,...
); Fricka, Sieglinde, and Brünnhilde (Die Walküre); Gutrune and 2nd Norn (Götterdämmerung); Fricka and Freia (Das Rheingold
Das Rheingold
is the first of the four operas that constitute Richard Wagner's Der Ring des Nibelungen . It was originally written as an introduction to the tripartite Ring, but the cycle is now generally regarded as consisting of four individual operas.Das Rheingold received its premiere at the National Theatre...
) and Kundry (Parsifal). Her performances in other European opera houses include Venus (Tannhäuser
Tannhäuser
Tannhäuser was a German Minnesänger and poet. Historically, his biography is obscure beyond the poetry, which dates between 1245 and 1265...
), Marie (Wozzeck) and The Woman (Erwartung
Erwartung
Erwartung , Op.17 is a one-act opera by Arnold Schoenberg to a libretto by Marie Pappenheim. Composed in 1909, it was not premiered until June 6, 1924 in Prague conducted by Alexander Zemlinsky with Marie Gutheil-Schoder as the soprano. The work takes the unusual form of a monologue for solo...
) at La Scala
La Scala
La Scala , is a world renowned opera house in Milan, Italy. The theatre was inaugurated on 3 August 1778 and was originally known as the New Royal-Ducal Theatre at La Scala...
; Marie at the Royal Opera House
Royal Opera House
The Royal Opera House is an opera house and major performing arts venue in Covent Garden, central London. The large building is often referred to as simply "Covent Garden", after a previous use of the site of the opera house's original construction in 1732. It is the home of The Royal Opera, The...
; Brünnhilde at the Vienna State Opera
Vienna State Opera
The Vienna State Opera is an opera house – and opera company – with a history dating back to the mid-19th century. It is located in the centre of Vienna, Austria. It was originally called the Vienna Court Opera . In 1920, with the replacement of the Habsburg Monarchy by the First Austrian...
, Isolde
Tristan und Isolde
Tristan und Isolde is an opera, or music drama, in three acts by Richard Wagner to a German libretto by the composer, based largely on the romance by Gottfried von Straßburg. It was composed between 1857 and 1859 and premiered in Munich on 10 June 1865 with Hans von Bülow conducting...
(1981) and Kundry at the Oper Zürich (1981), and Ariadne
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...
at the Staatsoper Hannover
Staatsoper Hannover
Staatsoper Hannover is an opera house and opera company in Hanover. It is one of the leading opera companies in Germany.During the course of its season from September to June, Staatsoper Hannover mounts productions of a variety of operas from the standard operatic repertoire as well as 20th century...
(1982).
Martin retired from the stage in 2000 to live in Nevada County, California
Nevada County, California
Nevada County is a county located in the Sierra Nevada of California, in the Mother Lode country. As of 2010 its population was 98,764. The county seat is Nevada City.-History:Nevada County was created in 1851 from parts of Yuba County....
, where she gives singing lessons and occasional recitals and concerts.
Recordings
- Arnold SchoenbergArnold SchoenbergArnold Schoenberg was an Austrian composer, associated with the expressionist movement in German poetry and art, and leader of the Second Viennese School...
: ErwartungErwartungErwartung , Op.17 is a one-act opera by Arnold Schoenberg to a libretto by Marie Pappenheim. Composed in 1909, it was not premiered until June 6, 1924 in Prague conducted by Alexander Zemlinsky with Marie Gutheil-Schoder as the soprano. The work takes the unusual form of a monologue for solo...
– Janis Martin; BBC Symphony OrchestraBBC Symphony OrchestraThe BBC Symphony Orchestra is the principal broadcast orchestra of the British Broadcasting Corporation and one of the leading orchestras in Britain.-History:...
; Pierre BoulezPierre BoulezPierre Boulez is a French composer of contemporary classical music, a pianist, and a conductor.-Early years:Boulez was born in Montbrison, Loire, France. As a child he began piano lessons and demonstrated aptitude in both music and mathematics...
, conductor (1977). Label: CBS. - Richard WagnerRichard WagnerWilhelm Richard Wagner was a German composer, conductor, theatre director, philosopher, music theorist, poet, essayist and writer primarily known for his operas...
: RienziRienziRienzi, der Letzte der Tribunen is an early opera by Richard Wagner in five acts, with the libretto written by the composer after Bulwer-Lytton's novel of the same name . The title is commonly shortened to Rienzi...
(complete recording of Wagner's shortened 1843 version) – René KolloRené KolloRené 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...
, Siv Wennberg, Janis Martin, Theo AdamTheo AdamTheo Adam is a distinguished German classical bass-baritone who had an active international career in operas, concerts, and recitals from the 1940s through the 1990s. He particularly excelled in portraying roles from the operas of Richard Wagner...
; Dresden Staatskapelle; Heinrich HollreiserHeinrich HollreiserHeinrich Hollreiser was a German conductor.Born in Munich, he attended the State Academy of Music there, and went on to serve as the conductor at the opera houses in Wiesbaden, Darmstadt, Mannheim, and Duisburg. From 1942-1945 he served as the principal conductor of the Bavarian State Opera, while...
, conductor (1975). Label: EMI.
Sources
- Bayreuther Festspiele, Janis Martin (in German). Accessed 26 October 2010.
- Cummings, David (ed.), "Martin, Janis", International Who's Who in Classical Music 2003, Routledge, 2003, p. 509. ISBN 185743174X
- Hamilton, David (ed.), "Martin, Janis", The Metropolitan Opera Encyclopedia, Simon and Schuster, 1987, p. 214. ISBN 067161732X
- Jung, Pam, "'Wet Ink' to feature opera singer", Grass Valley Union, 27 June 2005. Accessed 26 October 2010.
- MacDonald, CalumMalcolm MacDonald (music critic)Malcolm MacDonald is a British author, mainly writing about music. He was born in Nairn, Scotland in 1948 and educated at the Royal High School, Edinburgh and Downing College, Cambridge; he has lived in England since 1971, first in London and since 1992 in Gloucestershire.He has written several...
, Review of recordings of Arnold Schoenberg (September 1984). TempoTempo (journal)Tempo is a quarterly music journal published in the UK and specialising in music of the 20th century and contemporary music. Originally founded in 1939 as the 'house magazine' of the music publisher Boosey & Hawkes, Tempo was the brain-child of Schoenberg's pupil Erwin Stein, who worked for Boosey...
(New Ser.), 150: pp. 52–56 - Metropolitan OperaMetropolitan OperaThe 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...
Archives, http://archives.metoperafamily.org/archives/scripts/cgiip.exe/WService=BibSpeed/gisrch2k.r?Term=Martin,%20Janis%20%5BMezzo%20Soprano,%20Soprano%5D&limit=5000&vsrchtype=no&xBranch=ALL&xmtype=&Start=&End=&theterm=Ma%72%74in,%20Janis%20%5BM%65zzo%20Sop%72ano,%20Sop%72ano%5D&srt=&x=0&xHome=http://archives.metoperafamily.org/archives/bibpro.htm&xHomePath=http://archives.metoperafamily.org/archives/Performance Record: Martin, Janis (Mezzo Soprano, Soprano)], MetOpera Database. Accessed 26 October 2010. - San Francisco OperaSan Francisco OperaSan Francisco Opera is an American opera company, based in San Francisco, California.It was founded in 1923 by Gaetano Merola and is the second largest opera company in North America...
Archives, Janis Martin. Accessed 26 October 2010. - Smith, Miles A., "Janis Mertin wins Audition at Met", The Lewiston Daily Sun (via Associated PressAssociated PressThe Associated Press is an American news agency. The AP is a cooperative owned by its contributing newspapers, radio and television stations in the United States, which both contribute stories to the AP and use material written by its staff journalists...
), 24 March 1962, p. 5. Accessed 26 October 2010.