Jean Kraft
Encyclopedia
Jean Kraft is an American opera
tic mezzo-soprano
. She began her career singing with the New York City Opera
(NYCO) during the early 1960s, after which she embarked on a long and fruitful partnership with the Santa Fe Opera
(SFO) that lasted from 1965 through 1987. In 1970 she joined the roster of singers at the Metropolitan Opera
where she remained a fixture until 1989. She has also performed as a guest artist with many other opera companies throughout the United States during her career. In 2005 Opera News
stated that Kraft was "a gifted mezzo and observant, imaginative actress who lent distinction to a wide range of character roles. By the end of her Met tenure, she had sung nearly 800 performances and become a solid audience favorite."
, Kraft began her career working as pianist
as a teenager and was also a proficient clarinet
and trumpet
player. After working as a pianist for four years she decided to reorient her path towards a singing career, at this point more interested in the concert repertoire than in opera. She entered the Curtis Institute of Music
where she studied voice under Giannini Gregory. She later continued with further studies under Theodore Harrison
in Chicago, William Ernest Vedal in Munich
, and Povla Frijsh
in New York City
.
's Tale for a Deaf Ear
at the 1957 Tanglewood Music Festival
in a student production directed by Boris Goldovsky
and conducted by James Billings
. She made her professional opera debut on February 18, 1960 as the Mother in Hugo Weisgall
's Six Characters in Search of an Author
at the NYCO with Beverly Sills
as The Coloratura. She appeared with the NYCO in several more productions during the 1960s including, Miss Jessel in Britten
's The Turn of the Screw
(1962), the Forewoman in Charpentier
's Louise
(1962), Marcellina in Mozart's Le nozze di Figaro (1962), Maud Lowder in Moore's The Wings of the Dove (1962), Death in Stravinsky
's The Nightingale
(1963), Flora in Verdi
's La traviata
(1963), Sarah Chicken in Robert Ward's The Lady from Colorado (1964), and Penelope in Menotti
's Help, Help, the Globolinks!
(1969) among others. She had sung the role of Penelope the previous year for the works world premiere at the SFO.
Kraft was also highly active with the SFO during the 1960s. In 1965 she made her debut with the company as Adelaide von Waldner in Strauss
's Arabella
. Her other performances with the company during these years included Marcellina (1965), Thisbe in Rossini's La Cenerentola
(1966), Madame de Croissy in Poulenc
's Dialogues of the Carmelites
(1966), Mother Goose in Stravinsky's The Rake's Progress
(1966), Maddalena in Verdi's Rigoletto
(1966), Margret in Berg
's Wozzeck
(1966), Giannetta in Donizetti
's L'elisir d'amore
(1968), the Third Lady in Mozart's The Magic Flute
(1968), Annina in Strauss's Der Rosenkavalier
, and Ninon in the United States premiere of Penderecki
's The Devils of Loudun
(1969) among others.
While mostly busy performing in operas in New York City and Santa Fe during the 1960s, Kraft also performed with other opera companies and in concerts throughout the United States during these years. In May 1962 she gave her New York City recital debut at Carnegie Recital Hall with pianist and composer Yehudi Wyner
accompanying her in a program that included the premieres of several pieces by Wyner. In Philadelphia Kraft sang the roles of The Monitress in Puccini
's Suor Angelica
(1962) and Rossweisse in Wagner
's Die Walküre
(1963) with the Philadelphia Lyric Opera Company
. In April 1964 she sang in the New York City premiere of Jack Gottlieb's Tea Party at the Donnell Library Center
for the New York Composers Forum.
. She lept at the opportunity after recently having turned down a number of similar offers from a few different European opera houses. She made her Met debut on February 7, 1970 as Flora in La Traviata with Gabriella Tucci
as Violetta, Nicolai Gedda
as Alfredo, Robert Merrill
as Germont, and Francesco Molinari-Pradelli
conducting. Thus was the beginning of a nineteen year long artistic relationship which resulted in several CD recordings, eight "Live From the Met" recordings for television and video release, and well over 80 Saturday Texaco "Met" Broadcasts.
Kraft became a favorite at the Met very quickly in roles like Emilia in Verdi's Otello
, the drug-addicted Mrs. Sedley in Britten's Peter Grimes
, and Mamma Lucia in Franco Zeffirelli
's production of Mascagni
's Cavalleria Rusticana
. She was also an admired Mother Jeanne of the Angels in the critically acclaimed 1977 John Dexter
staging of Dialogues of the Carmelites. In describing the haunting finale of that production, Opera News stated, "No one who has seen Dexter’s staging of the finale will ever forget it: the chorus of doomed nuns, singing the “Salve Regina,” was diminished, one voice at a time, as each woman marched to the guillotine. Finally, only Sister Constance and Mother Jeanne were left. Slowly, Kraft’s Jeanne picked herself up and, supporting herself with her cane, hobbled defiantly to her death." Kraft later took over the role of Madame de Croissy in subsequent mountings of that production during the 1980s.
Although Kraft's performances at the Met were largely in comprimario
roles, she occasionally got starring parts, such as Herodias in Strauss's Salome
(1973, 1977) initially with Grace Bumbry
in the title role and Robert Nagy as Herod; Ulrica in Verdi's Un ballo in maschera
(1970, 1976) initially with Elinor Ross
as Amelia, Carlo Bergonzi
as Riccardo, Merrill as Renato, and Roberta Peters
as Oscar; Federica in Verdi's Luisa Miller
(1971, 1978, 1979) initially with Adriana Maliponte
as Luisa and Plácido Domingo
as Rodolfo; Gertrud in Hänsel und Gretel (1971–1983) initially with Judith Forst
as Hänsel and Joy Clements
as Gretel; and Suzuki in Madama Butterfly
(1973–1981) initially with Gilda Cruz-Romo
as Cio-Cio-San and William Lewis
as Pinkerton. Some of the many supporting roles she portrayed were Berta in Il Barbiere di Siviglia (with Marilyn Horne
), Countess di Coigny in Andrea Chénier
, the Duchesse of Krakentorp in La Fille du Régiment
(with Luciano Pavarotti
and Joan Sutherland
), Gertrude in Roméo et Juliette
, Grandmother Buryjovka in Jenůfa
(with Astrid Varnay
), Hecuba in Les Troyens
(with Jon Vickers
and Shirley Verrett
), Ines in Il Trovatore
, Marcellina (with Teresa Stratas
and Frederica von Stade
), Marthe in Faust
(with Franco Corelli
), Ninetta in I Vespri Siciliani (with Cristina Deutekom
), and the Madrigalist in Manon Lescaut
(with Dorothy Kirsten
and John Alexander
) among others. Her final and 784th performance at the Met was on April 5, 1989 as Larina in Eugene Onegin
with Mirella Freni
as Tatiana, Jorma Hynninen
in the title role, and conductor James Levine
.
During her years working for the Met, Kraft continued to return periodically for performances with the Santa Fe Opera. Her roles with the company during these years included Flora (1970), Mother Goose (1970), Marcellina (1970, 1973, 1976, 1985, 1987), Penelope (1970), Death (1970), Suzuki (1972), Lapérouse in the United States Premiere of Aribert Reimann
's Melusine (1972), Herodias (1972, 1979), Kate Julian in Britten's Owen Wingrave
(1973), The Countess Geschwitz in Lulu (1974), The Third Lady (1974, 1984, 1986), Meg Page in Falstaff
(1975, 1977), Genevieve in Pelléas et Mélisande
(1977), Larina (1980), Berta (1981), Miss Pick in Hindemith
's News of the Day
(1981), The Notary's Wife in Strauss's Intermezzo
(1984), May in the United States premiere of Hans Werner Henze
's We Come to the River
(1984), and Juno in the world premiere of John Eaton
's The Tempest (1985). Her last performance with the company was as Widow Zimmerlein in Strauss's Die schweigsame Frau
in 1987.
Kraft was also active performing in concerts and operas with other organizations during the 1970s and 1980s. As a concert singer she drew particular acclaim for her performances in several of Mahler's symphonies, notably singing his Symphony No. 8
with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra
in 1977 and performing/recording his Symphony No. 2
with the New York Philharmonic
under Leonard Bernstein
. Some of the opera companies she performed with during these years included the Houston Grand Opera
, the Dallas Opera
, the New Orleans Opera
, and the Opera Company of Boston
. In 1976 she made a highly praised portrayal of Augusta Tabor in Moore's The Ballad of Baby Doe
with Tulsa Opera
. In 1984 she made her debut with the Lyric Opera of Chicago
as Larina, returning there to portray the Fortuneteller in Arabella (1984), and Annina (1989). She also portrayed Mrs. Sedley in 1984 in Jean-Pierre Ponnelle
's critically acclaimed production of Peter Grimes at the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino
in Italy. In April 1986 she portrayed Dinah in Bernstein's A Quiet Place
at the Vienna State Opera
under the baton of the composer. Kraft recalled in 2005 interview, "Keeping the hand in and knowing all the right people — I never did that. They came into my life, like Bernstein. I did A Quiet Place in Vienna, and after we recorded it, he said, ‘I’m sorry I didn’t write an aria for you.’ And I said, ‘I am, too!’." Her last opera appearance was in 1990 at the Seattle Opera
as the Duchesse of Krakentorp in Donizetti's La Fille you régiment.
. Her husband, the late violinist Richard Elias, had played in the Met Orchestra during Kraft's tenure at the house and had retired with her. The couple had built a house in Santa Fe in 1974 where they had lived when not in New York City. Elias died in 2003. A few years after the death of her husband, Kraft moved back to New York City where she continues to teach.
Opera
Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...
tic mezzo-soprano
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...
. She began her career singing 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...
(NYCO) during the early 1960s, after which she embarked on a long and fruitful partnership with the Santa Fe Opera
Santa Fe Opera
The Santa Fe Opera is an American opera company, located north of Santa Fe in the U.S. state of New Mexico, headquartered on a former guest ranch of .-General history:...
(SFO) that lasted from 1965 through 1987. In 1970 she joined the roster of singers at the 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...
where she remained a fixture until 1989. She has also performed as a guest artist with many other opera companies throughout the United States during her career. In 2005 Opera News
Opera News
Opera News is an American classical music magazine. It has been published since 1936 by the Metropolitan Opera Guild, a non-profit organization located at Lincoln Center which was founded to support the Metropolitan Opera of New York City...
stated that Kraft was "a gifted mezzo and observant, imaginative actress who lent distinction to a wide range of character roles. By the end of her Met tenure, she had sung nearly 800 performances and become a solid audience favorite."
Early life and education
Born in Menasha, WisconsinMenasha, Wisconsin
Menasha is a city in Calumet and Winnebago Counties in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. The population was 16,331 at the 2000 census. The city is located mostly in the Town of Menasha in Winnebago County; only a small portion is in the Town of Harrison in Calumet County. Doty Island is located...
, Kraft began her career working as pianist
Pianist
A pianist is a musician who plays the piano. A professional pianist can perform solo pieces, play with an ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers, solo instrumentalists, or other performers.-Choice of genres:...
as a teenager and was also a proficient clarinet
Clarinet
The clarinet is a musical instrument of woodwind type. The name derives from adding the suffix -et to the Italian word clarino , as the first clarinets had a strident tone similar to that of a trumpet. The instrument has an approximately cylindrical bore, and uses a single reed...
and trumpet
Trumpet
The trumpet is the musical instrument with the highest register in the brass family. Trumpets are among the oldest musical instruments, dating back to at least 1500 BCE. They are played by blowing air through closed lips, producing a "buzzing" sound which starts a standing wave vibration in the air...
player. After working as a pianist for four years she decided to reorient her path towards a singing career, at this point more interested in the concert repertoire than in opera. She entered the Curtis Institute of Music
Curtis Institute of Music
The Curtis Institute of Music is a conservatory in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, that offers courses of study leading to a performance Diploma, Bachelor of Music, Master of Music in Opera, and Professional Studies Certificate in Opera. According to statistics compiled by U.S...
where she studied voice under Giannini Gregory. She later continued with further studies under Theodore Harrison
Theodore Harrison
Theodore Harrison was a Chicago-area concert baritone and choral conductor best known for his presence in the Chicago music community. Born in 1876, Harrison worked and taught in Chicago for his entire life. He spent most of his career teaching music at the American Conservatory of Music in Chicago...
in Chicago, William Ernest Vedal in Munich
Munich
Munich The city's motto is "" . Before 2006, it was "Weltstadt mit Herz" . Its native name, , is derived from the Old High German Munichen, meaning "by the monks' place". The city's name derives from the monks of the Benedictine order who founded the city; hence the monk depicted on the city's coat...
, and Povla Frijsh
Povla Frijsh
Povla Frijsh was a Danish classical soprano and voice teacher. She mainly sang in concerts and recitals; although she did make a few opera appearances at the Paris Opera and the Royal Danish Theatre...
in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
.
Early career:1960–1969
While still a student, Kraft sang the role of Laura Gates in the world premiere of Mark BucciMark Bucci
Mark Bucci was an American composer, lyricist, and dramatist. Influenced by Giacomo Puccini, his work is composed in a contemporary yet lyrical style which frequently employs marked rhythms and memorable harmonies and melodies.-Career:Bucci studied music composition with Tibor Serly in New York...
's Tale for a Deaf Ear
Tale for a Deaf Ear
Tale for a Deaf Ear is an opera in one act with music and lyrics by Mark Bucci, sung in three languages and based on a story by Elizabeth Enright that appeared in the April 1951 edition of Harper's Magazine. The work was commissioned by Samuel Wechsler for performance at the 1957 Tanglewood Music...
at the 1957 Tanglewood Music Festival
Tanglewood Music Festival
The Tanglewood Music Festival is a music festival held every summer on the Tanglewood estate in Lenox, Massachusetts in the Berkshire Hills in western Massachusetts....
in a student production directed by Boris Goldovsky
Boris Goldovsky
Boris Goldovsky was a Russian conductor and broadcast commentator, active in the United States. He has been called an important "popularizer" of opera in America...
and conducted by James Billings
James Billings
James Billings is an American operatic baritone, librettist, and opera director. He began his career in the late 1950s in Boston and later became a member of the New York City Opera where he performed regularly from the early 1970s through the 1990s...
. She made her professional opera debut on February 18, 1960 as the Mother in Hugo Weisgall
Hugo Weisgall
Hugo David Weisgall was an American composer and conductor, known chiefly for his opera and vocal music compositions...
's Six Characters in Search of an Author
Six Characters in Search of an Author (opera)
Six Characters in Search of an Author is an opera in three acts by composer Hugo Weisgall. The work uses an English libretto by Denis Johnston that is based on the play of the same name by Luigi Pirandello. The opera was commissioned by the New York City Opera under the leadership Julius Rudel...
at the NYCO with Beverly Sills
Beverly Sills
Beverly Sills was an American operatic soprano whose peak career was between the 1950s and 1970s. In her prime she was the only real rival to Joan Sutherland as the leading bel canto stylist...
as The Coloratura. She appeared with the NYCO in several more productions during the 1960s including, Miss Jessel in Britten
Benjamin Britten
Edward Benjamin Britten, Baron Britten, OM CH was an English composer, conductor, and pianist. He showed talent from an early age, and first came to public attention with the a cappella choral work A Boy Was Born in 1934. With the premiere of his opera Peter Grimes in 1945, he leapt to...
's 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...
(1962), the Forewoman in Charpentier
Gustave Charpentier
Gustave Charpentier, , born in Dieuze, Moselle on 25 June 1860, died Paris, 18 February 1956) was a French composer, best known for his opera Louise.-Life and career:...
's Louise
Louise (opera)
Louise is an opera in four acts by Gustave Charpentier to an original French libretto by the composer, with some contributions by Saint-Pol-Roux, a symbolist poet and inspiration of the surrealists....
(1962), Marcellina in Mozart's Le nozze di Figaro (1962), Maud Lowder in Moore's The Wings of the Dove (1962), Death in Stravinsky
Igor Stravinsky
Igor Fyodorovich Stravinsky ; 6 April 1971) was a Russian, later naturalized French, and then naturalized American composer, pianist, and conductor....
's The Nightingale
The Nightingale (opera)
The Nightingale is a Russian conte lyrique in three acts by Igor Stravinsky. It is generally known by its French name...
(1963), Flora in Verdi
Giuseppe Verdi
Giuseppe Fortunino Francesco Verdi was an Italian Romantic composer, mainly of opera. He was one of the most influential composers of the 19th century...
's 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...
(1963), Sarah Chicken in Robert Ward's The Lady from Colorado (1964), and Penelope in Menotti
Gian Carlo Menotti
Gian Carlo Menotti was an Italian-American composer and librettist. Although he often referred to himself as an American composer, he kept his Italian citizenship. He wrote the classic Christmas opera, Amahl and the Night Visitors, among about two dozen other operas intended to appeal to popular...
's Help, Help, the Globolinks!
Help, Help, the Globolinks!
Help, Help, the Globolinks! is an opera in four scenes by Gian Carlo Menotti with an original English libretto by the composer. It was commissioned by the Hamburg State Opera and first performed as Hilfe, Hilfe, die Globolinks! in a German translation by Kurt Honolka on December 21, 1968 in a...
(1969) among others. She had sung the role of Penelope the previous year for the works world premiere at the SFO.
Kraft was also highly active with the SFO during the 1960s. In 1965 she made her debut with the company as Adelaide von Waldner in Strauss
Richard Strauss
Richard Georg Strauss was a leading German composer of the late Romantic and early modern eras. He is known for his operas, which include Der Rosenkavalier and Salome; his Lieder, especially his Four Last Songs; and his tone poems and orchestral works, such as Death and Transfiguration, Till...
's Arabella
Arabella
Arabella is a lyric comedy or opera in 3 acts by Richard Strauss to a German libretto by Hugo von Hofmannsthal, their sixth and last operatic collaboration. It was first performed on 1 July 1933, at the Dresden Sächsisches Staatstheater....
. Her other performances with the company during these years included Marcellina (1965), Thisbe in Rossini's La Cenerentola
La Cenerentola
La Cenerentola, ossia La bontà in trionfo is an operatic dramma giocoso in two acts by Gioachino Rossini. The libretto was written by Jacopo Ferretti, based on the fairy tale Cinderella...
(1966), Madame de Croissy in Poulenc
Francis Poulenc
Francis Jean Marcel Poulenc was a French composer and a member of the French group Les six. He composed solo piano music, chamber music, oratorio, choral music, opera, ballet music, and orchestral music...
's Dialogues of the Carmelites
Dialogues of the Carmelites
Dialogues of the Carmelites , is an opera in three acts by Francis Poulenc. In 1953, M. Valcarenghi approached Poulenc to commission a ballet for La Scala in Milan; when Poulenc found the proposed subject uninspiring, Valcarenghi suggested instead a screenplay by Georges Bernanos, based on the...
(1966), Mother Goose in Stravinsky's The Rake's Progress
The Rake's Progress
The Rake's Progress is an opera in three acts and an epilogue by Igor Stravinsky. The libretto, written by W. H. Auden and Chester Kallman, is based loosely on the eight paintings and engravings A Rake's Progress of William Hogarth, which Stravinsky had seen on May 2, 1947, in a Chicago...
(1966), Maddalena in Verdi's Rigoletto
Rigoletto
Rigoletto is an opera in three acts by Giuseppe Verdi. The Italian libretto was written by Francesco Maria Piave based on the play Le roi s'amuse by Victor Hugo. It was first performed at La Fenice in Venice on March 11, 1851...
(1966), Margret in Berg
Alban Berg
Alban Maria Johannes Berg was an Austrian composer. He was a member of the Second Viennese School with Arnold Schoenberg and Anton Webern, and produced compositions that combined Mahlerian Romanticism with a personal adaptation of Schoenberg's twelve-tone technique.-Early life:Berg was born in...
's 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...
(1966), Giannetta in Donizetti
Gaetano Donizetti
Domenico Gaetano Maria Donizetti was an Italian composer from Bergamo, Lombardy. His best-known works are the operas L'elisir d'amore , Lucia di Lammermoor , and Don Pasquale , all in Italian, and the French operas La favorite and La fille du régiment...
's L'elisir d'amore
L'elisir d'amore
L'elisir d'amore is an opera by the Italian composer Gaetano Donizetti. It is a melodramma giocoso in two acts...
(1968), the Third Lady in Mozart's The Magic Flute
The Magic Flute
The Magic Flute is an opera in two acts composed in 1791 by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart to a German libretto by Emanuel Schikaneder. The work is in the form of a Singspiel, a popular form that included both singing and spoken dialogue....
(1968), Annina in Strauss's Der Rosenkavalier
Der Rosenkavalier
Der Rosenkavalier is a comic opera in three acts by Richard Strauss to an original German libretto by Hugo von Hofmannsthal. It is loosely adapted from the novel Les amours du chevalier de Faublas by Louvet de Couvrai and Molière’s comedy Monsieur de Pourceaugnac...
, and Ninon in the United States premiere of Penderecki
Krzysztof Penderecki
Krzysztof Penderecki , born November 23, 1933 in Dębica) is a Polish composer and conductor. His 1960 avant-garde Threnody to the Victims of Hiroshima for string orchestra brought him to international attention, and this success was followed by acclaim for his choral St. Luke Passion. Both these...
's The Devils of Loudun
The Devils of Loudun (opera)
The Devils of Loudun is an opera in three acts written in between 1968-69 by Polish composer Krzysztof Penderecki. The work was commissioned by the Hamburg State Opera, which consequently gave the premiere on June 20, 1969...
(1969) among others.
While mostly busy performing in operas in New York City and Santa Fe during the 1960s, Kraft also performed with other opera companies and in concerts throughout the United States during these years. In May 1962 she gave her New York City recital debut at Carnegie Recital Hall with pianist and composer Yehudi Wyner
Yehudi Wyner
Yehudi Wyner is an American composer, pianist, conductor, and music educator.Wyner, who grew up in New York City, was raised in a musical family. His father, Lazar Weiner, was an eminent composer of Yiddish art songs. Wyner attended Juilliard, Yale, and Harvard...
accompanying her in a program that included the premieres of several pieces by Wyner. In Philadelphia Kraft sang the roles of The Monitress in Puccini
Giacomo Puccini
Giacomo Antonio Domenico Michele Secondo Maria Puccini was an Italian composer whose operas, including La bohème, Tosca, Madama Butterfly, and Turandot, are among the most frequently performed in the standard repertoire...
's Suor Angelica
Suor Angelica
Suor Angelica is an opera in one act by Giacomo Puccini to an original Italian libretto by Giovacchino Forzano. It is the second opera of the trio of operas known as Il trittico...
(1962) and Rossweisse in 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...
's 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...
(1963) with the Philadelphia Lyric Opera Company
Philadelphia Lyric Opera Company
The Philadelphia Lyric Opera Company was an American opera company located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania that was active between 1958 and 1974. The company was led by a number of Artistic Directors during its history, beginning with Aurelio Fabiani. Other notable Artistic Directors include Julius...
. In April 1964 she sang in the New York City premiere of Jack Gottlieb's Tea Party at the Donnell Library Center
Donnell Library Center
The Donnell Library Center was a branch of the New York City Library at 20 West 53rd Street just north of Rockefeller Center. It closed as of August 30, 2008....
for the New York Composers Forum.
The Metropolitan Opera Years:1970–1989
In 1969 Kraft was offered a contract by Rudolf Bing to join the roster of singers at the Metropolitan OperaMetropolitan 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...
. She lept at the opportunity after recently having turned down a number of similar offers from a few different European opera houses. She made her Met debut on February 7, 1970 as Flora in La Traviata with Gabriella Tucci
Gabriella Tucci
Gabriella Tucci is an Italian operatic soprano, particularly associated with the Italian repertory.Born in Rome, Italy, Tucci trained at the Accademia di Santa Cecilia with Leonardo Filoni, whom she later married. She made her debut at Spoleto, as Leonora in La forza del destino, opposite...
as Violetta, Nicolai Gedda
Nicolai Gedda
Nicolai Gedda is a Swedish operatic tenor. Having made some two hundred recordings, Gedda is said to be the most widely recorded tenor in history...
as Alfredo, Robert Merrill
Robert Merrill
Robert Merrill was an American operatic baritone.-Early life:Merrill was born Moishe Miller, later known as Morris Miller, in the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn, New York, to tailor Abraham Miller, originally Milstein, and his wife Lillian, née Balaban, immigrants from Warsaw, Poland.His mother...
as Germont, and Francesco Molinari-Pradelli
Francesco Molinari-Pradelli
Francesco Molinari-Pradelli was a prominent Italian opera conductor. He studied piano and composition at Bologna, and graduated from the Accademia di Santa Cecilia, Rome in 1938. He made his debut at La Scala in 1946 and his Covent Garden debut in 1956...
conducting. Thus was the beginning of a nineteen year long artistic relationship which resulted in several CD recordings, eight "Live From the Met" recordings for television and video release, and well over 80 Saturday Texaco "Met" Broadcasts.
Kraft became a favorite at the Met very quickly in roles like Emilia in Verdi's Otello
Otello
Otello is an opera in four acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Arrigo Boito, based on Shakespeare's play Othello. It was Verdi's penultimate opera, and was first performed at the Teatro alla Scala, Milan, on February 5, 1887....
, the drug-addicted Mrs. Sedley in Britten's Peter Grimes
Peter Grimes
Peter Grimes is an opera by Benjamin Britten, with a libretto adapted by Montagu Slater from the Peter Grimes section of George Crabbe's poem The Borough...
, and Mamma Lucia in Franco Zeffirelli
Franco Zeffirelli
Franco Zeffirelli KBE is an Italian director and producer of films and television. He is also a director and designer of operas and a former senator for the Italian center-right Forza Italia party....
's production of Mascagni
Pietro Mascagni
Pietro Antonio Stefano Mascagni was an Italian composer most noted for his operas. His 1890 masterpiece Cavalleria rusticana caused one of the greatest sensations in opera history and single-handedly ushered in the Verismo movement in Italian dramatic music...
's Cavalleria Rusticana
Cavalleria rusticana
Cavalleria rusticana is an opera in one act by Pietro Mascagni to an Italian libretto by Giovanni Targioni-Tozzetti and Guido Menasci, adapted from a play written by Giovanni Verga based on his short story. Considered one of the classic verismo operas, it premiered on May 17, 1890 at the Teatro...
. She was also an admired Mother Jeanne of the Angels in the critically acclaimed 1977 John Dexter
John Dexter
John Dexter was an English theatre, opera, and film director.- Theatre :Born in Derby, England, Dexter left school at the age of fourteen to serve in the British army during World War II. Following the war, he began working as a stage actor before turning to producing and directing shows for...
staging of Dialogues of the Carmelites. In describing the haunting finale of that production, Opera News stated, "No one who has seen Dexter’s staging of the finale will ever forget it: the chorus of doomed nuns, singing the “Salve Regina,” was diminished, one voice at a time, as each woman marched to the guillotine. Finally, only Sister Constance and Mother Jeanne were left. Slowly, Kraft’s Jeanne picked herself up and, supporting herself with her cane, hobbled defiantly to her death." Kraft later took over the role of Madame de Croissy in subsequent mountings of that production during the 1980s.
Although Kraft's performances at the Met were largely in 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....
roles, she occasionally got starring parts, such as Herodias in Strauss's Salome
Salome (opera)
Salome is an opera in one act by Richard Strauss to a German libretto by the composer, based on Hedwig Lachmann’s German translation of the French play Salomé by Oscar Wilde. Strauss dedicated the opera to his friend Sir Edgar Speyer....
(1973, 1977) initially with Grace Bumbry
Grace Bumbry
Grace Bumbry , an American opera singer, is considered one of the leading mezzo-sopranos of her generation, as well as a major soprano for many years...
in the title role and Robert Nagy as Herod; Ulrica in Verdi's 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...
(1970, 1976) initially with Elinor Ross
Elinor Ross
Elinor Ross is an American opera singer, a dramatic soprano particularly associated with the Italian repertory.Born in Tampa, Florida, she studied at the Syracuse University, and later came to New York to study with William Herman, Stanley Sontag and Leo Resnick...
as Amelia, Carlo Bergonzi
Carlo Bergonzi
Carlo Bergonzi is an Italian operatic tenor. Although he performed and recorded some bel canto and verismo roles, he is above all associated with the operas of Giuseppe Verdi, including a large number of the composer's lesser-known works that he helped revive...
as Riccardo, Merrill as Renato, and Roberta Peters
Roberta Peters
Roberta Peters is an American coloratura soprano.One of the most prominent American singers to achieve lasting fame and success in opera, Peters is noted for her 35-year association with the Metropolitan Opera Company in New York...
as Oscar; Federica in Verdi's Luisa Miller
Luisa Miller
Luisa Miller is an opera in three acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Salvadore Cammarano, based on the play Kabale und Liebe by Friedrich von Schiller. The first performance was given at the Teatro San Carlo in Naples on December 8, 1849...
(1971, 1978, 1979) initially with Adriana Maliponte
Adriana Maliponte
Adriana Maliponte is an Italian operatic soprano.Born Adriana Macchiaioli, she moved with her family to France a the age of 14. She studied first at the Mulhouse Conservatory and later in Como with Carmen Melis and made her stage debut at the Teatro Nuovo in Milan in 1958...
as Luisa and 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 Rodolfo; Gertrud in Hänsel und Gretel (1971–1983) initially with Judith Forst
Judith Forst
Judith Doris Forst, OC, OBC is a Canadian mezzo-soprano.Born in New Westminster, British Columbia, she received a Bachelor of Music from the University of British Columbia in 1964. She is the sister-in-law of long time Vancouver radio personality Brian Forst...
as Hänsel and Joy Clements
Joy Clements
Joy Clements was an American lyric coloratura soprano who had a substantial opera and concert career from 1956 through the late 1970s. She notably sang regularly with both the New York City Opera and the Metropolitan Opera during the 1960s through the early 1970s...
as Gretel; and Suzuki in Madama Butterfly
Madama Butterfly
Madama Butterfly is an opera in three acts by Giacomo Puccini, with an Italian libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa. Puccini based his opera in part on the short story "Madame Butterfly" by John Luther Long, which was dramatized by David Belasco...
(1973–1981) initially with Gilda Cruz-Romo
Gilda Cruz-Romo
Gilda Cruz-Romo is a Mexican operatic soprano, particularly associated with dramatic rolesof the Italian repertory, notably Aida and Tosca....
as Cio-Cio-San and William Lewis
William Lewis (tenor)
William L. Lewis is an American operatic tenor and academic.-Biography:William Lewis was educated at the University of Colorado, Texas Christian University and New York University. He began his career as a writer and an athlete before deciding to pursue a career in opera...
as Pinkerton. Some of the many supporting roles she portrayed were Berta in Il Barbiere di Siviglia (with Marilyn Horne
Marilyn Horne
Marilyn Horne is an American mezzo-soprano opera singer. She specialized in roles requiring a large sound, beauty of tone, excellent breath support, and the ability to execute difficult coloratura passages....
), Countess di Coigny in Andrea Chénier
Andrea Chénier
Andrea Chénier is a verismo opera in four acts by the composer Umberto Giordano, set to an Italian libretto by Luigi Illica. It is based loosely on the life of the French poet, André Chénier , who was executed during the French Revolution....
, the Duchesse of Krakentorp in La Fille du Régiment
La fille du régiment
La fille du régiment is an opéra comique in two acts by Gaetano Donizetti. It was written while the composer was living in Paris, with a French libretto by Jules-Henri Vernoy de Saint-Georges and Jean-François Bayard.La figlia del reggimento, a slightly different Italian-language version , was...
(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...
and Joan Sutherland
Joan Sutherland
Dame Joan Alston Sutherland, OM, AC, DBE was an Australian dramatic coloratura soprano noted for her contribution to the renaissance of the bel canto repertoire from the late 1950s through to the 1980s....
), Gertrude in Roméo et Juliette
Roméo et Juliette
Roméo et Juliette is an opéra in five acts by Charles Gounod to a French libretto by Jules Barbier and Michel Carré, based on The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare. It was first performed at the Théâtre Lyrique , Paris on 27 April 1867...
, Grandmother Buryjovka in Jenůfa
Jenufa
Jenůfa is an opera in three acts by Leoš Janáček to a Czech libretto by the composer, based on the play Její pastorkyňa by Gabriela Preissová. It was first performed at the Brno Theater, Brno, 21 January 1904...
(with Astrid Varnay
Astrid Varnay
Ibolyka Astrid Maria Varnay was an American dramatic soprano of Hungarian heritage and Swedish birth, who did most of her work in the United States and Germany. She was one of the best-known Wagnerian heroic sopranos of her generation...
), Hecuba in Les Troyens
Les Troyens
Les Troyens is a French opera in five acts by Hector Berlioz. The libretto was written by Berlioz himself, based on Virgil's epic poem The Aeneid...
(with Jon Vickers
Jon Vickers
Jonathan Stewart Vickers, CC , known professionally as Jon Vickers, is a retired Canadian heldentenor.Born in Prince Albert, Saskatchewan, he was the sixth in a family of eight children. In 1950, he was awarded a scholarship to study opera at The Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto...
and Shirley Verrett
Shirley Verrett
Shirley Verrett was an African-American operatic mezzo-soprano who successfully transitioned into soprano roles i.e. soprano sfogato...
), Ines in Il Trovatore
Il trovatore
Il trovatore is an opera in four acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Salvadore Cammarano, based on the play El Trovador by Antonio García Gutiérrez. Cammarano died in mid-1852 before completing the libretto...
, Marcellina (with Teresa Stratas
Teresa Stratas
Teresa Stratas, OC , is a retired Canadian operatic soprano. She is especially well-known for her award-winning recording of Alban Berg's Lulu.-Early life and career:...
and Frederica von Stade
Frederica von Stade
Frederica von Stade is an American mezzo-soprano. Born in Somerville, New Jersey, she acquired the nickname "Flicka" in her childhood. Von Stade attended the Mannes College of Music in New York City. She made her debut with the Metropolitan Opera in 1970 and in 1971 appeared as Cherubino in The...
), Marthe in 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...
(with Franco Corelli
Franco Corelli
Franco Corelli was a famous Italian tenor who had a major international opera career between 1951 and 1976. Associated in particular with the spinto and dramatic tenor roles of the Italian repertory, he was celebrated universally for his powerhouse voice, electrifying top notes, clear timbre, a...
), Ninetta in I Vespri Siciliani (with Cristina Deutekom
Cristina Deutekom
Cristina Deutekom is a Dutch opera singer. Renowned for her coloratura technique, she is also known as Christine Deutekom and Christina Deutekom....
), and the Madrigalist in Manon Lescaut
Manon Lescaut
Manon Lescaut is a short novel by French author Abbé Prévost. Published in 1731, it is the seventh and final volume of Mémoires et aventures d'un homme de qualité . It was controversial in its time and was banned in France upon publication...
(with Dorothy Kirsten
Dorothy Kirsten
Dorothy Kirsten was an American operatic soprano.-Biography:...
and John Alexander
John Alexander (tenor)
John Alexander was an American operatic tenor who had a substantial career during the 1950s through the 1980s. He had a long standing relationship with the Metropolitan Opera in New York City, singing with that company every year between 1961 and 1987 for a total of 379 performances...
) among others. Her final and 784th performance at the Met was on April 5, 1989 as Larina in Eugene Onegin
Eugene Onegin (opera)
Eugene Onegin, Op. 24, is an opera in 3 acts , by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky. The libretto was written by Konstantin Shilovsky and the composer and his brother Modest, and is based on the novel in verse by Alexander Pushkin....
with Mirella Freni
Mirella Freni
Mirella Freni, birth name Mirella Fregni, is an Italian opera soprano whose repertoire includes Verdi, Puccini, Mozart and Tchaikovsky...
as Tatiana, Jorma Hynninen
Jorma Hynninen
Jorma Kalervo Hynninen is a Finnish baritone who performs regularly with the world's major opera companies. He has also worked in opera administration....
in the title role, and conductor 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...
.
During her years working for the Met, Kraft continued to return periodically for performances with the Santa Fe Opera. Her roles with the company during these years included Flora (1970), Mother Goose (1970), Marcellina (1970, 1973, 1976, 1985, 1987), Penelope (1970), Death (1970), Suzuki (1972), Lapérouse in the United States Premiere of Aribert Reimann
Aribert Reimann
Aribert Reimann is a German opera composer, pianist and accompanist, known especially for his literary operas. His version of King Lear was written at the suggestion of Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau who sang the title role....
's Melusine (1972), Herodias (1972, 1979), Kate Julian in Britten's Owen Wingrave
Owen Wingrave
Owen Wingrave is an opera for television in two acts with music by Benjamin Britten, his Opus 85, and a libretto by Myfanwy Piper, after a short story by Henry James....
(1973), The Countess Geschwitz in Lulu (1974), The Third Lady (1974, 1984, 1986), Meg Page in 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...
(1975, 1977), Genevieve in Pelléas et Mélisande
Pelléas et Mélisande (opera)
Pelléas et Mélisande is an opera in five acts with music by Claude Debussy. The French libretto was adapted from Maurice Maeterlinck's Symbolist play Pelléas et Mélisande...
(1977), Larina (1980), Berta (1981), Miss Pick in Hindemith
Paul Hindemith
Paul Hindemith was a German composer, violist, violinist, teacher, music theorist and conductor.- Biography :Born in Hanau, near Frankfurt, Hindemith was taught the violin as a child...
's News of the Day
Neues vom Tage
Neues vom Tage is an opera in three parts by Paul Hindemith, with a German libretto by Marcellus Schiffer....
(1981), The Notary's Wife in Strauss's Intermezzo
Intermezzo (opera)
Intermezzo is an opera in two acts by Richard Strauss to his own German libretto, described as a Bürgerliche Komödie mit sinfonischen Zwischenspielen . It premiered at the Dresden Semperoper on November 4, 1924, with sets that reproduced Strauss' home in Garmisch...
(1984), May in the United States premiere of Hans Werner Henze
Hans Werner Henze
Hans Werner Henze is a German composer of prodigious output best known for "his consistent cultivation of music for the theatre throughout his life"...
's We Come to the River
We Come to the River
We Come to the River is an opera by Hans Werner Henze to an English libretto by Edward Bond. Henze and Bond described this work as "Actions for music", rather than an opera. It was Henze's 7th opera, written originally for the Royal Opera in London, and takes as its focus the horrors of war...
(1984), and Juno in the world premiere of John Eaton
John Eaton (composer)
John Charles Eaton is an American composer , MacArthur Fellow, is professor emeritus of composition at the University of Chicago John Charles Eaton (born 30 March 1935 in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania) is an American composer (Anon. [n.d.]; Morgan 2001), MacArthur Fellow, is professor emeritus of...
's The Tempest (1985). Her last performance with the company was as Widow Zimmerlein in Strauss's Die schweigsame Frau
Die schweigsame Frau
Die schweigsame Frau is an opera in three acts by Richard Strauss with libretto by Stefan Zweig after Ben Jonson's Epicoene, or the Silent Woman.-Performance history:...
in 1987.
Kraft was also active performing in concerts and operas with other organizations during the 1970s and 1980s. As a concert singer she drew particular acclaim for her performances in several of Mahler's symphonies, notably singing his Symphony No. 8
Symphony No. 8 (Mahler)
The Symphony No. 8 in E-flat major by Gustav Mahler is one of the largest-scale choral works in the classical concert repertoire. Because it requires huge instrumental and vocal forces it is frequently called the "Symphony of a Thousand", although the work is often performed with fewer than a...
with 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 1977 and performing/recording his Symphony No. 2
Symphony No. 2 (Mahler)
The Symphony No. 2 by Gustav Mahler, known as the Resurrection, was written between 1888 and 1894, and first performed in 1895. Apart from the Eighth Symphony, this symphony was Mahler's most popular and successful work during his lifetime. It is his first major work that would eventually mark his...
with the New York Philharmonic
New York Philharmonic
The New York Philharmonic is a symphony orchestra based in New York City in the United States. It is one of the American orchestras commonly referred to as the "Big Five"...
under Leonard Bernstein
Leonard Bernstein
Leonard Bernstein August 25, 1918 – October 14, 1990) was an American conductor, composer, author, music lecturer and pianist. He was among the first conductors born and educated in the United States of America to receive worldwide acclaim...
. Some of the opera companies she performed with during these years included the Houston Grand Opera
Houston Grand Opera
Houston Grand Opera Houston Grand Opera was founded in 1955 through the joint efforts of Maestro Walter Herbert and cultural leaders Mrs. Louis G. Lobit, Edward Bing and Charles Cockrell...
, the Dallas Opera
Dallas Opera
The Dallas Opera is an opera company located in Dallas, Texas . The company was founded in 1957 as the Dallas Civic Opera by Laurence Kelly and Nicolà Rescigno, both of whom had been active with the Lyric Opera of Chicago, the first as administrator, the second as artistic director.-The company's...
, the New Orleans Opera
New Orleans Opera
Opera has long been part of the musical culture of New Orleans, Louisiana. Operas have regularly been performed in the city since the 1790s, and for the majority of the city's history since the early 19th century, New Orleans has had a resident company regularly performing opera in addition to...
, and the Opera Company of Boston
Opera Company of Boston
The Opera Company of Boston was an American opera company located in Boston, Massachusetts that was active during the late 1950s through the early 1990s. The company was founded by American conductor Sarah Caldwell in 1958 under the name Boston Opera Group. At one time, the touring arm of the...
. In 1976 she made a highly praised portrayal of Augusta Tabor in Moore's The Ballad of Baby Doe
The Ballad of Baby Doe
The Ballad of Baby Doe is an opera by the American composer Douglas Moore that uses an English-language libretto by John Latouche. It is Moore's most famous opera and one of the few American operas to be in the standard repertory...
with Tulsa Opera
Tulsa Opera
The Tulsa Opera, located in Tulsa, Oklahoma, is the 18th oldest opera company in the United States and is ranked among the top 10 regional opera companies in the nation. The company produces three opera productions each season performed at the Tulsa Performing Arts Center...
. In 1984 she made her debut with 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...
as Larina, returning there to portray the Fortuneteller in Arabella (1984), and Annina (1989). She also portrayed Mrs. Sedley in 1984 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 critically acclaimed production of Peter Grimes at the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino
Maggio Musicale Fiorentino
Maggio Musicale Fiorentino is an annual opera festival which was founded in April 1933 by conductor Vittorio Gui with the aim of presenting contemporary and forgotten operas in visually dramatic productions. It was the first music festival in Italy. The first opera presented was Verdi's early...
in Italy. In April 1986 she portrayed Dinah in Bernstein's A Quiet Place
A Quiet Place
A Quiet Place is an American opera in three acts, with music by Leonard Bernstein to a libretto by Stephen Wadsworth. The work is a sequel to Bernstein's 1951 short opera Trouble in Tahiti. In its initial form A Quiet Place was in one act; the premiere, on June 17, 1983, was a double bill: Trouble...
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...
under the baton of the composer. Kraft recalled in 2005 interview, "Keeping the hand in and knowing all the right people — I never did that. They came into my life, like Bernstein. I did A Quiet Place in Vienna, and after we recorded it, he said, ‘I’m sorry I didn’t write an aria for you.’ And I said, ‘I am, too!’." Her last opera appearance was in 1990 at the Seattle Opera
Seattle Opera
The Seattle Opera is an opera company located in Seattle, Washington. Founded in 1963 by Glynn Ross, who served as the company's first general director through 1983, Seattle Opera's season runs from August to late May, with five or six operas offered and with eight to ten performances each, often...
as the Duchesse of Krakentorp in Donizetti's La Fille you régiment.
Later life: 1990–present
After retiring from the opera stage in 1990, Kraft divided her time between her family and teaching singing in Santa FeSanta Fe, New Mexico
Santa Fe is the capital of the U.S. state of New Mexico. It is the fourth-largest city in the state and is the seat of . Santa Fe had a population of 67,947 in the 2010 census...
. Her husband, the late violinist Richard Elias, had played in the Met Orchestra during Kraft's tenure at the house and had retired with her. The couple had built a house in Santa Fe in 1974 where they had lived when not in New York City. Elias died in 2003. A few years after the death of her husband, Kraft moved back to New York City where she continues to teach.