Margaret Harshaw
Encyclopedia
Margaret Harshaw was an American opera
singer and voice teacher who sang for 22 consecutive seasons at the Metropolitan Opera
from November 1942 to March 1964. She began her career as a mezzo-soprano
in the early 1930s but then began performing roles from the soprano
repertoire in 1951. She sang a total of 39 roles in 25 works at the Met and was heard in 40 of the Metropolitan Opera radio broadcasts
. She was also active as a guest artist with major opera houses in Europe and North and South America.
Harshaw possessed a wide vocal range
, was a convincing actress, and was particularly regarded for her portrayals of Wagnerian
heroines. She has the distinction of portraying more Wagner roles on the stage of the Metropolitan Opera than any other singer in history. After retiring from the stage, she became a highly regarded singing teacher, serving on the voice faculties of the Curtis Institute of Music
and the Jacobs School of Music
at Indiana University.
to a family of Scottish and English decent, Harshaw had her earliest musical experiences singing in church choirs as a child. She often performed duets with her sister Miriam as well but never seriously contemplated a vocal career during her youth. After graduating from high school she worked for a telephone company. From 1928 to 1932 she was a member of the alto section of the Mendelssohn Club
, a historic choir which at that time performed often with the Philadelphia Orchestra
under conductor Leopold Stokowski
. She entered the Curtis Institute of Music
in 1932 and then proceeded to win a series of vocal competitions in the early 1930s which led to performances in Philadelphia and Washington D.C.
's Il trovatore
on April 30, 1934. That same year she sang the Voice of the Mother of Antonia in The Tales of Hoffmann and the shepherd boy in Tosca
with the Philadelphia Orchestra under conductor Alexander Smallens
. She performed in a few more operas with the orchestra the following year, singing Giovanna in Rigoletto
, Mama Lucia in Cavalleria rusticana
, and Katisha in The Mikado
. She also portrayed Dame Hannah in Gilbert & Sullivan's Ruddigore
with The Savoy Company on May 10, 1935 at the Academy of Music
.
In 1935 Harshaw won the National Federation of Music Clubs
singing competition which gave her a $ 1,000 cash prize and led to her New York City concert debut on July 21 of that year at Lewisohn Stadium
under conductor José Iturbi
. Later that summer she appeared in several operas with the Steel Pier Opera Company in Atlantic City. In 1936 she entered the graduate program at the Juilliard School
where she studied voice with Anna Schoen-René who had been taught by the legendary Pauline Viardot, daughter of the Spanish singer and pedagogue Manuel García
. While there she sang the role of Dido in a 1939 student production of Henry Purcell
's Dido and Aeneas
. Walter Damrosch attended the performance and approached her afterwords, saying "My child, one day you will be Brünnhilde". In 1940 she sang in productions of The Bartered Bride
, Carmen
, The Devil and Daniel Webster, Le donne curiose
, Faust
, and The Gondoliers
at the Chautauqua Opera
. She also appeared frequently at the Worcester Music Festival
during the early 1940s.
In 1942 Harshaw won the Metropolitan Opera
's "Auditions of the Air" (pre-cursor to the National Council Auditions) which led to her début at that house as the Second Norn in Richard Wagner
's Götterdämmerung
on November 25, 1942 under the baton of Erich Leinsdorf
. Over the next nine seasons she sang several other mezzo-soprano roles at the Met, largely in operas by Wagner and Verdi. Her Wagner roles during these years included Brangäne in Tristan und Isolde
, Erda, Flosshilde, and Fricka in Das Rheingold
, Erda in Siegfried
, the First Norn and Waltraute in Götterdämmerung, Fricka and Schwertleite in Die Walküre
, Magdalene in Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg
, Mary in The Flying Dutchman
, Ortrud in Lohengrin
, Venus in Tannhäuser
, and Kundry and the Voice from Above in Parsifal
. Other roles in her Met repertoire included Amelfa in Le Coq d'Or, Auntie in Peter Grimes
, Azucena, Amneris in Aida
, Frugola in Il Tabarro
, Geneviève in Pelléas et Mélisande
, Gertrud in Hänsel und Gretel, Herodias in Salome
, La Cieca in La Gioconda
, Mistress Quickly in Falstaff
, the Mother in Louise
, the Third Lady in The Magic Flute
, and Ulrica in Un Ballo in Maschera
.
Harshaw made her first foray into the soprano repertoire singing the role of Senta in The Flying Dutchman opposite Paul Schöffler
in the title role on January 2, 1951. By 1954 she had completely left the mezzo repertoire, with the exception of Ortrud, and effectively succeeded Helen Traubel
in the Wagnerian heroine roles of Brünnhilde, Elisabeth, Isolde, Kundry, and Sieglinde. Her only non-Wagnerian role during her soprano years at the Met was Donna Anna in Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
's Don Giovanni
. She remained with the Metropolitan until the close of the 1963–1964 season. Her final and 375th performance at the Met was as Ortrud on March 10, 1964 with Jess Thomas
as Lohengrin, Leonie Rysanek
as Elsa, and Joseph Rosenstock
conducting.
During her many years at the Met, Harshaw was also active as a guest artist with opera houses throughout North America and Europe. She was committed to the San Francisco Opera
between 1944–1947, portraying such parts as Amneris, Azucena, Brangäne, Fricka, Geneviève, Herodias, La Cieca, Mistress Quickly, Ortrud, Ulrica, and the Nurse in Boris Godunov
. In 1948 she sang at the Opéra National de Paris as Amneris, Brangäne, and Dalila in Samson et Dalila. In 1950 she made her first appearance with the Philadelphia Civic Grand Opera Company
as Amneris, returning there in 1952 to sing Isolde. She was engaged at the Royal Opera, London
from 1953–1956 and again in 1960, where she excelled as Brünnhilde in Rudolf Kempe
’s Ring Cycles
. In 1954 she sang Donna Anna at the Glyndebourne Festival. In 1961 she made her debut with the Philadelphia Lyric Opera Company
as Ortrud. She portrayed the title heroine in Giacomo Puccini
's Turandot
at the 1964 New York World's Fair
. She also sang with opera companies in Cincinnati, New Orleans, San Antonio, Pittsburgh, Houston, Mexico, and Venezuela. She made several Latin American tours and was a soloist with many of the major American orchestras. Other roles in her repertoire included the Countess in The Marriage of Figaro
, Leonore in Fidelio
, and the title role in Alceste
.
, where she taught until 1993. She served on the faculty at the Curtis Institute of Music from 1970-1976, when the then opera department for which she primarily taught there was dissolved. Among her many students were Laura Aiken, Norman Andersson, Elizabeth Canis, Katherine Ciesinski
, Vinson Cole
, Joseph Frank, Franz Grundheber, Kevin Langan, Shirley Love
, Mark Lundberg
, Nancy Maultsby
, Ronald Naldi
, Jan Opalach, Matthew Polenzani
, John Reardon, Nadine Secunde, Martha Sheil, Gregory Stapp
, Sharon Sweet
, Michael Sylvester
, Rebecca Turner, Benita Valente
, Christine Weidinger
, Gary E. Burgess, Jane Shaulis, Kathryn Bouleyn Day, and Sally Wolf. She died at the age of 88 in Libertyville, Illinois
. She was married to Oskar Eichna for many years. They had one son, Oskar L. Eichna Jr.
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...
singer and voice teacher who sang for 22 consecutive seasons 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...
from November 1942 to March 1964. She began her career as a 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...
in the early 1930s but then began performing roles from the 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...
repertoire in 1951. She sang a total of 39 roles in 25 works at the Met and was heard in 40 of the Metropolitan Opera radio broadcasts
Metropolitan Opera radio broadcasts
The Metropolitan Opera radio broadcasts are a regular series of weekly broadcasts on network radio of full-length opera performances. They are transmitted live from the stage of the Metropolitan Opera in New York City...
. She was also active as a guest artist with major opera houses in Europe and North and South America.
Harshaw possessed a wide vocal range
Vocal range
Vocal range is the measure of the breadth of pitches that a human voice can phonate. Although the study of vocal range has little practical application in terms of speech, it is a topic of study within linguistics, phonetics, and speech and language pathology, particularly in relation to the study...
, was a convincing actress, and was particularly regarded for her portrayals of Wagnerian
Richard Wagner
Wilhelm Richard Wagner was a German composer, conductor, theatre director, philosopher, music theorist, poet, essayist and writer primarily known for his operas...
heroines. She has the distinction of portraying more Wagner roles on the stage of the Metropolitan Opera than any other singer in history. After retiring from the stage, she became a highly regarded singing teacher, serving on the voice faculties of 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...
and the Jacobs School of Music
Jacobs School of Music
The Jacobs School of Music of Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana, is a music conservatory established in 1921. Until 2005, it was known as the Indiana University School of Music...
at Indiana University.
Biography
Born in Narberth, PennsylvaniaNarberth, Pennsylvania
Narberth is a borough in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 4,282 at the 2010 census.-History:Narberth is located on a parcel of land originally deeded to Edward Rees , who arrived from Wales in 1682. A portion of this original tract became the farm of Edward R...
to a family of Scottish and English decent, Harshaw had her earliest musical experiences singing in church choirs as a child. She often performed duets with her sister Miriam as well but never seriously contemplated a vocal career during her youth. After graduating from high school she worked for a telephone company. From 1928 to 1932 she was a member of the alto section of the Mendelssohn Club
Mendelssohn Club
The Mendelssohn Club is a music institution in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, founded in 1874 by William Wallace Gilchrist, a major figure in the 19th century music of Philadelphia. The chorus is under the direction of Alan Harler, professor of choral conducting at Temple University...
, a historic choir which at that time performed often with the Philadelphia Orchestra
Philadelphia Orchestra
The Philadelphia Orchestra is a symphony orchestra based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in the United States. One of the "Big Five" American orchestras, it was founded in 1900...
under conductor Leopold Stokowski
Leopold Stokowski
Leopold Anthony Stokowski was a British-born, naturalised American orchestral conductor, well known for his free-hand performing style that spurned the traditional baton and for obtaining a characteristically sumptuous sound from many of the great orchestras he conducted.In America, Stokowski...
. 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...
in 1932 and then proceeded to win a series of vocal competitions in the early 1930s which led to performances in Philadelphia and Washington D.C.
Career
Harshaw made her professional opera debut with the Philadelphia Operatic Society as Azucena in Giuseppe VerdiGiuseppe 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 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...
on April 30, 1934. That same year she sang the Voice of the Mother of Antonia in The Tales of Hoffmann and the shepherd boy in 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 the Philadelphia Orchestra under conductor Alexander Smallens
Alexander Smallens
Alexander Smallens was a Russian-born American conductor and music director.Smallens was born in Saint Petersburg, Russia, and emigrated to the United States as a child, becoming an American citizen in 1919...
. She performed in a few more operas with the orchestra the following year, singing Giovanna in 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...
, Mama Lucia in 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...
, and Katisha in The Mikado
The Mikado
The Mikado; or, The Town of Titipu is a comic opera in two acts, with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert, their ninth of fourteen operatic collaborations...
. She also portrayed Dame Hannah in Gilbert & Sullivan's Ruddigore
Ruddigore
Ruddigore; or, The Witch's Curse, originally called Ruddygore, is a comic opera in two acts, with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert. It is one of the Savoy Operas and the tenth of fourteen comic operas written together by Gilbert and Sullivan...
with The Savoy Company on May 10, 1935 at the Academy of Music
Academy of Music (Philadelphia)
The Academy of Music, also known as American Academy of Music, is a concert hall and opera house located at Broad and Locust Streets in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was built in 1857 and is the oldest opera house in the United States that is still used for its original purpose...
.
In 1935 Harshaw won the National Federation of Music Clubs
National Federation of Music Clubs
The National Federation of Music Clubs was founded in 1898, became an NGO member of the United Nations in 1949, and was chartered by the U.S. Congress in 1982. NFMC is a non-profit philanthropic music organization whose goal is to promote American music, performers, and composers through quality...
singing competition which gave her a $ 1,000 cash prize and led to her New York City concert debut on July 21 of that year at Lewisohn Stadium
Lewisohn Stadium
Lewisohn Stadium was an amphitheater and athletic facility built on the campus of the City College of New York. It opened in 1915 and was demolished in 1973.-History:...
under conductor José Iturbi
José Iturbi
José Iturbi was a Spanish conductor, harpsichordist and pianist. He appeared in several Hollywood films of the 1940s, notably playing himself in the 1943 musical, Thousands Cheer and in the 1945 film, Anchors Aweigh...
. Later that summer she appeared in several operas with the Steel Pier Opera Company in Atlantic City. In 1936 she entered the graduate program at the Juilliard School
Juilliard School
The Juilliard School, located at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in New York City, United States, is a performing arts conservatory which was established in 1905...
where she studied voice with Anna Schoen-René who had been taught by the legendary Pauline Viardot, daughter of the Spanish singer and pedagogue Manuel García
Manuel García (tenor)
Manuel del Pópulo Vicente Rodriguez García was a Spanish opera singer, composer, impresario, and singing teacher.-Biography:...
. While there she sang the role of Dido in a 1939 student production of Henry Purcell
Henry Purcell
Henry Purcell – 21 November 1695), was an English organist and Baroque composer of secular and sacred music. Although Purcell incorporated Italian and French stylistic elements into his compositions, his legacy was a uniquely English form of Baroque music...
's Dido and Aeneas
Dido and Aeneas
Dido and Aeneas is an opera in a prologue and three acts by the English Baroque composer Henry Purcell to a libretto by Nahum Tate. The first known performance was at Josias Priest's girls' school in London no later than the summer of 1688. The story is based on Book IV of Virgil's Aeneid...
. Walter Damrosch attended the performance and approached her afterwords, saying "My child, one day you will be Brünnhilde". In 1940 she sang in productions of The Bartered Bride
The Bartered Bride
The Bartered Bride is a comic opera in three acts by the Czech composer Bedřich Smetana, to a libretto by Karel Sabina. The opera is considered to have made a major contribution towards the development of Czech music. It was composed during the period 1863–66, and first performed at the...
, Carmen
Carmen
Carmen is a French opéra comique by Georges Bizet. The libretto is by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy, based on the novella of the same title by Prosper Mérimée, first published in 1845, itself possibly influenced by the narrative poem The Gypsies by Alexander Pushkin...
, The Devil and Daniel Webster, Le donne curiose
Le donne curiose
Le donne curiose is an opera in three acts by Ermanno Wolf-Ferrari to a text by Luigi Sugana after Carlo Goldoni's play.-Performance history:...
, 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 The Gondoliers
The Gondoliers
The Gondoliers; or, The King of Barataria is a Savoy Opera, with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert. It premiered at the Savoy Theatre on 7 December 1889 and ran for a very successful 554 performances , closing on 30 June 1891...
at the Chautauqua Opera
Chautauqua Opera
The Chautauqua Opera is the resident summer opera company of the Chautauqua Institution. It is the oldest continuously active summer opera company in the U.S, having been founded in 1929, and it has produced several operas during the Institution's nine-week summer season every year since...
. She also appeared frequently at the Worcester Music Festival
Worcester Music Festival
Worcester Music Festival Is an annual music festival held in Worcester town centre during the 3rd week of August founded in 2008 by Chris Bennion as a platform to encourage live, local and original music in Worcester and the surrounding areas and is staged in over 30 pubs, clubs, cafes, and...
during the early 1940s.
In 1942 Harshaw won 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...
's "Auditions of the Air" (pre-cursor to the National Council Auditions) which led to her début at that house as the Second Norn in 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...
's Götterdämmerung
Götterdämmerung
is the last in Richard Wagner's cycle of four operas titled Der Ring des Nibelungen...
on November 25, 1942 under the baton of 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...
. Over the next nine seasons she sang several other mezzo-soprano roles at the Met, largely in operas by Wagner and Verdi. Her Wagner roles during these years included Brangäne in Tristan und 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...
, Erda, Flosshilde, and Fricka in 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...
, Erda in 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...
, the First Norn and Waltraute in Götterdämmerung, Fricka and Schwertleite 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...
, Magdalene in 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,...
, Mary in The Flying Dutchman
The Flying Dutchman (opera)
Der fliegende Holländer is an opera, with music and libretto by Richard Wagner.Wagner claimed in his 1870 autobiography Mein Leben that he had been inspired to write "The Flying Dutchman" following a stormy sea crossing he made from Riga to London in July and August 1839, but in his 1843...
, Ortrud in Lohengrin
Lohengrin (opera)
Lohengrin is a romantic opera in three acts composed and written by Richard Wagner, first performed in 1850. The story of the eponymous character is taken from medieval German romance, notably the Parzival of Wolfram von Eschenbach and its sequel, Lohengrin, written by a different author, itself...
, Venus in Tannhäuser
Tannhäuser (opera)
Tannhäuser is an opera in three acts, music and text by Richard Wagner, based on the two German legends of Tannhäuser and the song contest at Wartburg...
, and Kundry and the Voice from Above 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...
. Other roles in her Met repertoire included Amelfa in Le Coq d'Or, Auntie in 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...
, Azucena, Amneris in Aida
Aida
Aida sometimes spelled Aïda, is an opera in four acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Antonio Ghislanzoni, based on a scenario written by French Egyptologist Auguste Mariette...
, Frugola in Il Tabarro
Il tabarro
Il tabarro is an opera in one act by Giacomo Puccini to an Italian libretto by Giuseppe Adami, based on Didier Gold's play La houppelande. It is the first of the trio of operas known as Il trittico...
, Geneviève 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...
, Gertrud in Hänsel und Gretel, Herodias in 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....
, La Cieca in La Gioconda
La Gioconda (opera)
La Gioconda is an opera in four acts by Amilcare Ponchielli set to an Italian libretto by Arrigo Boito, based on Angelo, tyran de Padoue, a play in prose by Victor Hugo, dating from 1835...
, Mistress Quickly 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...
, the Mother in 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....
, the Third Lady in 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....
, and Ulrica in 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...
.
Harshaw made her first foray into the soprano repertoire singing the role of Senta in The Flying Dutchman opposite Paul Schöffler
Paul Schöffler
Paul Schöffler was a German operatic baritone, particularly associated with Mozart, Wagner, Strauss roles....
in the title role on January 2, 1951. By 1954 she had completely left the mezzo repertoire, with the exception of Ortrud, and effectively succeeded Helen Traubel
Helen Traubel
Helen Francesca Traubel was an American opera and concert singer. A dramatic soprano, she was best known for her Wagnerian roles, especially those of Brünnhilde and Isolde. Born and raised in St. Louis, Missouri, she began her career as a concert singer and went on to sing at the Metropolitan...
in the Wagnerian heroine roles of Brünnhilde, Elisabeth, Isolde, Kundry, and Sieglinde. Her only non-Wagnerian role during her soprano years at the Met was Donna Anna in Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart , baptismal name Johannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart , was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical era. He composed over 600 works, many acknowledged as pinnacles of symphonic, concertante, chamber, piano, operatic, and choral music...
's 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...
. She remained with the Metropolitan until the close of the 1963–1964 season. Her final and 375th performance at the Met was as Ortrud on March 10, 1964 with Jess Thomas
Jess Thomas
Jess Thomas was an American operatic tenor, best known for his Wagner singing.-Biography:Jess Floyd Thomas was born in Hot Springs, South Dakota. As a child he took part in various musical activities and later studied psychology at the University of Nebraska and Stanford University. He was...
as Lohengrin, Leonie Rysanek
Leonie Rysanek
Leopoldine "Leonie" Rysanek was an Austrian dramatic soprano.-Biography:Rysanek was born in Vienna and made her operatic debut in 1949 in Innsbruck. In 1951 the Bayreuth Festival reopened and the new leader Wieland Wagner asked her to sing Sieglinde...
as Elsa, and Joseph Rosenstock
Joseph Rosenstock
Joseph Rosenstock was a Polish Jewish conductor.-Early years:He worked at the State Opera in Wiesbaden before being brought into the Metropolitan Opera in New York to replace Artur Bodanzky in 1928...
conducting.
During her many years at the Met, Harshaw was also active as a guest artist with opera houses throughout North America and Europe. She was committed to the 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...
between 1944–1947, portraying such parts as Amneris, Azucena, Brangäne, Fricka, Geneviève, Herodias, La Cieca, Mistress Quickly, Ortrud, Ulrica, and the Nurse in Boris Godunov
Boris Godunov (opera)
Boris Godunov is an opera by Modest Mussorgsky . The work was composed between 1868 and 1873 in Saint Petersburg, Russia. It is Mussorgsky's only completed opera and is considered his masterpiece. Its subjects are the Russian ruler Boris Godunov, who reigned as Tsar during the Time of Troubles,...
. In 1948 she sang at the Opéra National de Paris as Amneris, Brangäne, and Dalila in Samson et Dalila. In 1950 she made her first appearance with the Philadelphia Civic Grand Opera Company
Philadelphia Civic Grand Opera Company
The Philadelphia Civic Grand Opera Company was an American opera company located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania that was actively performing at the Academy of Music between 1950 and 1955. Fausta Cleva served as the company's first General Director and conductor...
as Amneris, returning there in 1952 to sing Isolde. She was engaged at the Royal Opera, London
Royal Opera, London
The Royal Opera is an opera company based in central London, resident at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden. Along with the English National Opera, it is one of the two principal opera companies in London. Founded in 1946 as the Covent Garden Opera Company, it was known by that title until 1968...
from 1953–1956 and again in 1960, where she excelled as Brünnhilde in Rudolf Kempe
Rudolf Kempe
Rudolf Kempe was a German conductor.- Biography :Kempe was born in Dresden, where from the age of fourteen he studied at the Dresden State Opera School. He played oboe in the opera orchestra of Dortmund and then in the Leipzig Gewandhaus orchestra, from 1929...
’s Ring Cycles
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...
. In 1954 she sang Donna Anna at the Glyndebourne Festival. In 1961 she made her debut 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...
as Ortrud. She portrayed the title heroine in Giacomo 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 Turandot
Turandot
Turandot is an opera in three acts by Giacomo Puccini, set to a libretto in Italian by Giuseppe Adami and Renato Simoni.Though Puccini's first interest in the subject was based on his reading of Friedrich Schiller's adaptation of the play, his work is most nearly based on the earlier text Turandot...
at the 1964 New York World's Fair
1964 New York World's Fair
The 1964/1965 New York World's Fair was the third major world's fair to be held in New York City. Hailing itself as a "universal and international" exposition, the fair's theme was "Peace Through Understanding," dedicated to "Man's Achievement on a Shrinking Globe in an Expanding Universe";...
. She also sang with opera companies in Cincinnati, New Orleans, San Antonio, Pittsburgh, Houston, Mexico, and Venezuela. She made several Latin American tours and was a soloist with many of the major American orchestras. Other roles in her repertoire included the Countess in The Marriage of Figaro
The Marriage of Figaro
Le nozze di Figaro, ossia la folle giornata , K. 492, is an opera buffa composed in 1786 in four acts by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, with Italian libretto by Lorenzo Da Ponte, based on a stage comedy by Pierre Beaumarchais, La folle journée, ou le Mariage de Figaro .Although the play by...
, Leonore in Fidelio
Fidelio
Fidelio is a German opera in two acts by Ludwig van Beethoven. It is Beethoven's only opera. The German libretto is by Joseph Sonnleithner from the French of Jean-Nicolas Bouilly which had been used for the 1798 opera Léonore, ou L’amour conjugal by Pierre Gaveaux, and for the 1804 opera Leonora...
, and the title role in Alceste
Alceste (Gluck)
Alceste is an opera by Christoph Willibald Gluck from 1767. The libretto was written by Ranieri de' Calzabigi and based on the play Alcestis by Euripides. The premiere took place in Vienna.-Preface and reforms:...
.
Last years
In 1962, Harshaw joined the voice faculty at Indiana UniversityIndiana University
Indiana University is a multi-campus public university system in the state of Indiana, United States. Indiana University has a combined student body of more than 100,000 students, including approximately 42,000 students enrolled at the Indiana University Bloomington campus and approximately 37,000...
, where she taught until 1993. She served on the faculty at the Curtis Institute of Music from 1970-1976, when the then opera department for which she primarily taught there was dissolved. Among her many students were Laura Aiken, Norman Andersson, Elizabeth Canis, Katherine Ciesinski
Katherine Ciesinski
Katherine Ciesinski is a leading American mezzo-soprano, stage director, and voice professor.Ciesinski was born to Delaware Sports Hall of Famer Roman Ciesinski and Katherine Hansen Ciesinski. She is the sister of opera singer Kristine Ciesinski...
, Vinson Cole
Vinson Cole
Vinson Cole is an American operatic tenor.A native of Kansas City, the tenor studied at the University of Missouri, Kansas City; the Philadelphia Musical Academy; and at the Curtis Institute of Music with Margaret Harshaw...
, Joseph Frank, Franz Grundheber, Kevin Langan, Shirley Love
Shirley Love
Shirley D. Love is a Democratic member of the West Virginia Senate, representing the 11th District since his appointment August 14, 1994. He is a former broadcast journalist, having spent the majority of his career with WOAY-TV in Oak Hill, West Virginia....
, Mark Lundberg
Mark Lundberg
Mark Lundberg was an American opera singer who had an active international career from the 1980s up until his sudden death in 2008...
, Nancy Maultsby
Nancy Maultsby
Nancy Maultsby is an American operatic mezzo-soprano.-Recordings:*Henry Purcell: Dido and Aeneas Nancy Maultsby , Russell Braun ; Boston Baroque , Martin Pearlman...
, Ronald Naldi
Ronald Naldi
Ronald Naldi is an American lyric tenor who has performed on the stages of the Metropolitan Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Arena di Verona, L'Opéra Français, Salzburger Landestheater, and New Jersey State Opera, under the baton of maestri James Levine, Valery Gergiev, James Conlon, David Robertson,...
, Jan Opalach, Matthew Polenzani
Matthew Polenzani
Matthew Polenzani is an American lyric tenor, born in Evanston, Illinois. He has appeared with the Metropolitan Opera of New York, the Seattle Opera, and other companies. He has also sung with numerous symphony orchestras. Polenzani earned a bachelor’s degree from Eastern Illinois University in...
, John Reardon, Nadine Secunde, Martha Sheil, Gregory Stapp
Gregory Stapp
Gregory Stapp is an American bass who has performed actively in concerts and operas internationally for more than 35 years. He has had a particularly fruitful partnership with the San Francisco Opera, portraying more than 30 roles with the company since 1980. He has also worked actively as a...
, Sharon Sweet
Sharon Sweet
Sharon Sweet is an American dramatic soprano. Sharon Sweet has appeared in leading roles in several major venues in Europe and the United States and has made notable contributions to several recordings, in particular Lohengrin, Der Freischütz, Don Giovanni, and Il Trovatore...
, Michael Sylvester
Michael Sylvester
Michael Lane Sylvester was a lyric spinto operatic tenor.- Notes:...
, Rebecca Turner, Benita Valente
Benita Valente
Benita Valente , is a distinguished American soprano whose long career has encompassed the operatic stage as well as performance of lieder, chamber music and oratorio. She is especially lauded for her interpretations of Mozart and Handel, but she also excelled in certain Verdi roles...
, Christine Weidinger
Christine Weidinger
Christine Weidinger is an American operatic soprano who has had an active international career in operas and concerts since the early 1970s. Her career started at the Metropolitan Opera, after which she was active as a resident artist with opera houses in Germany during the late 1970s and 1980s...
, Gary E. Burgess, Jane Shaulis, Kathryn Bouleyn Day, and Sally Wolf. She died at the age of 88 in Libertyville, Illinois
Libertyville, Illinois
Libertyville is an affluent northern suburb of Chicago in Lake County, Illinois, United States. It is located west of Lake Michigan on the Des Plaines River. The 2000 census population was 20,742; the 2005 estimate was 21,760...
. She was married to Oskar Eichna for many years. They had one son, Oskar L. Eichna Jr.
External links
- Interview with Margaret Harshaw by Bruce Duffie, January, 1994