Marilyn Cotlow
Encyclopedia
Marilyn Cotlow is an American lyric coloratura soprano best remembered for originating the role of Lucy in Gian Carlo Menotti
's The Telephone. She sang professionally during the 1940s and 1950s in the United States and Europe, performing with such companies as the Metropolitan Opera
. After retiring from the stage, Cotlow taught voice at the Peabody Conservatory and currently teaches privately out of her home. Several of her students have gone on to have successful careers, including Alessandra Marc
and Jennifer Wilson
.
, on January 10, 1924, to Sandor and Bernice Cotlow. She had two brothers: William and Phillip. During the Great Depression
, her father moved the family of five to Los Angeles in an effort to find work as an attorney
. He was an amateur singer, who only allowed his family to listen to classical music or singers of good stature and renown.
Marilyn Cotlow began vocal studies with Hans Clemens
, a tenor
who had been let go by the Metropolitan Opera in 1937 because he was a German citizen at a time of anti-German sentiment in the United States. Clemens moved to Los Angeles and became good friends with Lauritz Melchior
, who lived in Beverly Hills. Clemens organized a vocal competition to discover new talent and to procure students for his fledgling studio. Marilyn Cotlow was 15 when she auditioned, and Clemens appreciated her innate vocal talent and musicality.
Clemens offered her the chance to study six days a week on a half-scholarship. During her first year, Clemens only allowed her to do vocal exercises to make her aware of high forward placement and ensure the correct use of her support mechanism. Clemens learned these exercises while studying with a 90 year old cantor in Milan, Italy, who was said to sound 25 years old.
with a small company in Los Angeles in the early 1940s. The cast also included Brian Sullivan
as Tamino, and Johnny Silver as Monostatos. Cotlow also worked as a voice-over artist during the early to mid 1940s for Hollywood musical movies, often performing high notes in songs for artists who had difficulty singing in the upper register. As most high tones above the ledger are indistinguishable from one soprano to another, the studios hired Cotlow to "cut in" the note.
After World War II, she auditioned for the Central City Opera
in Colorado. During her audition, the judges asked if she knew the arias of Blondchen in Mozart's Die Entführung aus dem Serail
. Marilyn answered, "Why, yes, I know the whole role." After she finished both arias, the judges asked if she knew the arias of Constanze. She answered, "Why yes, I know that whole role, too," and sang all three arias from that role. She was offered a contract to sing Blondchen that summer in Colorado with Eleanor Steber
, Felix Knight, and Jerome Hines.
Upon arriving in New York, Cotlow auditioned for several parts and heard that Efrem Zimbalist, Jr., and Chandler Cowles were producing a double bill of opera on Broadway
. The operas were The Telephone, or L'Amour à trois
and The Medium
by a young Italian composer, Gian Carlo Menotti
. The double bill premiered on February 18, 1947, at the Heckscher Theater, and the Broadway production opened on May 1, 1947, at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre
and remained for more than 7 months. A Columbia Records
recording was made, and it remains the #1 selling complete operatic recording of all time.
In 1948, Cotlow made her Metropolitan Opera
(Met) debut, singing Philine in Mignon
after winning the company's Audition of the Air competition. That same season, she sang Adina in L'Elisir d'Amore
. For the next several years, she appeared in roles with minor houses in the United States and in Europe. In 1952, she joined the company of Theater Basel
and stayed there for one year. In 1953, she joined Theater Bremen
, where she sang roles for two seasons. She left the company in 1955 to give a concert tour in Holland and sing the role of Amina in La Sonnambula
with Wexford Festival Opera
.
After Cotlow married in the late 1950s, she retired from her stage career and took up teaching. She taught out of her home for many years and then later at the Peabody Conservatory. She still maintains a home studio in the Virginia suburbs of Washington, DC. One of her most famous students, Alessandra Marc
, became her daughter-in-law when Marc married her son Remy David; the couple has since divorced. She has another son, Daniel.
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 The Telephone. She sang professionally during the 1940s and 1950s in the United States and Europe, performing with such companies as 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...
. After retiring from the stage, Cotlow taught voice at the Peabody Conservatory and currently teaches privately out of her home. Several of her students have gone on to have successful careers, including Alessandra Marc
Alessandra Marc
Alessandra Marc is an award-winning American dramatic soprano who has appeared at many of the world's finest opera houses and orchestras...
and Jennifer Wilson
Jennifer Wilson
Jennifer Wilson is an American soprano known especially for her Wagnerian opera roles. She is the daughter of Newton Wilson and Katherine Still...
.
Early life and education
Marilyn Rose Cotlow was born in Minneapolis, MinnesotaMinneapolis, Minnesota
Minneapolis , nicknamed "City of Lakes" and the "Mill City," is the county seat of Hennepin County, the largest city in the U.S. state of Minnesota, and the 48th largest in the United States...
, on January 10, 1924, to Sandor and Bernice Cotlow. She had two brothers: William and Phillip. During the Great Depression
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
, her father moved the family of five to Los Angeles in an effort to find work as an attorney
Lawyer
A lawyer, according to Black's Law Dictionary, is "a person learned in the law; as an attorney, counsel or solicitor; a person who is practicing law." Law is the system of rules of conduct established by the sovereign government of a society to correct wrongs, maintain the stability of political...
. He was an amateur singer, who only allowed his family to listen to classical music or singers of good stature and renown.
Marilyn Cotlow began vocal studies with Hans Clemens
Hans Clemens
Johannes Max Clemens was a German functionary of respectively the SS, Sicherheitsdienst was primarily the intelligence service of the SS and the Nazi Party in Nazi Germany...
, a tenor
Tenor
The tenor is a type of male singing voice and is the highest male voice within the modal register. The typical tenor voice lies between C3, the C one octave below middle C, to the A above middle C in choral music, and up to high C in solo work. The low extreme for tenors is roughly B2...
who had been let go by the Metropolitan Opera in 1937 because he was a German citizen at a time of anti-German sentiment in the United States. Clemens moved to Los Angeles and became good friends with Lauritz Melchior
Lauritz Melchior
Lauritz Melchior was a Danish and later American opera singer. He was the pre-eminent Wagnerian tenor of the 1920s, 1930s, and 1940s, and has since come to be considered the quintessence of his voice type.-Biography:...
, who lived in Beverly Hills. Clemens organized a vocal competition to discover new talent and to procure students for his fledgling studio. Marilyn Cotlow was 15 when she auditioned, and Clemens appreciated her innate vocal talent and musicality.
Clemens offered her the chance to study six days a week on a half-scholarship. During her first year, Clemens only allowed her to do vocal exercises to make her aware of high forward placement and ensure the correct use of her support mechanism. Clemens learned these exercises while studying with a 90 year old cantor in Milan, Italy, who was said to sound 25 years old.
Career
Cotlow made her professional operatic debut as the Queen of the Night in Mozart's The Magic FluteThe 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....
with a small company in Los Angeles in the early 1940s. The cast also included Brian Sullivan
Brian Sullivan
Brian Sullivan may refer to:* Brian Sullivan , presenter of programs on CNBC* Brian Sullivan , politician from Snohomish County, Washington...
as Tamino, and Johnny Silver as Monostatos. Cotlow also worked as a voice-over artist during the early to mid 1940s for Hollywood musical movies, often performing high notes in songs for artists who had difficulty singing in the upper register. As most high tones above the ledger are indistinguishable from one soprano to another, the studios hired Cotlow to "cut in" the note.
After World War II, she auditioned for the Central City Opera
Central City Opera
Central City Opera is the fifth-oldest opera company in the United States, founded in 1932. Each festival is presented in the 550-seat historic Central City Opera House built in 1878 in the gold mining era town of Central City, Colorado. Pelham G...
in Colorado. During her audition, the judges asked if she knew the arias of Blondchen in Mozart's Die Entführung aus dem Serail
Die Entführung aus dem Serail
Die Entführung aus dem Serail is an opera Singspiel in three acts by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. The German libretto is by Christoph Friedrich Bretzner with adaptations by Gottlieb Stephanie...
. Marilyn answered, "Why, yes, I know the whole role." After she finished both arias, the judges asked if she knew the arias of Constanze. She answered, "Why yes, I know that whole role, too," and sang all three arias from that role. She was offered a contract to sing Blondchen that summer in Colorado with Eleanor Steber
Eleanor Steber
Eleanor Steber was an American operatic soprano. Steber is noted as one of the first major opera stars to have achieved the highest success with training and a career based in the United States.-Biography:...
, Felix Knight, and Jerome Hines.
Upon arriving in New York, Cotlow auditioned for several parts and heard that Efrem Zimbalist, Jr., and Chandler Cowles were producing a double bill of opera on Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
. The operas were The Telephone, or L'Amour à trois
The Telephone, or L'Amour à trois
The Telephone, or L'Amour à trois is an English-language comic opera in one act by Gian Carlo Menotti, both words and music. It was written for production by the Ballet Society and was first presented on a double bill with Menotti's The Medium at the Heckscher Theater, New York City, February...
and The Medium
The Medium
The Medium is a short two-act dramatic opera with words and music by Gian Carlo Menotti. Commissioned by Columbia University, its first performance was there on 8 May 1946. The opera's first professional production was presented on a double bill with Menotti's The Telephone at the Heckscher...
by a young Italian composer, Gian Carlo 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...
. The double bill premiered on February 18, 1947, at the Heckscher Theater, and the Broadway production opened on May 1, 1947, at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre
Ethel Barrymore Theatre
The Ethel Barrymore Theatre is a legitimate Broadway theatre located at 243 West 47th Street in midtown-Manhattan, named for actress Ethel Barrymore....
and remained for more than 7 months. A Columbia Records
Columbia Records
Columbia Records is an American record label, owned by Japan's Sony Music Entertainment, operating under the Columbia Music Group with Aware Records. It was founded in 1888, evolving from an earlier enterprise, the American Graphophone Company — successor to the Volta Graphophone Company...
recording was made, and it remains the #1 selling complete operatic recording of all time.
In 1948, Cotlow made her Metropolitan Opera
Metropolitan Opera
The Metropolitan Opera is an opera company, located in New York City. Originally founded in 1880, the company gave its first performance on October 22, 1883. The company is operated by the non-profit Metropolitan Opera Association, with Peter Gelb as general manager...
(Met) debut, singing Philine in Mignon
Mignon
Mignon is an opéra comique in three acts by Ambroise Thomas. The original French libretto was by Jules Barbier and Michel Carré, based on Goethe's novel Wilhelm Meisters Lehrjahre. The Italian version was translated by Giuseppe Zaffira. The opera is mentioned in James Joyce's The Dead,...
after winning the company's Audition of the Air competition. That same season, she sang Adina in 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...
. For the next several years, she appeared in roles with minor houses in the United States and in Europe. In 1952, she joined the company of Theater Basel
Theater Basel
Theater Basel is the municipal theatre of the city of Basel, Switzerland, which is home to the city's opera and ballet companies. The theatre also presents plays and musicals in addition to operas and operettas....
and stayed there for one year. In 1953, she joined Theater Bremen
Theater Bremen
Theater Bremen is the collective name for four auditoria in the city of Bremen - these are the Oper Bremen, the Schauspiel Bremen, the Tanztheater Bremen and the MoKS Bremen....
, where she sang roles for two seasons. She left the company in 1955 to give a concert tour in Holland and sing the role of Amina in La Sonnambula
La sonnambula
La sonnambula is an opera semiseria in two acts, with music in the bel canto tradition by Vincenzo Bellini to an Italian libretto by Felice Romani, based on a scenario for a ballet-pantomime by Eugène Scribe and Jean-Pierre Aumer called La somnambule, ou L'arrivée d'un nouveau seigneur.The first...
with Wexford Festival Opera
Wexford Festival Opera
The Wexford Festival Opera is an opera festival that takes place in the town of Wexford in South-Eastern Ireland during the months of October and November.-Festival origins under Tom Walsh, 1951 to 1966:...
.
After Cotlow married in the late 1950s, she retired from her stage career and took up teaching. She taught out of her home for many years and then later at the Peabody Conservatory. She still maintains a home studio in the Virginia suburbs of Washington, DC. One of her most famous students, Alessandra Marc
Alessandra Marc
Alessandra Marc is an award-winning American dramatic soprano who has appeared at many of the world's finest opera houses and orchestras...
, became her daughter-in-law when Marc married her son Remy David; the couple has since divorced. She has another son, Daniel.
Opera roles
- Adele, Die FledermausDie FledermausDie Fledermaus is an operetta composed by Johann Strauss II to a German libretto by Karl Haffner and Richard Genée.- Literary sources :...
(Johann Strauss IIJohann Strauss IIJohann Strauss II , also known as Johann Baptist Strauss or Johann Strauss, Jr., the Younger, or the Son , was an Austrian composer of light music, particularly dance music and operettas. He composed over 500 waltzes, polkas, quadrilles, and other types of dance music, as well as several operettas...
) - Adina, L'elisir d'amoreL'elisir d'amoreL'elisir d'amore is an opera by the Italian composer Gaetano Donizetti. It is a melodramma giocoso in two acts...
(Gaetano DonizettiGaetano DonizettiDomenico 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...
) - Amina, La sonnambulaLa sonnambulaLa sonnambula is an opera semiseria in two acts, with music in the bel canto tradition by Vincenzo Bellini to an Italian libretto by Felice Romani, based on a scenario for a ballet-pantomime by Eugène Scribe and Jean-Pierre Aumer called La somnambule, ou L'arrivée d'un nouveau seigneur.The first...
(Vincenzo BelliniVincenzo BelliniVincenzo Salvatore Carmelo Francesco Bellini was an Italian opera composer. His greatest works are I Capuleti ed i Montecchi , La sonnambula , Norma , Beatrice di Tenda , and I puritani...
) - Blondchen, The Abduction from the Seraglio (Wolfgang Amadeus MozartWolfgang Amadeus MozartWolfgang 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...
) - Constanze, The Abduction from the Seraglio (Wolfgang Amadeus MozartWolfgang Amadeus MozartWolfgang 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...
) - Despina, Così fan tutteCosì fan tutteCosì fan tutte, ossia La scuola degli amanti K. 588, is an opera buffa by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart first performed in 1790. The libretto was written by Lorenzo Da Ponte....
(Wolfgang Amadeus MozartWolfgang Amadeus MozartWolfgang 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...
) - Frau Fluth, Die Lustigen Weiber von Windsor (Otto Nicolai)
- Lakme, LakmeLakméLakmé is an opera in three acts by Léo Delibes to a French libretto by Edmond Gondinet and Philippe Gille. Delibes wrote the score during 1881–82 with its first performance on 14 April 1883 at the Opéra Comique in Paris. Set in British India in the mid 19th century, Lakmé is based on the 1880 novel...
(Leo DelibesLéo DelibesClément Philibert Léo Delibes was a French composer of ballets, operas, and other works for the stage...
) - Lucy, The Telephone (Gian Carlo MenottiGian Carlo MenottiGian 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...
)
- Madame Herz, Die Shauspieldirektor (Wolfgang Amadeus MozartWolfgang Amadeus MozartWolfgang 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...
) - Madame Vogelsang, Die Shauspieldirektor (Wolfgang Amadeus MozartWolfgang Amadeus MozartWolfgang 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...
) - Martha/Lady Harriet, MarthaMarthaMartha of Bethany is a biblical figure described in the Gospels of Luke and John. Together with her siblings Lazarus and Mary, she is described as living in the village of Bethany near Jerusalem...
(Friedrich von FlotowFriedrich von FlotowFriedrich Adolf Ferdinand, Freiherr von Flotow was a German composer. He is chiefly remembered for his opera Martha, which was popular in the 19th century....
) - Musetta, La BohemeLa bohèmeLa bohème is an opera in four acts,Puccini called the divisions quadro, a tableau or "image", rather than atto . by Giacomo Puccini to an Italian libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa, based on Scènes de la vie de bohème by Henri Murger...
(Giacomo PucciniGiacomo PucciniGiacomo 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...
) - Olympia, The Tales of Hoffmann (Jacques OffenbachJacques OffenbachJacques Offenbach was a Prussian-born French composer, cellist and impresario. He is remembered for his nearly 100 operettas of the 1850s–1870s and his uncompleted opera The Tales of Hoffmann. He was a powerful influence on later composers of the operetta genre, particularly Johann Strauss, Jr....
) - Philine, MignonMignonMignon is an opéra comique in three acts by Ambroise Thomas. The original French libretto was by Jules Barbier and Michel Carré, based on Goethe's novel Wilhelm Meisters Lehrjahre. The Italian version was translated by Giuseppe Zaffira. The opera is mentioned in James Joyce's The Dead,...
(Ambroise ThomasAmbroise ThomasCharles Louis Ambroise Thomas was a French composer, best known for his operas Mignon and Hamlet and as Director of the Conservatoire de Paris from 1871 till his death.-Biography:"There is good music, there is bad music, and then there is Ambroise Thomas."- Emmanuel Chabrier-Early life...
) - The Queen of the Night, The Magic FluteThe Magic FluteThe 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....
(Wolfgang Amadeus MozartWolfgang Amadeus MozartWolfgang 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...
) - Rosalinde, Die FledermausDie FledermausDie Fledermaus is an operetta composed by Johann Strauss II to a German libretto by Karl Haffner and Richard Genée.- Literary sources :...
(Johann Strauss IIJohann Strauss IIJohann Strauss II , also known as Johann Baptist Strauss or Johann Strauss, Jr., the Younger, or the Son , was an Austrian composer of light music, particularly dance music and operettas. He composed over 500 waltzes, polkas, quadrilles, and other types of dance music, as well as several operettas...
) - Violetta, La TraviataLa traviataLa 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...
(Giuseppi Verdi)