Rita Gorr
Encyclopedia
Rita Gorr is a Belgian operatic mezzo-soprano
. She possessed a large, rich-toned voice and was an intense singing-actress, especially in dramatic roles such as Ortrud (Lohengrin
) and Amneris (Aida
), two of her greatest roles.
, near Ghent
, Belgium. After vocal studies in Ghent and Brussels
, with Jeanne Pacquot d'Assy and Germaine Hoerner, she won first prize at the vocal competition of Verviers
in 1946, and made her professional debut at Antwerp as Fricka in Die Walküre
the same year. She became a member of the Opera of Strasbourg
, from 1949 to 1952. She won another first prize at the vocal competition of Lausanne
in 1952, which led to her debut at the Opéra-Comique
and the Paris Opéra
that same year; roles there included Magdalene in Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg
, Dalila in Samson et Dalila, Venus in Tannhäuser
, Charlotte in Werther
, Mère Marie in Dialogues des Carmélites, Carmen
, Geneviève in Pelléas et Mélisande
, and triumphant Amneris in Aida
, at the Opéra opposite Renata Tebaldi
in 1959.
Her career then became international in scope, with debuts at Bayreuth in 1958, the Royal Opera House
in 1959, La Scala
in 1960, the Metropolitan Opera
on October 17, 1962 as Amneris. In four seasons at the Met, she sang Santuzza in Cavalleria Rusticana
, Eboli in Don Carlos
, Azucena in Il trovatore
, and Dalila.
Gorr was a versatile artist, singing with equal success the French,
Italian and German repertories. She enjoyed a very long career singing
well into her 60s and 70s and her last role was as the Countess in Tchaikovsky's The Queen of Spades
which she performed in the Summer of 2007 in Ghent
and Antwerp.
Gorr can be heard in two of her greatest roles on recordings, Ortrud in Lohengrin, opposite Sandor Konya
and Lucine Amara
, under Erich Leinsdorf
, and Amneris in Aida, opposite Leontyne Price
and Jon Vickers
, under Georg Solti
. Other notable recorded roles include Delilah
, and Fricka, the latter at Bayreuth under Knappertsbusch
.
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 possessed a large, rich-toned voice and was an intense singing-actress, especially in dramatic roles such as Ortrud (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...
) and Amneris (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...
), two of her greatest roles.
Life and career
Gorr was born Marguerite Geirmaert, in ZelzateZelzate
Zelzate is a municipality located in the Belgian province of East Flanders. The municipality only comprises the town of Zelzate proper. On January 1, 2006 Zelzate had a total population of 12,176. The total area is 13.71 km² which gives a population density of 888 inhabitants per km².Zelzate is...
, near Ghent
Ghent
Ghent is a city and a municipality located in the Flemish region of Belgium. It is the capital and biggest city of the East Flanders province. The city started as a settlement at the confluence of the Rivers Scheldt and Lys and in the Middle Ages became one of the largest and richest cities of...
, Belgium. After vocal studies in Ghent and Brussels
Brussels
Brussels , officially the Brussels Region or Brussels-Capital Region , is the capital of Belgium and the de facto capital of the European Union...
, with Jeanne Pacquot d'Assy and Germaine Hoerner, she won first prize at the vocal competition of Verviers
Verviers
Verviers is a Walloon city and municipality located in the Belgian province of Liège. The Verviers municipality includes the old communes of Ensival, Lambermont, Petit-Rechain, Stembert, and Heusy...
in 1946, and made her professional debut at Antwerp as Fricka 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...
the same year. She became a member of the Opera of Strasbourg
Strasbourg
Strasbourg is the capital and principal city of the Alsace region in eastern France and is the official seat of the European Parliament. Located close to the border with Germany, it is the capital of the Bas-Rhin département. The city and the region of Alsace are historically German-speaking,...
, from 1949 to 1952. She won another first prize at the vocal competition of Lausanne
Lausanne
Lausanne is a city in Romandy, the French-speaking part of Switzerland, and is the capital of the canton of Vaud. The seat of the district of Lausanne, the city is situated on the shores of Lake Geneva . It faces the French town of Évian-les-Bains, with the Jura mountains to its north-west...
in 1952, which led to her debut at the Opéra-Comique
Opéra-Comique
The Opéra-Comique is a Parisian opera company, which was founded around 1714 by some of the popular theatres of the Parisian fairs. In 1762 the company was merged with, and for a time took the name of its chief rival the Comédie-Italienne at the Hôtel de Bourgogne, and was also called the...
and the Paris Opéra
Palais Garnier
The Palais Garnier, , is an elegant 1,979-seat opera house, which was built from 1861 to 1875 for the Paris Opera. It was originally called the Salle des Capucines because of its location on the Boulevard des Capucines in the 9th arrondissement of Paris, but soon became known as the Palais Garnier...
that same year; roles there included 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,...
, Dalila in Samson et Dalila, 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...
, Charlotte in Werther
Werther
Werther is an opera in four acts by Jules Massenet to a French libretto by Édouard Blau, Paul Milliet and Georges Hartmann based on the German epistolary novel The Sorrows of Young Werther by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe....
, Mère Marie in Dialogues des Carmélites, 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...
, 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...
, and triumphant 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...
, at the Opéra opposite Renata Tebaldi
Renata Tebaldi
Renata Tebaldi was an Italian lirico-spinto soprano popular in the post-war period...
in 1959.
Her career then became international in scope, with debuts at Bayreuth in 1958, the Royal Opera House
Royal Opera House
The Royal Opera House is an opera house and major performing arts venue in Covent Garden, central London. The large building is often referred to as simply "Covent Garden", after a previous use of the site of the opera house's original construction in 1732. It is the home of The Royal Opera, The...
in 1959, La Scala
La Scala
La Scala , is a world renowned opera house in Milan, Italy. The theatre was inaugurated on 3 August 1778 and was originally known as the New Royal-Ducal Theatre at La Scala...
in 1960, 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...
on October 17, 1962 as Amneris. In four seasons at the Met, she sang Santuzza 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...
, Eboli in Don Carlos
Don Carlos
Don Carlos is a five-act grand opera composed by Giuseppe Verdi to a French language libretto by Camille du Locle and Joseph Méry, based on the dramatic play Don Carlos, Infant von Spanien by Friedrich Schiller...
, Azucena 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...
, and Dalila.
Gorr was a versatile artist, singing with equal success the French,
Italian and German repertories. She enjoyed a very long career singing
well into her 60s and 70s and her last role was as the Countess in Tchaikovsky's The Queen of Spades
The Queen of Spades (opera)
The Queen of Spades, Op. 68 is an opera in 3 acts by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky to a Russian libretto by the composer's brother Modest Tchaikovsky, based on a short story of the same name by Alexander Pushkin. The premiere took place in 1890 in St...
which she performed in the Summer of 2007 in Ghent
Ghent
Ghent is a city and a municipality located in the Flemish region of Belgium. It is the capital and biggest city of the East Flanders province. The city started as a settlement at the confluence of the Rivers Scheldt and Lys and in the Middle Ages became one of the largest and richest cities of...
and Antwerp.
Gorr can be heard in two of her greatest roles on recordings, Ortrud in Lohengrin, opposite Sandor Konya
Sándor Kónya
Sándor Kónya was an Hungarian tenor, particularly associated with German and Italianroles, especially Lohengrin and Calaf.- Biography :...
and Lucine Amara
Lucine Amara
Lucine Amara is an American soprano who was largely based at the Metropolitan Opera in New York.-Biography:Amara was born Lucine Armaganian in Hartford, Connecticut, of Armenian heritage, before moving to San Francisco where she was raised.She studied at the San Francisco's Community Music School...
, under 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...
, and Amneris in Aida, opposite Leontyne Price
Leontyne Price
Mary Violet Leontyne Price is an American soprano. Born and raised in the Deep South, she rose to international acclaim in the 1950s and 1960s, and was one of the first African Americans to become a leading artist at the Metropolitan Opera.One critic characterized Price's voice as "vibrant",...
and 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...
, under Georg Solti
Georg Solti
Sir Georg Solti, KBE, was a Hungarian-British orchestral and operatic conductor. He was a major classical recording artist, holding the record for having received the most Grammy Awards, having personally won 31 as a conductor, including the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. In addition to his...
. Other notable recorded roles include Delilah
Samson and Delilah (opera)
Samson and Delilah , Op. 47, is a grand opera in three acts and four scenes by Camille Saint-Saëns to a French libretto by Ferdinand Lemaire...
, and Fricka, the latter at Bayreuth under Knappertsbusch
Hans Knappertsbusch
Hans Knappertsbusch was a German conductor, best known for his performances of the music of Richard Wagner, Anton Bruckner and Richard Strauss....
.
Sources
- Alain Pâris, Dictionnaire des interprètes et de l'interpretation musicale au XX siècle (2 vols), Ed. Robert Laffont (Bouquins, Paris 1982, 4th Edn. 1995, 5th Edn 2004). ISBN 2-221-06660-X
- D. Hamilton (ed.),The Metropolitan Opera Encyclopedia: A Complete Guide to the World of Opera (Simon and Schuster, New York 1987). ISBN 0-671-16732-X
- Roland Mancini and Jean-Jacques Rouveroux, (orig. H. Rosenthal and J. Warrack, French edition), Guide de l’opéra, Les indispensables de la musique (Fayard, 1995). ISBN 2-213-01563-6
External links
- Rita Gorr biography at Cantabile-Subito.de.
- Discography