Walter Cassel
Encyclopedia
Walter Cassel was a renowned American opera
tic baritone
and actor. He began his career singing on the radio during the mid 1930s and appeared in a couple of Hollywood
musical film
s in the late 1930s. He made his first stage appearances in a handful of Broadway productions during the late 1930s and early 1940s. He began his opera career at the Metropolitan Opera
in 1942, and went on to have a long and fruitful association with that house that lasted until his retirement from the stage in 1974. In addition to working with the Met, Cassel was also a regular performer with the New York City Opera
between 1948 and 1954 and worked frequently as a freelance artist with important opera companies on the international stage as well as in the United States.
, Cassel began his musical education studying the trumpet
while at Thomas Jefferson High School
. He began taking private voice lessons after joining his high school's glee club
during his senior year. In 1933, while studying dentistry at Creighton University
, Cassel was provided with the opportunity to sing for renowned baritone Lawrence Tibbett
after attending one of Tibbet's recitals in Omaha, Nebraska
. Impressed with his performance, Tibbett praised Cassel highly in an interview with the local newspaper and strongly encouraged him to pursue an opera career. Strongly influenced by this encounter, Cassel headed for New York City
with just "$40 in his shoe, a pair of coveralls and a briefcase full of music".
Upon reaching New York, Cassel began studying voice with Frank La Forge
. Beginning in 1934, he began supporting himself by singing on the radio, including such programs as Air Breaks and Hammerstein's Music Hall. Unable to land work as an opera singer, Cassel tried his luck in Hollywood and managed to land a good sized supporting role in the 1937 film Wine, Women, and Horses which starred Barton MacLane
and Ann Sheridan
. This was followed by a leading role in the 1938 film Romance Road where his love interest was portrayed by Anne Nagel
. Cassel, however, preferred live performance over film work and abandoned his film career after landing a role in the 1938 Broadway play Great Lady. He went on to star in the 1939 musical Stars In Your Eyes
and the 1940 musical revue All in Fun. In 1941 he starred in the Los Angeles Civic Light Opera
's production of Rio Rita
.
In 1942 Cassel auditioned for the Metropolitan Opera and was invited by Edward Johnson
to join the roster of singers at the company. He made his debut with the company earlier than expected, replacing an ailing singer at the last minute in the role of Bretigny in Jules Massenet
's Manon
on December 12, 1942 with Bidu Sayão
in the title role. He continued to sing at the Met through the Spring of 1945 in mainly comprimario
roles like Count Ceprano in Giuseppe Verdi
's Rigoletto
, the Gypsy in Verdi's Il trovatore
, Hermann in Jacques Offenbach
's The Tales of Hoffmann, and the Philosopher in Gustave Charpentier
's Louise
. He did however get to sing two more sizable roles, Valentin in Charles Gounod
's Faust
and Silvio in Ruggero Leoncavallo
's Pagliacci
.
Feeling he was being pigeon holed into the comprimario repertoire at the Met, Cassel left the company after the close of the 1944-1945 season to pursue other artistic interests. He returned to Broadway in 1946 to portray Pierre Birabeau in the revival of Sigmund Romberg
's The Desert Song
. He had almost made it back to Broadway Best two years earlier when he created the role of Edvard Grieg in Song of Norway
for its pre-Broadway run at the Los Angeles Civic Light Opera
. However, he left the cast before the show reached Broadway. He made his debut with the Philadelphia La Scala Opera Company
as Escamillo in Georges Bizet
's Carmen
on October 5, 1946 with Bruna Castagna in the tile role. On January 11, 1948 he gave his New York City recital debut at Town Hall
.
Shortly after his Town Hall recital, Cassel was approached by Laszlo Halasz
to join the roster of principal singers at the New York City Opera
(NYCO). Cassel jumped at the chance and made his debut with the company on April 1, 1948 as Scarpia in Giacomo Puccini
's Tosca
opposite Wilma Spence in the title role and Rudolph Petrak as Cavaradossi. This performance was a major critical success for Cassel, with The New York Times
proclaiming that, "Walter Cassel's suave enactment of the treacherous Baron was the hit of the evening."
Cassel remained one of the NYCO's leading baritones up through the Fall of 1954, giving a total of 126 performances with the company. He portrayed such roles as Amelia's Husband in Gian Carlo Menotti
's Amelia Goes to the Ball
, the Count in Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
's Le nozze di Figaro, Dapertutto in The Tales of Hoffmann, Escamillo, Ford in Verdi's Falstaff
, Gerard in Umberto Giordano
's Andrea Chénier
, Giorgio Germont in Verdi's La traviata
, John the Baptist in Richard Strauss
's Salome
, Ramiro in Maurice Ravel
's L'heure espagnole
, and the title roles in Mozart's Don Giovanni
and Verdi's Rigoletto
among others. He notably recorded the role of Valentin in Faust with the NYCO for MGM Records
in 1951 and portrayed Petruccio in the world premiere of Vittorio Giannini
's The Taming of the Shrew in 1958.
In 1955 Cassel left the NYCO to rejoin the roster at the Met by the invitation of Rudolf Bing, making his first appearance under his new contract at the house as Scarpia to the Tosca of Renata Tebaldi
and Cavaradossi of Giuseppe Campora
on March 8, 1955. Cassel remained at the Met up until his retirement from the stage in 1974, being absent at the house during only three seasons of those years. His final and 275th performance at the Met was as Kurwenal in Richard Wagner
's Tristan und Isolde
with Jess Thomas
and Birgit Nilsson
in the title roles.
While busy singing at the Met, Cassel also worked as a guest artist with many notable opera companies throughout North America and Europe. He appeared with such American companies as the Pittsburgh Opera
, Cincinnati Opera
, and the New Orleans Opera
, as well as several major companies internationally such as the Vienna State Opera
, the Deutsche Oper am Rhein
, the Liceu
, Ottawa Opera, the Canadian Opera Company
, the Palacio de Bellas Artes
, the Teatro Massimo
, and elsewhere. He notably portrayed Horace Tabor in the world premiere of Douglas Moore's The Ballad of Baby Doe
at the Central City Opera
in 1956. In 1958 he made his debut at the Lyric Opera of Chicago
as Kurwenal. In 1959 he was a featured guest on The Bell Telephone Hour
. In 1961 he made his debut with the Philadelphia Lyric Opera Company
as Friedrich von Telramund in Wagner's Lohengrin
.
From 1970 to 1972 Cassel sang the role of Johann Strauss Sr in Korngold
's The Great Waltz
in London, and then performed in Italy and Spain for a couple years. After retiring from the stage, Cassel began a long teaching career at Indiana University
in 1974. He died at the age of 90 in Bloomington, Indiana
.
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 baritone
Baritone
Baritone is a type of male singing voice that lies between the bass and tenor voices. It is the most common male voice. Originally from the Greek , meaning deep sounding, music for this voice is typically written in the range from the second F below middle C to the F above middle C Baritone (or...
and actor. He began his career singing on the radio during the mid 1930s and appeared in a couple of Hollywood
Cinema of the United States
The cinema of the United States, also known as Hollywood, has had a profound effect on cinema across the world since the early 20th century. Its history is sometimes separated into four main periods: the silent film era, classical Hollywood cinema, New Hollywood, and the contemporary period...
musical film
Musical film
The musical film is a film genre in which songs sung by the characters are interwoven into the narrative, sometimes accompanied by dancing. The songs usually advance the plot or develop the film's characters, though in some cases they serve merely as breaks in the storyline, often as elaborate...
s in the late 1930s. He made his first stage appearances in a handful of Broadway productions during the late 1930s and early 1940s. He began his opera career 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...
in 1942, and went on to have a long and fruitful association with that house that lasted until his retirement from the stage in 1974. In addition to working with the Met, Cassel was also a regular performer 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...
between 1948 and 1954 and worked frequently as a freelance artist with important opera companies on the international stage as well as in the United States.
Biography
Born John Walter Cassel in Council Bluffs, IowaCouncil Bluffs, Iowa
Council Bluffs, known until 1852 as Kanesville, Iowathe historic starting point of the Mormon Trail and eventual northernmost anchor town of the other emigrant trailsis a city in and the county seat of Pottawattamie County, Iowa, United States and is on the east bank of the Missouri River across...
, Cassel began his musical education studying the 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...
while at Thomas Jefferson High School
Thomas Jefferson High School (Council Bluffs, Iowa)
Thomas Jefferson High School is one of two senior high schools in the Council Bluffs Community School District.The school was founded in 1922 to service students on the west end of Council Bluffs....
. He began taking private voice lessons after joining his high school's glee club
Glee club
A glee club is a musical group or choir group, historically of male voices but also of female or mixed voices, which traditionally specializes in the singing of short songs—glees—by trios or quartets. In the late 19th Century it was very popular in most schools and was made a tradition...
during his senior year. In 1933, while studying dentistry at Creighton University
Creighton University
Creighton University is a private, coeducational, Jesuit, Roman Catholic university located in Omaha, Nebraska, United States. Founded by the Society of Jesus in 1878, the school is one of 28 member institutions of the Association of Jesuit Colleges and Universities. The university is accredited by...
, Cassel was provided with the opportunity to sing for renowned baritone Lawrence Tibbett
Lawrence Tibbett
Lawrence Mervil Tibbett was a great American opera singer and recording artist who also performed as a film actor and radio personality. A baritone, he sang with the New York Metropolitan Opera company more than 600 times from 1923 to 1950...
after attending one of Tibbet's recitals in Omaha, Nebraska
Omaha, Nebraska
Omaha is the largest city in the state of Nebraska, United States, and is the county seat of Douglas County. It is located in the Midwestern United States on the Missouri River, about 20 miles north of the mouth of the Platte River...
. Impressed with his performance, Tibbett praised Cassel highly in an interview with the local newspaper and strongly encouraged him to pursue an opera career. Strongly influenced by this encounter, Cassel headed for 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...
with just "$40 in his shoe, a pair of coveralls and a briefcase full of music".
Upon reaching New York, Cassel began studying voice with Frank La Forge
Frank La Forge
Frank La Forge was an American pianist and composer and arranger of art songs.-Life and musical career:...
. Beginning in 1934, he began supporting himself by singing on the radio, including such programs as Air Breaks and Hammerstein's Music Hall. Unable to land work as an opera singer, Cassel tried his luck in Hollywood and managed to land a good sized supporting role in the 1937 film Wine, Women, and Horses which starred Barton MacLane
Barton MacLane
Barton MacLane was an American actor, playwright, and screenwriter. Although he has appeared in many classic films from the 1930s through the 1960s, he was known for his role as Gen...
and Ann Sheridan
Ann Sheridan
-Life and career:Born Clara Lou Sheridan in Denton, Texas on February 21, 1915, she was a student at the University of North Texas when her sister sent a photograph of her to Paramount Pictures. She subsequently entered and won a beauty contest, with part of her prize being a bit part in a...
. This was followed by a leading role in the 1938 film Romance Road where his love interest was portrayed by Anne Nagel
Anne Nagel
Anne Nagel was an American actress. She played in adventures, mysteries, and comedies for twenty-five years. She also appeared in television series in the 1950s.-Career:...
. Cassel, however, preferred live performance over film work and abandoned his film career after landing a role in the 1938 Broadway play Great Lady. He went on to star in the 1939 musical Stars In Your Eyes
Stars in Your Eyes
Stars in Your Eyes is a 1956 British musical film directed by Maurice Elvey.-Plot:As the world of vaudeville gradually loses its attraction, more and more entertainers are losing their jobs. In hopes of fixing their financial problems, a group of entertainers band together and buy a run-down...
and the 1940 musical revue All in Fun. In 1941 he starred in the Los Angeles Civic Light Opera
Los Angeles Civic Light Opera
The Los Angeles Civic Light Opera was an American theatre/opera company in Los Angeles, California. Founded under the motto "Light Opera in the Grand Opera manner" in 1938 by impresario Edwin Lester, the organization presented fifty seasons of theatre before closing due to financial reasons in...
's production of Rio Rita
Rio Rita (musical)
Rio Rita is a 1927 stage musical with a book by Guy Bolton and Fred Thompson , music by Harry Tierney, lyrics by Joseph McCarthy, and produced by Florenz Ziegfeld...
.
In 1942 Cassel auditioned for the Metropolitan Opera and was invited by Edward Johnson
Edward Johnson (tenor)
Edward Patrick Johnson CBE was a Canadian operatic tenor who was billed outside North America as Edoardo Di Giovanni, and became director of the Metropolitan Opera in New York City.- Early life :...
to join the roster of singers at the company. He made his debut with the company earlier than expected, replacing an ailing singer at the last minute in the role of Bretigny in Jules Massenet
Jules Massenet
Jules Émile Frédéric Massenet was a French composer best known for his operas. His compositions were very popular in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and he ranks as one of the greatest melodists of his era. Soon after his death, Massenet's style went out of fashion, and many of his operas...
's Manon
Manon
Manon is an opéra comique in five acts by Jules Massenet to a French libretto by Henri Meilhac and Philippe Gille, based on the 1731 novel L’histoire du chevalier des Grieux et de Manon Lescaut by the Abbé Prévost...
on December 12, 1942 with Bidu Sayão
Bidu Sayão
Bidú Sayão was a Brazilian opera soprano. One of Brazil's most famous musicians, Sayão was a leading artist of the Metropolitan Opera in New York City from 1937 to 1952.-Life and career:...
in the title role. He continued to sing at the Met through the Spring of 1945 in mainly 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 like Count Ceprano in Giuseppe 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 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...
, the Gypsy in Verdi'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...
, Hermann in Jacques Offenbach
Jacques Offenbach
Jacques 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....
's The Tales of Hoffmann, and the Philosopher in Gustave 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....
. He did however get to sing two more sizable roles, Valentin in Charles Gounod
Charles Gounod
Charles-François Gounod was a French composer, known for his Ave Maria as well as his operas Faust and Roméo et Juliette.-Biography:...
's 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 Silvio in Ruggero Leoncavallo
Ruggero Leoncavallo
Ruggero Leoncavallo was an Italian opera composer. His two-act work Pagliacci remains one of the most popular works in the repertory, appearing as number 20 on the Operabase list of the most-performed operas worldwide.-Biography:...
's Pagliacci
Pagliacci
Pagliacci , sometimes incorrectly rendered with a definite article as I Pagliacci, is an opera consisting of a prologue and two acts written and composed by Ruggero Leoncavallo. It recounts the tragedy of a jealous husband in a commedia dell'arte troupe...
.
Feeling he was being pigeon holed into the comprimario repertoire at the Met, Cassel left the company after the close of the 1944-1945 season to pursue other artistic interests. He returned to Broadway in 1946 to portray Pierre Birabeau in the revival of Sigmund Romberg
Sigmund Romberg
Sigmund Romberg was a Hungarian-born American composer, best known for his operettas.-Biography:Romberg was born as Siegmund Rosenberg to a Jewish family in Gross-Kanizsa during the Austro-Hungarian kaiserlich und königlich monarchy period...
's The Desert Song
The Desert Song
The Desert Song is an operetta with music by Sigmund Romberg and book and lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II, Otto Harbach and Frank Mandel. It was inspired by the 1925 uprising of the Riffs, a group of Moroccan fighters, against French colonial rule. It was also inspired by stories of Lawrence of...
. He had almost made it back to Broadway Best two years earlier when he created the role of Edvard Grieg in Song of Norway
Song of Norway
Song of Norway is an operetta written in 1944 by Robert Wright and George Forrest, adapted from the music of Edvard Grieg and the book by Milton Lazarus and Homer Curran...
for its pre-Broadway run at the Los Angeles Civic Light Opera
Los Angeles Civic Light Opera
The Los Angeles Civic Light Opera was an American theatre/opera company in Los Angeles, California. Founded under the motto "Light Opera in the Grand Opera manner" in 1938 by impresario Edwin Lester, the organization presented fifty seasons of theatre before closing due to financial reasons in...
. However, he left the cast before the show reached Broadway. He made his debut with the Philadelphia La Scala Opera Company
Philadelphia La Scala Opera Company
The Philadelphia La Scala Opera Company was an American opera company located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania that was actively performing at the Academy of Music between 1925 and 1954...
as Escamillo in Georges Bizet
Georges Bizet
Georges Bizet formally Alexandre César Léopold Bizet, was a French composer, mainly of operas. In a career cut short by his early death, he achieved few successes before his final work, Carmen, became one of the most popular and frequently performed works in the entire opera repertory.During a...
's 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...
on October 5, 1946 with Bruna Castagna in the tile role. On January 11, 1948 he gave his New York City recital debut at Town Hall
The Town Hall
The Town Hall is a performance space, located at 123 West 43rd Street, between Sixth Avenue and Broadway, in New York City. It seats approximately 1,500 people.-History:...
.
Shortly after his Town Hall recital, Cassel was approached by Laszlo Halasz
Laszlo Halasz
Laszlo Halasz was an American opera director, conductor, and pianist of Hungarian birth. In 1943 he was appointed the first director of the New York City Opera; a position he held through 1951...
to join the roster of principal singers at 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). Cassel jumped at the chance and made his debut with the company on April 1, 1948 as Scarpia 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 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...
opposite Wilma Spence in the title role and Rudolph Petrak as Cavaradossi. This performance was a major critical success for Cassel, with The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
proclaiming that, "Walter Cassel's suave enactment of the treacherous Baron was the hit of the evening."
Cassel remained one of the NYCO's leading baritones up through the Fall of 1954, giving a total of 126 performances with the company. He portrayed such roles as Amelia's Husband in 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...
's Amelia Goes to the Ball
Amelia Goes to the Ball
Amelia Goes to the Ball is an opera buffa in one act composed by Gian Carlo Menotti. Menotti also wrote the original Italian libretto. Composed when he was twenty-three, it was Menotti's first mature opera and his first critical success...
, the Count 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 Le nozze di Figaro, Dapertutto in The Tales of Hoffmann, Escamillo, Ford in Verdi's 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...
, Gerard in Umberto Giordano
Umberto Giordano
Umberto Menotti Maria Giordano was an Italian composer, mainly of operas.He was born in Foggia in Puglia, southern Italy, and studied under Paolo Serrao at the Conservatoire of Naples...
's 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....
, Giorgio Germont in Verdi'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...
, John the Baptist in Richard 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 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....
, Ramiro in Maurice Ravel
Maurice Ravel
Joseph-Maurice Ravel was a French composer known especially for his melodies, orchestral and instrumental textures and effects...
's L'heure espagnole
L'heure espagnole
L'heure espagnole is a one-act opera, described as a comédie musicale, with music by Maurice Ravel to a French libretto by Franc-Nohain, based on his play of the same name first performed at the Théâtre de l'Odéon on 28 October 1904...
, and the title roles in Mozart'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...
and 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...
among others. He notably recorded the role of Valentin in Faust with the NYCO for MGM Records
MGM Records
MGM Records was a record label started by the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer film studio in 1946, for the purpose of releasing soundtrack albums of their musical films. Later it became a pop label, lasting into the 1970s...
in 1951 and portrayed Petruccio in the world premiere of Vittorio Giannini
Vittorio Giannini
Vittorio Giannini was a neoromantic American composer of operas, songs, symphonies, and band works.-Life and work:...
's The Taming of the Shrew in 1958.
In 1955 Cassel left the NYCO to rejoin the roster at the Met by the invitation of Rudolf Bing, making his first appearance under his new contract at the house as Scarpia to the Tosca of Renata Tebaldi
Renata Tebaldi
Renata Tebaldi was an Italian lirico-spinto soprano popular in the post-war period...
and Cavaradossi of Giuseppe Campora
Giuseppe Campora
Giuseppe Campora , was an Italian operatic tenor. Campora was one of the greatest Puccinian tenors of his generation...
on March 8, 1955. Cassel remained at the Met up until his retirement from the stage in 1974, being absent at the house during only three seasons of those years. His final and 275th performance at the Met was as Kurwenal 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 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...
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...
and Birgit Nilsson
Birgit Nilsson
right|thumb|Nilsson in 1948.Birgit Nilsson was a celebrated Swedish dramatic soprano who specialized in operatic and symphonic works...
in the title roles.
While busy singing at the Met, Cassel also worked as a guest artist with many notable opera companies throughout North America and Europe. He appeared with such American companies as the Pittsburgh Opera
Pittsburgh Opera
Pittsburgh Opera is an American opera company based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It is one of two opera companies in the city, the other being Opera Theatre of Pittsburgh. Pittsburgh Opera gives performances in several venues, primarily at the Benedum Center, with other performances at the...
, Cincinnati Opera
Cincinnati Opera
Cincinnati Opera is an American opera company based in Cincinnati, Ohio and the second oldest opera company in the United States .-History:...
, and 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...
, as well as several major companies internationally such as 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...
, the Deutsche Oper am Rhein
Deutsche Oper am Rhein
The Deutsche Oper am Rhein is an opera company based in Düsseldorf and Duisburg. The opera also has an associated classical ballet company....
, the Liceu
Liceu
The Gran Teatre del Liceu , or simply Liceu in Catalan and Liceo in Spanish, is an opera house on La Rambla in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain...
, Ottawa Opera, the Canadian Opera Company
Canadian Opera Company
The Canadian Opera Company is an opera company in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is the largest opera company in Canada and the third largest producer of opera in North America. The COC performs in its own opera house, the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts.-History:For 40 years until...
, the Palacio de Bellas Artes
Palacio de Bellas Artes
The Palacio de Bellas Artes is the most important cultural center in Mexico City as well as the rest of the country of Mexico...
, the Teatro Massimo
Teatro Massimo
The Teatro Massimo Vittorio Emanuele is an opera house and opera company located on the Piazza Verdi in Palermo, Sicily. It was dedicated to King Victor Emanuel II....
, and elsewhere. He notably portrayed Horace Tabor in the world premiere of Douglas 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...
at 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 1956. In 1958 he made his debut at 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 Kurwenal. In 1959 he was a featured guest on The Bell Telephone Hour
The Bell Telephone Hour
The Bell Telephone Hour is a long-run concert series which began April 29, 1940 on NBC Radio and was heard on NBC until June 30, 1958. Sponsored by Bell Telephone, it showcased the best in classical and Broadway music, reaching eight to nine million listeners each week. It continued on television...
. In 1961 he made his 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 Friedrich von Telramund in Wagner's 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...
.
From 1970 to 1972 Cassel sang the role of Johann Strauss Sr in Korngold
Korngold
Korngold is surname of:* Julius Korngold , Jewish Austro-Hungarian music critic* Erich Wolfgang Korngold , Jewish Austro-Hungarian film- and romantic music composer* Piano Concerto for the Left Hand...
's The Great Waltz
The Great Waltz
The Great Waltz is a musical conceived by Hassard Short with a book by Moss Hart and lyrics by Desmond Carter, using themes by Johann Strauss I and Johann Strauss II. It is based on a pasticcio by Erich Wolfgang Korngold and Julius Bittner called Walzer aus Wien, first performed in Vienna in 1930...
in London, and then performed in Italy and Spain for a couple years. After retiring from the stage, Cassel began a long teaching career at Indiana University
Indiana 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...
in 1974. He died at the age of 90 in Bloomington, Indiana
Bloomington, Indiana
Bloomington is a city in and the county seat of Monroe County in the southern region of the U.S. state of Indiana. The population was 80,405 at the 2010 census....
.