Anne McKnight 1943 May Queen Shimer College Wiki

Anne McKnight (24 July 1924 - 29 August 2012) was an operatic

soprano A soprano () is a type of classical female singing voice and has the highest vocal range of all voice types. The soprano's vocal range (using scientific pitch notation) is from approximately middle C (C4) = 261 Hz to "high A" (A5) = 880&n ...

Life and career

A native of

Aurora, Illinois Aurora is a city in the Chicago metropolitan area located partially in DuPage County, Illinois, DuPage, Kane County, Illinois, Kane, Kendall County, Illinois, Kendall, and Will County, Illinois, Will counties in the U.S. state of Illinois. Locat ...

, she was a 1943 graduate of Shimer College. McKnight made her official debut in 1946, as Musetta in the NBC Symphony's Concert Version of ''La bohème'', with Licia Albanese and

Jan Peerce Jan Peerce (born Yehoshua Pinkhes Perelmuth; June 3, 1904 December 15, 1984) was an American operatic tenor. Peerce was an accomplished performer on the operatic and Broadway theatre, Broadway concert stages, in solo recitals, and as a recordi ...

, conducted by

Arturo Toscanini Arturo Toscanini (; ; March 25, 1867January 16, 1957) was an Italian conductor. He was one of the most acclaimed and influential musicians of the late 19th and early 20th century, renowned for his intensity, his perfectionism, his ear for orch ...

. Two years later, she sang in Beethoven's Ninth Symphony under the Maestro. McKnight opened the 1952 Fall Season of the New York City Opera, in the title role of ''Tosca'', followed by the name part in ''Aïda'', both conducted by Tullio Serafin. In 1953, the soprano sang there again in ''Tosca'' (now led by Julius Rudel), ''Don Giovanni'' (as Donna Elvira, opposite Walter Cassel), ''Aïda'' again, ''Der Rosenkavalier'' (as the Marschallin), and ''Le nozze di Figaro'' (as the Contessa). She then began a career in Italy, under the name Anna de Cavalieri, appearing at the Teatro di San Carlo (as Busoni's ''Turandot'' and Gluck's ''Alceste,'' and as Asteria in Boito's ''Nerone''),

Teatro alla Scala La Scala (, , ; abbreviation in Italian of the official name ) is a famous opera house in Milan, Italy. The theatre was inaugurated on 3 August 1778 and was originally known as the ' (New Royal-Ducal Theatre alla Scala). The premiere performan ...

(Alfano's ''Cyrano de Bergerac'', and as Elena in ''Mefistofele''), Rome Opera, Caracalla (''Loreley''), Arena di Verona (''Aïda''), and Teatro Regio (Parma). In 1960, the soprano returned to the City Opera, as Anne McKnight, for the "professional" American premiere of Dallapiccola's ''Il prigioniero'', opposite Norman Treigle and Richard Cassilly, conducted by Leopold Stokowski. Later that season, she sang again the Marschallin with the company. She continued her international career at Rio de Janeiro (Puccini's ''Turandot'' and ''Tosca''), Piacenza, Rovigo, Brussels, Cremona (''Fedora''), Toulouse (''Norma''), and, in 1968, Padua (''Tosca''). McKnight died on August 29, 2012, at the age of eighty-eight, at her home in Lugano, Switzerland.

Commercial discography

* Puccini: ''La bohème'' (Albanese, Peerce, Valentino, Cehanovsky, Moscona; Toscanini, 1946) ive RCA * Dallapiccola: ''Il prigioniero'' (Cassilly, Treigle; Stokowski, 1960) iveOpera Depot

Commercial videography

* Beethoven: Symphony No. 9 (Hobson, Dillon, Scott; Toscanini, 1948) iveRCA

References

* ''The New York City Opera: An American Adventure'', by Martin L. Sokol (Annals by George Louis Mayer), Macmillan Publishing Co, Inc, 1981. * ''Arturo Toscanini: The NBC Years'', by Mortimer H. Frank, Amadeus Press, 2002. * Bach Cantatas web-site.

External links

* Anne McKnight in the Finale of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony (1948

{{DEFAULTSORT:McKnight, Anne 1924 births 2012 deaths American operatic sopranos People from Aurora, Illinois Singers from Illinois Shimer College alumni Classical musicians from Illinois 21st-century American women