Thursday, March 3, 2011

Happy Birthday: Roberta Alexander, Florence Quivar & Rachel Yakar


"Mi tradì quell'alma ingrata"
Don Giovanni (Mozart)
•Roberta Alexander was born on March 3, 1949 in Lynchburg, Virginia.
•Attended the University of Michigan and the Roycal Conservatory of Music.
•She made her debut in 1980 as Pamina in Die Zauberflöte at Houston Grand Opera.
•Her European deubt was in 1982 as Mimi in La Bohème at the Komischen Oper Berlin.
•Best known for her portayal of Elettra (Idomoneo), Fiordiligi (Così fan tutte), Donna Anna (Don Giovanni) and the title roles in Jenůfa and Porgy and Bess.
•Sang the world's most famous opera houses including Hamburg, Vienna, Zürich, Venice, London and New York.
•More at her official website: http://www.robertaalexander.com/


"O Don Fatale"
Don Carlo (Verdi)
•Florence Quivar was born on March 3, 1944, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
•She studied voice and piano with her mother which led to solos at church by the age of six.
•Saw the MET Opera touring production of Madama Butterfly and became interested in pursuing a career as a singer.
•Attended the Philadelphia Academy of Music and Juilliard School of Music.
•Studied lieder and oratorio repertoire with Maureen Forrester.
•Won the Baltimore Lyric Opera Competition and the Marian Anderson Award.
•Made her Metropolitan Opera debut on October 10, 1977, as Marina in Boris Godunov.
•Sang a wide range of repertoire including Jocasta (Oedipus Rex), Suzuki (Madama Butterfly), Isabella (L'italiana in Algeri), Federica (Luisa Miller), Fidès (Le prophète) Frugola (Il tabarro) and Mother Marie (Dialogues des Carmélites).
•Performed at the Deutsche Oper Berlin, Bavarian State Opera, La Scala, Teatro la Fenice, Teatro dell'Opera di Roma, the Theatro Municipal in Rio de Janeiro, Teatro Colón, Royal Opera at Covent Garden, Houston Grand Opera, Seattle Opera, and Los Angeles Opera among others.


"Luci care"
Admeto, Rè di Tessaglia (Händel)
•Rachel Yakar was born March 3, 1938 in Lyon, France.
•She studied with Germaine Lubin at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique of Paris.
•In 1963, she made her debut in Strasbourg and one year later was engaged by the Deutsche Oper am Rhein in Düsseldorf where she sang for the next 20 years.
•She also performed at Bayreuth, Glyndebourne, Edinburgh, Salzburg and Covent Garden.
•Her repertoire included Jean-Baptiste Lully's Climène (Phaëton), Leclair 's Circé (Scylla et Glaucus) and Arthur Honegger's Diane (Les aventures du roi Pausole), as well as Verdi's Gilda (Rigoletto), Puccini's Liu (Turandot) and Mozart's Donna Elvira (Don Giovanni).
•In concert performances she worked with such great conductors as Gustav Leonhardt, Nikolaus Harnoncourt, Pierre Boulez, Daniel Barenboim, Alberto Erede, James Levine, Michel Corboz and Sir Charles Mackerras.
•Since 1997, she has taught at the Conservatoire Supérieur de Musique and the Studio for Baroque Music of Versailles, as well as master classes at the l'Académie Royale d'été of Floreffe in Belgium.