- Robert Weede
Robert Weede (né Wiedefeld, in Baltimore, Maryland, on February 22, 1903; died in Walnut Creek, California, on July 9, 1972) was one of the most esteemed of American operatic
baritone s. He studied at the Eastman School and in Milan, and made hisMetropolitan Opera debut in 1937, as Tonio in "Pagliacci ". His other roles there includedRigoletto (oppositeJussi Björling ), Amonasro ("Aïda "), Manfredo ("L'amore dei tre re"), Shaklovity ("Khovanschina") and Baron Scarpia ("Tosca "). He debuted as the protagonist of "Rigoletto" in Chicago (1939), San Francisco (1940), and at theNew York City Opera (1948).At the City Opera, Weede also sang in "
Pagliacci " and in the world premiere ofWilliam Grant Still 's "Troubled Island", oppositeMarie Powers ,Marguerite Piazza andRobert McFerrin . In Mexico City, the baritone appeared withMaria Callas in "Aïda " and "Tosca ". Later, he sang with that soprano in Chicago, in "Il trovatore" and her only appearances in "Madama Butterfly ".In 1956, he scored a great success on Broadway, as the first Tony Esposito in Loesser's "
The Most Happy Fella ", which he recorded. He was seen on Broadway in "Milk and Honey" (1961-63, which was also recorded) and "Cry for Us All" (1970), as well. He also had recorded excerpts from Bizet's "Carmen", in 1946, withRisë Stevens conducted byGeorges Sébastian , and recorded an album of arias by Verdi for Capitol Records in 1953, conducted byNicola Rescigno .Weede often gave assistance to younger singers, especially
John Alexander ,Dominic Cossa ,Mario Lanza andNorman Treigle .¹ In 2006, Lebendige Vergangenheit published a Compact Disc of excerpts from his Bizet and Verdi recordings, as well as various live performances from 1948 through 1954.¹ "Strange Child of Chaos: Norman Treigle" (page 217), by Brian Morgan, iUniverse, 2006.
References
* "The Metropolitan Opera Encyclopedia", edited by David Hamilton, Simon and Schuster, 1987. ISBN 0-671-61732-X
External links
* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DxwnIKdSNOk] YouTube: Robert Weede in an excerpt from "Tosca" (audio only, 1937).
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