- Frances Yeend
Frances Yeend (
28 January 1913 –27 April 2008 ) was an American lyricsoprano opera singer. Yeend was born Frances Leone Lynch inVancouver, Washington and grew up inPortland, Oregon . She studied voice atWashington State University (then Washington State College) inPullman, Washington .Her first New York appearances were in 1943 in the Broadway run of "
The Merry Widow " withJan Kiepura andMarta Eggerth . She joinedColumbia Artists Management in 1944 and performed the role of "Micaela" in a U.S tour of Bizet's "Carmen " that autumn.In April 1946 Yeend made her first appearance as the
soprano soloist in Beethoven's Ninth Symphony with theBoston Symphony Orchestra under the direction ofSerge Koussevitzky . The following summer she performed the role of "Ellen Orford" in the American premiere ofBenjamin Britten 's "Peter Grimes " at the Tanglewood Music Festival. Yeend went on to become one of the members of theBel Canto Trio withMario Lanza and George London.Her debut with the
New York City Center Opera was as "Violetta" in Verdi's "La traviata " in 1948. Other roles there, over the next twelve years, included, "Amelia" in Menotti's "Amelia Goes to the Ball", "The Countess" in Mozart's "The Marriage of Figaro ", "Marguerite" in Gounod's "Faust", "Eva" in Wagner's "Die Meistersinger", "Micaela" in "Carmen," Felice in Wolf Ferrari's "The Four Ruffians", the title role in Verdi's "Aida" "Nedda" inRuggero Leoncavallo 's "Il Pagliacci", the title roles inGiacomo Puccini 's "Tosca" and "Turandot", "Mimi" in "La Boheme", and all the soprano roles in Offenbach's "The Tales of Hoffmann".Yeend made her debut with the Vienna Staatsoper in 1953 in "La traviata". She debuted at London's Covent Garden that same year as "Mimi" in "La Boheme." In 1958 Yeend sang the title role of
Puccini 's "Turandot" at Italy's Arena di Verona.She married her second husband in 1954.
She made her
New York Metropolitan Opera debut as "Chrysothemis" in Richard Strauss's "Elektra" in 1961. Other Met roles included "Violetta" in "La traviata" and "Gutrune" in Wagner's "Götterdämerung." Yeend appeared as soloist with majororchestra s more than 300 times. She was a regular with theNew York Philharmonic , the Chicago Symphony, thePhiladelphia Orchestra and the Boston Symphony. Her last Metropolitan Opera performance was in 1963.In 1966 Yeend joined the faculty of
West Virginia University as Professor of Voice/Artist in Residence. She retired in 1978.Margalit Fox (May 8, 2008). "Frances Yeend, 95, Soprano at City Opera and the Met". "New York Times".]She appeared extensively in recitals in the U. S., Canada and Europe. She recorded for
RCA , Columbia, Mercury, MGM, and DaVinci Records.References
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