Jean Madeira
, nee
Jean Browning
(November 14, 1918, in
Centralia, Illinois
? July 10, 1972, in
Providence, Rhode Island
) was an American
contralto
, particularly known for her work in late-romantic German repertoire such as the operas of
Richard Wagner
and
Richard Strauss
.
When she was a child her family moved to
East St. Louis, Illinois
, where she attended high school, and she later studied with
Florence Kimball
at the
Juilliard School
in
New York City
. She made her debut in opera in
Chatauqua
, as Nancy in
Martha
, by
Flotow
. In 1955, the singer and actress successfully sang the title role in
Carmen
with the
Vienna State Opera
. She sang approximately 300 times at the
Metropolitan Opera
in forty-one roles, between 1948 and 1971. Her last appearance there was in
Elektra
, opposite
Birgit Nilsson
and Leonie Rysanek.
[1]
[3]
Jean Madeira was a second-cousin of the composer
Amy Beth Kirsten
.
[
citation needed
]
Abridged discography
edit
- Bizet:
Carmen
as Carmen (Filacuridi; Dervaux, 1957)
Pathe
- Britten:
Peter Grimes
(Jon Vickers; 1967)
Immortal Performances
- Falla:
Three Cornered Hat
(Vienna Symphony)
Tuxedo Music
- Mozart:
Le nozze di Figaro
as Marcellina (Siepi, Conner, Valdengo, de los Angeles; Met, Fritz Reiner, 1952)
Myto
- Mozart:
Requiem in D Minor, K.626
(NBC Symphony, Arturo Toscanini, 1950) RCA Victor
- Pochielli:
La Gioconda
as La Cieca (Milanov, Warren, Barbieri, Siepi; Met, Cleva, 1953) Gala
- Puccini:
Madama Butterfly
as Suzuki (Steber, Tucker, Valdengo; Met, Rudolf, 1949)
Sony
- Puccini:
Manon Lescaut
(Kirsten, J.Bjorling, Valdengo; Met, Antonicelli, 1949)
Myto
- Saint-Saens:
Samson et Delilah
as Delilah (Del Monaco; Teatro di San Carlo, Molinari-Pradelli, 1959)
Hardy Classic
- Strauss:
Elektra
as Clytemnestra (Borkh, Schech, Uhl, Fischer-Dieskau; Bohm, 1960)
DG
- Strauss:
Elektra
, as Clytemnestra (Nilsson, Rysanek, Nagy, Stewart; Met, Bohm, 1971)
Met On Demand
- Verdi:
Aida
as Amneris (Rysanek, London, Frick, Hopf; Vienna State Opera, Kubelik, 1955)
Orfeo
- Verdi:
Requiem
(Vienna Symphony, Erich Kleiber 1955)
Melodram
- Verdi:
Un ballo in maschera
as Ulrica (Bergonzi, Rysanek, Merrill; Santi, 1962)
Living Stage
- Wagner:
Das Rheingold
as Erda (Flagstad, London; Solti, 1958)
Decca
- Wagner:
Die Walkure
as Fricka (Nilsson, Rysanek, Ludwig, Hotter, Frick, Suthaus; La Scala, Karajan, 1958)
Myto; IDIS
- Wagner:
Der Ring des Nibelungen
as Erda, Rossweisse & First Norn (Bayreuth, Knappertsbusch, 1956)
Orfeo
- Wagner
Parsifal
(Svanholm, Varnay, London, Hotter; Met, Stiedry, 1954)
Adonis
Villecco, Tony. A Voice Like Velvet; Remembering Contralto Jean Madeira.
Classical Singer Magazine
Oct. 2012.