Born: December 24, 1927 - New Hartford, Connecticut, USA
Died: July 17, 2007 - Vienna, Austria

The admired American soprano, Teresa Stich-Randall, briefly attended the Gilbert School in Winsted. She also studied at the Harrtt School of Music in Hartford at the time and at 15 left New Hartford as the youngest student at the Columbia School of Music. Later, a Foolbright Scholarship took her to Europe, where she learned German, French and Italian for her roles in the opera. She learned to sing in five languages.

In 1947 Teresa Stich-Randall made her operatic debut as Gertrude Stein in the premiere of Thomson’s The Mother of Us All in New York. She was chosen to create the title role in Luening’s Evangeline in New York in 1948. She then was engaged to sing with Toscanini and the NBC Symphony Orchestra in New York.

After winning the Lausanne competition in 1951, Teresa Stich-Randall made her European operatic debut that year as the Nermaid in Oberon in Florence. This established her reputation in Europe, and it was in Europe that most of her subsequent activity was centered. In 1951-1952 she sang at the Basel Opera. In 1952 she made her first appearance at the Salzburg Festival and at the Vienna State Opera. In 1955 she made her debut at the Chicago Lyric Opera as Gilda. From 1955 she appeared regularly at the Aix-en-Provence Festivals. In October 1961 she made her Metropolitan Opera debut in New York as Fiordiligi, remaining on its roster until 1966.

Teresa Stich-Randall also sang widely in the USA and Europe as concert artist. Her success in Vienna led her to being the first American to be made an Austrian Kammersängerin in 1962. She retired in 1971 (Baker) or 1980 (AMG). Outside of much-heralded visits home to West Hartford in 1982 and 1983, she has been little heard from since.

Teresa Stich-Randall was especially esteemed for her roles in Mozart’s operas. Although she is hardly a household name, she has many fans, among those who collect vintage vocal recordings. In her concert career she frequently sang works by Händel and J.S. Bach. Her approach to Baroque music is signified by her light tone with no more than a subtle vibrato, clear enunciation, and an infallible sense of pitch. She was definitely ahead of the game in regard to latter-day period performance practice, and her best recordings generously bear this out, in particular her 1966 Vanguard recording of Pergolesi's Stabat Mater with alto Elisabeth Höngen.

Source: Baker’s Biographical Dictionary of 20^th Century Classical Musicians (1997); All Music Guide (Author: Uncle Dave Lewis); Opera-L Mailing List
Contributed by Aryeh Oron (June 2001, July 2004, December 2004); Diny Tecker (July 2007)

Teresa Stich-Randall: Short Biography | General Discussions

Recordings of Bach Cantatas & Other Vocal Works

Conductor

As

Works

Wilfred Böttcher

Soprano

BWV 151

Furthmoser

Soprano

BWV 233, BWV 234

Anthon Heiller

Soprano

BWV 51, BWV 209

Lorin Maazel

Soprano

BWV 232

Felix Prohaska

Soprano

BWV 78, BWV 106

Karl Ristenpart

Soprano

BWV 51, BWV 202, BWV 209, BWV 243

Hermann Scherchen

Soprano

BWV 42

Jonathan Sternberg

Soprano

BWV 21

Mogens Wöldike

Soprano

BWV 244

Links to other Sites

Discography of Teresa Stich-Randall (Harnoy & Dupêchea)
Teresa Stich-Randall - Biography (AMG)

Records of Terea Stich-Randall (New Hartford)
New Hartford Historical Society: Teresa Stich Randall
Teresa Stich-Randall, 79, Opera Singer (Courant)

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