Teresa Stich-Randall (Soprano)

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Teresa Stich-Randall (Soprano)
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 Georg Frideric Handel 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 Giovanni Battista Pergolesi's Stabat Mater with alto Elisabeth Höngen.

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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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Last update: ýDecember 21, 2008 ý14:14:05