Delores Ziegler (Mezzo-soprano)

Born: September 4, 1951 - Atlanta, USA

The American mezzo-soprano, Delores Ziegler, studied at the University of Tennessee.

After beginning her career with concert engagements, Delores Ziegler made her operatic stage debut in Knoxville in 1978 as Verdi’s Flora. In 1978-1979 she was a member of the Santa Fe Opera apprenticeship program. In 1978 she appeared as Verdi’s Maddalena in St. Louis. She made her European operatic debut in Bonn in 1981 as Dorabella. In 1982 she sang for the first time at the Cologne Opera. In 1984 she appeared as Dorabella at her Glyndebourne debut and as Bellini’s Romeo at her La Scala debut in Milan.

With a repertoire that extends from bel canto to verismo, Delores Ziegler has appeared in the world’s greatest opera houses. With numerous companies including the Metropolitan Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago, San Francisco Opera, Vienna Staatsoper, Teatro La Scala, Dresden and Cologne Opera, and the Bolshoi Opera, she has sung leading roles in Ariadne auf Naxos; Idomeneo; Così fan tutte; Le nozze di Figaro; Der Rosenkavalier; I Capuleti e i Montecchi; Orfeo; Faust; La clemenza di Tito; La damnation de Faust; and Falstaff. Her festival credits include the Salzburg Festival, the Glyndebourne Festival, Aix-en-Provence, Athens Festival, and the Florence May Festival.

Delores Ziegler is the most recorded Dorabella in operatic history. She has recorded Così fan tutte and many other works under the distinguished batons of Riccardo Muti, Nikolaus Harnoncourt, Bernard Haitink, James Levine, Robert Shaw, James Conlon, Claudio Schimone, and Armen Jordan. She recently recorded Sara in Roberto Devereux, Giovanna Seymour in Anna Bolena, and Ned Rorem’s song cycle ‘Evidence of things not seen.

Source: Boston Lyric Opera Website (2000-2001); Baker’s Biographical Dictionary of 20^th Century Classical Musicians (1997)
Contributed by Aryeh Oron (June 2001); Manfred Krugmann (Photos 02-03, July 2011)

Recordings of Bach Cantatas & Other Vocal Works

Conductor

As

Works

Nikolaus Harnoncourt

Alto

BWV 232

Robert Shaw

Alto

BWV 232

Links to other Sites

Delores Ziegler - mezzo-soprano (Boston Lyric Opera)