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The American soprano, Sylvia Stahlman, studied at the Juilliard School in New York City and with Toti Dal Monte.
Sylvia Stahlman began her career on Broadway, in 1948-1949, in Kurt Weill's Love Life, opposite Nanette Fabray, directed by Elia Kazan. She left for Europe to begin a career in opera, performing first under the name Giulia Bardi. She made her debut at La Monnaie in Brussels, as Elvira in I puritani, in 1951, and remained with that theatre until 1954. She also sang in Amsterdam, Frankfurt, and Vienna,
After singing Lucia, Gilda, Amina, and Dinorah in Europe, Sylvia Stahlman returned to the USA and appeared at the New York City Opera in the fall season of 1956 under her real name, as Eurydice in Orphée aux enfers, conducted by Erich Leinsdorf, and Gilda in Rigoletto, with Julius Rudel conducting. In 1957 she created the role of Lauretta in the world premiere of Carlos Chávez's The Visitors. She also appeared at the San Francisco Opera (1957) and the Lyric Opera of Chicago. In San Francisco, she sang Sophie in Der Rosenkavalier (September-November 1960), Sister Constance of St Dénis in Francis Poulenc's Dialogues des Carmélites (the USA premiere), Oscar in Un ballo in maschera (to the Amelia of Herva Nelli, November 1957), Lauretta in Gianni Schicchi (October 1960), and Dircé in Médée (the Italian version), from 1957 to 1960. From 1958 to 1960 she sang with the Frankfurt am Main Opera. She appeared at the Glyndebourne Festival in May-June 1959, as Ilia in W.A. Mozart's Idomeneo. In 1963, she sang one of the Flower-maidens in Parsifal, at the Bayreuth Festival. She also took part, in 1964, in the American premiere of Daphne, at the Santa Fe Opera.
Sylvia Stahlman also was active as a concert artist. She retired from the operatic stage in 1971.
Excelling in coloratura and soubrette roles, Sylvia Stahlman can be heard on recordings, in Un ballo in maschera, opposite Birgit Nilsson, Giulietta Simionato, Carlo Bergonzi, and Cornell MacNeil, under Sir Georg Solti (1960-1961), and as Lisa in La sonnambula, with Dame Joan Sutherland (1962). In 1964, she recorded excerpts from L.v. Beethoven's Fidelio (as Marzelline), opposite Anja Silja. |
