Ernest McChesney
Encyclopedia
Ernest McChesney was an American tenor
who had an active singing career in opera
s, musical
s, and concert
s during the late 1920s through the early 1960s. He was notably a principal tenor with the New York City Opera
from 1954 to 1960.
(1927) and The New Moon
(1928). This was followed by a small supporting role in Princess Charming
in 1930. His first major break came the following year when he became one of the featured performers in the Ziegfeld Follies
.
McChesney made his professional opera debut in July 1933 with the Central City Opera
as Danillo in Franz Lehár
's The Merry Widow
He performed periodically in concerts, operas, and operettas throughout the United States during the 1930s while receiving more formal training at Syracuse University
. In 1934 and 1935 he sang roles with the Pittsburgh Civic Light Opera
. He also sang on the radio many time in the 1930s. On October 17, 1937 he sang the role of Abel in the world premiere of Louis Gruenberg
's Green Mansions
with CBS radio
. In 1938 he graduated from Syracuse with a bachelors of music degree.
In 1940 McChesney was the tenor soloist in Beethoven's Symphony No. 9
with the Minneapolis Symphony and conductor Dimitri Mitropoulos. In 1941 he made his New York City recital debut at Town Hall
. In 1942 McChesney graduated from the University of Michigan
with a Masters degree in vocal performance. Shortly thereafter he returned to Broadway to portray Einstein in Rosalinda, an adaptation of Die Fledermaus
. In 1943 he was the tenor soloist in Bach
's Mass in B Minor with the Bach Choir of Bethlehem and the Philadelphia Orchestra
at the Bethlehem Bach Festival. McChesney was also a repeat performer with NYC's New Opera Company during the early 1940s.
In 1946 McChesney sang for the first time with the Boston Symphony Orchestra
as the tenor soloist in Beethoven's Ninth Symphony. The following year he returned to Broadway for the last time to portray Major Alexius Apieidoff in the acclaimed revival of The Chocolate Soldier
. In 1949-1950 he toured the United States with the Charles L. Wagner Opera Company singing Canio in Pagliacci
. In 1951 he sang the B minor Mass with the Oratorio Society of New York
. In 1956 he portrayed Pandarus in the United States premiere of William Walton
's Troilus and Cressida
at the San Francisco Opera
.
On March 25, 1954 McChesney made his debut with the New York City Opera as Herod in Richard Strauss
's Salome
with Phyllis Curtin
in the title role. He sang with the company for the next six years in a variety of roles, including Einstein, Malcolm in Macbeth
, and William Marshall in Marc Blitzstein
's Regina
. In 1959 he portrayed "the Director" in the world premiere of Hugo Weisgall
's Six Characters in Search of an Author
. His last role with the NYCO was the title role in Stravinsky's Oedipus rex
in 1960.
McChesney retired from the stage in the early 1960s, after which he taught for many years on the voice faculty of the Manhattan School of Music
. "Mac" spent 1966-1967 teaching voice at Yale University
, substituting for Jack Litten who was on sabbatical in Germany.
In 1974 his wife of many years, Jean McChesney (née Everly) died. Ernest died seventeen years later in Ocean City, New Jersey
.
Tenor
The tenor is a type of male singing voice and is the highest male voice within the modal register. The typical tenor voice lies between C3, the C one octave below middle C, to the A above middle C in choral music, and up to high C in solo work. The low extreme for tenors is roughly B2...
who had an active singing career in opera
Opera
Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...
s, musical
Musical theatre
Musical theatre is a form of theatre combining songs, spoken dialogue, acting, and dance. The emotional content of the piece – humor, pathos, love, anger – as well as the story itself, is communicated through the words, music, movement and technical aspects of the entertainment as an...
s, and concert
Concert
A concert is a live performance before an audience. The performance may be by a single musician, sometimes then called a recital, or by a musical ensemble, such as an orchestra, a choir, or a musical band...
s during the late 1920s through the early 1960s. He was notably a principal tenor with the New York City Opera
New York City Opera
The New York City Opera is an American opera company located in New York City.The company, called "the people's opera" by New York Mayor Fiorello La Guardia, was founded in 1943 with the aim of making opera financially accessible to a wide audience, producing an innovative choice of repertory, and...
from 1954 to 1960.
Biography
McChesney began his career as a teenager appearing in the ensembles of the original Broadway productions of My MarylandMy Maryland
My Maryland is a "musical romance" with book and lyrics by Dorothy Donnelly and music by Sigmund Romberg, based on the play Barbara Frietchie by Clyde Fitch....
(1927) and The New Moon
The New Moon
The New Moon is the name of an operetta with music by Sigmund Romberg and book and lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II, Frank Mandel, and Laurence Schwab. The show was the third and last in a string of Broadway hits for Romberg written in the style of Viennese operetta...
(1928). This was followed by a small supporting role in Princess Charming
Princess Charming
Princess Charming is a Filipino television drama series aired on GMA Network from January 29, 2007 to April 27, 2007 and was part of GMA’s afternoon programming block called Drama Rama sa Hapon.. The series was directed by Argel Joseph...
in 1930. His first major break came the following year when he became one of the featured performers in the Ziegfeld Follies
Ziegfeld Follies
The Ziegfeld Follies were a series of elaborate theatrical productions on Broadway in New York City from 1907 through 1931. They became a radio program in 1932 and 1936 as The Ziegfeld Follies of the Air....
.
McChesney made his professional opera debut in July 1933 with the Central City Opera
Central City Opera
Central City Opera is the fifth-oldest opera company in the United States, founded in 1932. Each festival is presented in the 550-seat historic Central City Opera House built in 1878 in the gold mining era town of Central City, Colorado. Pelham G...
as Danillo in Franz Lehár
Franz Lehár
Franz Lehár was an Austrian-Hungarian composer. He is mainly known for his operettas of which the most successful and best known is The Merry Widow .-Biography:...
's The Merry Widow
The Merry Widow
The Merry Widow is an operetta by the Austro–Hungarian composer Franz Lehár. The librettists, Viktor Léon and Leo Stein, based the story – concerning a rich widow, and her countrymen's attempt to keep her money in the principality by finding her the right husband – on an 1861 comedy play,...
He performed periodically in concerts, operas, and operettas throughout the United States during the 1930s while receiving more formal training at Syracuse University
Syracuse University
Syracuse University is a private research university located in Syracuse, New York, United States. Its roots can be traced back to Genesee Wesleyan Seminary, founded by the Methodist Episcopal Church in 1832, which also later founded Genesee College...
. In 1934 and 1935 he sang roles with the Pittsburgh Civic Light Opera
Pittsburgh Civic Light Opera
Pittsburgh Civic Light Opera is a nonprofit professional theater company based in the Cultural District of Downtown Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA....
. He also sang on the radio many time in the 1930s. On October 17, 1937 he sang the role of Abel in the world premiere of Louis Gruenberg
Louis Gruenberg
-Life and career:He was born near Brest-Litovsk , to Abe Gruenberg and Klara Kantarovitch. His family emigrated to the United States when he was a few months old. His father worked as a violinist in New York City...
's Green Mansions
Green Mansions
Green Mansions: A Romance of the Tropical Forest is an exotic romance by William Henry Hudson about a traveller to the Guyana jungle of southeastern Venezuela and his encounter with a forest dwelling girl named Rima.-Plot summary:...
with CBS radio
CBS Radio
CBS Radio, Inc., formerly known as Infinity Broadcasting Corporation, is one of the largest owners and operators of radio stations in the United States, third behind main rival Clear Channel Communications and Cumulus Media. CBS Radio owns around 130 radio stations across the country...
. In 1938 he graduated from Syracuse with a bachelors of music degree.
In 1940 McChesney was the tenor soloist in Beethoven's Symphony No. 9
Symphony No. 9 (Beethoven)
The Symphony No. 9 in D minor, Op. 125, is the final complete symphony of Ludwig van Beethoven. Completed in 1824, the symphony is one of the best known works of the Western classical repertoire, and has been adapted for use as the European Anthem...
with the Minneapolis Symphony and conductor Dimitri Mitropoulos. In 1941 he made his New York City recital debut at Town Hall
The Town Hall
The Town Hall is a performance space, located at 123 West 43rd Street, between Sixth Avenue and Broadway, in New York City. It seats approximately 1,500 people.-History:...
. In 1942 McChesney graduated from the University of Michigan
University of Michigan
The University of Michigan is a public research university located in Ann Arbor, Michigan in the United States. It is the state's oldest university and the flagship campus of the University of Michigan...
with a Masters degree in vocal performance. Shortly thereafter he returned to Broadway to portray Einstein in Rosalinda, an adaptation of Die Fledermaus
Die Fledermaus
Die Fledermaus is an operetta composed by Johann Strauss II to a German libretto by Karl Haffner and Richard Genée.- Literary sources :...
. In 1943 he was the tenor soloist in Bach
Bạch
Bạch is a Vietnamese surname. The name is transliterated as Bai in Chinese and Baek, in Korean.Bach is the anglicized variation of the surname Bạch.-Notable people with the surname Bạch:* Bạch Liêu...
's Mass in B Minor with the Bach Choir of Bethlehem and the Philadelphia Orchestra
Philadelphia Orchestra
The Philadelphia Orchestra is a symphony orchestra based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in the United States. One of the "Big Five" American orchestras, it was founded in 1900...
at the Bethlehem Bach Festival. McChesney was also a repeat performer with NYC's New Opera Company during the early 1940s.
In 1946 McChesney sang for the first time with the Boston Symphony Orchestra
Boston Symphony Orchestra
The Boston Symphony Orchestra is an orchestra based in Boston, Massachusetts. It is one of the five American orchestras commonly referred to as the "Big Five". Founded in 1881, the BSO plays most of its concerts at Boston's Symphony Hall and in the summer performs at the Tanglewood Music Center...
as the tenor soloist in Beethoven's Ninth Symphony. The following year he returned to Broadway for the last time to portray Major Alexius Apieidoff in the acclaimed revival of The Chocolate Soldier
The Chocolate Soldier
The Chocolate Soldier is an operetta composed in 1908 by Oscar Straus based on George Bernard Shaw's 1894 play, Arms and the Man...
. In 1949-1950 he toured the United States with the Charles L. Wagner Opera Company singing Canio in Pagliacci
Pagliacci
Pagliacci , sometimes incorrectly rendered with a definite article as I Pagliacci, is an opera consisting of a prologue and two acts written and composed by Ruggero Leoncavallo. It recounts the tragedy of a jealous husband in a commedia dell'arte troupe...
. In 1951 he sang the B minor Mass with the Oratorio Society of New York
Oratorio Society of New York
The Oratorio Society of New York is a non-profit membership organization which performs choral music in the oratorio style. The Society was founded in 1873 by conductor Leopold Damrosch, and it is New York City's second oldest cultural organization...
. In 1956 he portrayed Pandarus in the United States premiere of William Walton
William Walton
Sir William Turner Walton OM was an English composer. During a sixty-year career, he wrote music in several classical genres and styles, from film scores to opera...
's Troilus and Cressida
Troilus and Cressida (opera)
Troilus and Cressida is the first of the two operas by William Walton. The libretto was by Christopher Hassall, his own first opera libretto, based on Chaucer's poem Troilus and Criseyde...
at the San Francisco Opera
San Francisco Opera
San Francisco Opera is an American opera company, based in San Francisco, California.It was founded in 1923 by Gaetano Merola and is the second largest opera company in North America...
.
On March 25, 1954 McChesney made his debut with the New York City Opera as Herod in Richard Strauss
Richard Strauss
Richard Georg Strauss was a leading German composer of the late Romantic and early modern eras. He is known for his operas, which include Der Rosenkavalier and Salome; his Lieder, especially his Four Last Songs; and his tone poems and orchestral works, such as Death and Transfiguration, Till...
's Salome
Salome (opera)
Salome is an opera in one act by Richard Strauss to a German libretto by the composer, based on Hedwig Lachmann’s German translation of the French play Salomé by Oscar Wilde. Strauss dedicated the opera to his friend Sir Edgar Speyer....
with Phyllis Curtin
Phyllis Curtin
Phyllis Curtin is an American classical soprano who had an active career in operas and concerts from the early 1950s through the 1980s. She was known for her creation of new roles such as the title role in the Carlisle Floyd opera Susannah, Catherine Earnshaw in Floyd's Wuthering Heights, and in...
in the title role. He sang with the company for the next six years in a variety of roles, including Einstein, Malcolm in Macbeth
Macbeth (opera)
Macbeth is an opera in four acts by Giuseppe Verdi, with an Italian libretto by Francesco Maria Piave and additions by Andrea Maffei, based on Shakespeare's play of the same name...
, and William Marshall in Marc Blitzstein
Marc Blitzstein
Marcus Samuel Blitzstein, better known as Marc Blitzstein , was an American composer. He won national attention in 1937 when his pro-union musical The Cradle Will Rock, directed by Orson Welles, was shut down by the Works Progress Administration...
's Regina
Regina (opera)
Regina is an opera by Marc Blitzstein, to his own libretto based on the play The Little Foxes by Lillian Hellman. It was completed in 1948 and premiered the next year. Blitzstein chose this source in order to make a strong statement against capitalism...
. In 1959 he portrayed "the Director" in the world premiere of Hugo Weisgall
Hugo Weisgall
Hugo David Weisgall was an American composer and conductor, known chiefly for his opera and vocal music compositions...
's Six Characters in Search of an Author
Six Characters in Search of an Author (opera)
Six Characters in Search of an Author is an opera in three acts by composer Hugo Weisgall. The work uses an English libretto by Denis Johnston that is based on the play of the same name by Luigi Pirandello. The opera was commissioned by the New York City Opera under the leadership Julius Rudel...
. His last role with the NYCO was the title role in Stravinsky's Oedipus rex
Oedipus rex (opera)
Oedipus rex is an "Opera-oratorio after Sophocles" by Igor Stravinsky, scored for orchestra, speaker, soloists, and male chorus. The libretto, based on Sophocles's tragedy, was written by Jean Cocteau in French and then translated by Abbé Jean Daniélou into Latin...
in 1960.
McChesney retired from the stage in the early 1960s, after which he taught for many years on the voice faculty of the Manhattan School of Music
Manhattan School of Music
The Manhattan School of Music is a major music conservatory located on the Upper West Side of New York City. The school offers degrees on the bachelors, masters, and doctoral levels in the areas of classical and jazz performance and composition...
. "Mac" spent 1966-1967 teaching voice at Yale University
Yale University
Yale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...
, substituting for Jack Litten who was on sabbatical in Germany.
In 1974 his wife of many years, Jean McChesney (née Everly) died. Ernest died seventeen years later in Ocean City, New Jersey
Ocean City, New Jersey
Ocean City is a city in Cape May County, New Jersey, United States. It is the principal city of the Ocean City Metropolitan Statistical Area which encompasses all of Cape May County. As of the 2010 United States Census, the city population was 11,701...
.