Eula Beal
Encyclopedia
Eula Beal was an American contralto
. During her relatively short touring career, she performed with distinguished collaborators not only in concert on the US West Coast but also in Concert Magic, a 1947 film billed as "the first motion picture concert."
Beal was born in Riverside, California
. Touring the United States as a concert contralto in the 1940s, she appeared with orchestras including the Phoenix Symphony
and the Los Angeles Philharmonic
. With the latter ensemble, she performed in two works by Gustav Mahler
: his Eighth Symphony
, under Eugene Ormandy
at the Hollywood Bowl
, and Kindertotenlieder
. Beal's operatic appearances included impersonations of Erda in Wagner's Siegfried
and the innkeeper in Boris Godunov
with the San Francisco Opera
during the 1948 season. She also sang at Radio City Music Hall
and the Tanglewood Festival with the Boston Pops.
Beal's present fame rests on her participation in Concert Magic, an unscripted film presenting, as the title would suggest, a classical concert. Beal was the sole vocalist; instrumentalists included pianists Adolph Baller
, Jakob Gimpel
, and Marguerite Campbell; violinist Yehudi Menuhin
; and an orchestra billed as "Symphony Orchestra of Hollywood" under the baton of Antal Dorati
. Interspersed with purely instrumental selections, Beal performed the Bach-Gounod "Ave Maria"
; Franz Schubert
's "Erlkönig" and "Ave Maria
"; Tchaikovsky's
"None but the lonely heart
"; and "Lord, Have Mercy on Me" from the St. Matthew Passion of Johann Sebastian Bach
.
Beal married well known-aerial photographer William Garnett in 1941 and remained his wife until his death in 2006, bearing him three sons. After but a decade on the concert circuit, she opted to abandon her full-time performing career to devoting her time to her family. Nonetheless, she remained sporadically active in northern California, where she and Garnett made their home; besides providing music at local funerals and churches, she performed with the San Francisco Symphony
, the Santa Rosa Symphony, the Napa Symphony, and a local Napa, California
choral group. She died in Napa in 2008.
Contralto
Contralto is the deepest female classical singing voice, with the lowest tessitura, falling between tenor and mezzo-soprano. It typically ranges between the F below middle C to the second G above middle C , although at the extremes some voices can reach the E below middle C or the second B above...
. During her relatively short touring career, she performed with distinguished collaborators not only in concert on the US West Coast but also in Concert Magic, a 1947 film billed as "the first motion picture concert."
Beal was born in Riverside, California
Riverside, California
Riverside is a city in Riverside County, California, United States, and the county seat of the eponymous county. Named for its location beside the Santa Ana River, it is the largest city in the Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario metropolitan area of Southern California, 4th largest inland California...
. Touring the United States as a concert contralto in the 1940s, she appeared with orchestras including the Phoenix Symphony
Phoenix Symphony
The Phoenix Symphony is a major United States symphony orchestra based in Phoenix, Arizona.Founded in 1947 when Phoenix had a population of less than 100,000, the orchestra began as an occasional group of musicians performing a handful of concerts each year...
and the Los Angeles Philharmonic
Los Angeles Philharmonic
The Los Angeles Philharmonic is an American orchestra based in Los Angeles, California, United States. It has a regular season of concerts from October through June at the Walt Disney Concert Hall, and a summer season at the Hollywood Bowl from July through September...
. With the latter ensemble, she performed in two works by Gustav Mahler
Gustav Mahler
Gustav Mahler was a late-Romantic Austrian composer and one of the leading conductors of his generation. He was born in the village of Kalischt, Bohemia, in what was then Austria-Hungary, now Kaliště in the Czech Republic...
: his Eighth Symphony
Symphony No. 8 (Mahler)
The Symphony No. 8 in E-flat major by Gustav Mahler is one of the largest-scale choral works in the classical concert repertoire. Because it requires huge instrumental and vocal forces it is frequently called the "Symphony of a Thousand", although the work is often performed with fewer than a...
, under Eugene Ormandy
Eugene Ormandy
Eugene Ormandy was a Hungarian-born conductor and violinist.-Early life:Born Jenő Blau in Budapest, Hungary, Ormandy began studying violin at the Royal National Hungarian Academy of Music at the age of five...
at the Hollywood Bowl
Hollywood Bowl
The Hollywood Bowl is a modern amphitheater in the Hollywood area of Los Angeles, California, United States that is used primarily for music performances...
, and Kindertotenlieder
Kindertotenlieder
Kindertotenlieder is a song cycle for voice and orchestra by Gustav Mahler...
. Beal's operatic appearances included impersonations of Erda in Wagner's Siegfried
Siegfried (opera)
Siegfried is the third of the four operas that constitute Der Ring des Nibelungen , by Richard Wagner. It received its premiere at the Bayreuth Festspielhaus on 16 August 1876, as part of the first complete performance of The Ring...
and the innkeeper in Boris Godunov
Boris Godunov (opera)
Boris Godunov is an opera by Modest Mussorgsky . The work was composed between 1868 and 1873 in Saint Petersburg, Russia. It is Mussorgsky's only completed opera and is considered his masterpiece. Its subjects are the Russian ruler Boris Godunov, who reigned as Tsar during the Time of Troubles,...
with 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...
during the 1948 season. She also sang at Radio City Music Hall
Radio City Music Hall
Radio City Music Hall is an entertainment venue located in New York City's Rockefeller Center. Its nickname is the Showplace of the Nation, and it was for a time the leading tourist destination in the city...
and the Tanglewood Festival with the Boston Pops.
Beal's present fame rests on her participation in Concert Magic, an unscripted film presenting, as the title would suggest, a classical concert. Beal was the sole vocalist; instrumentalists included pianists Adolph Baller
Adolph Baller
Adolph Baller was an Austrian-American pianist.- Early years :...
, Jakob Gimpel
Jakob Gimpel
Jakob Gimpel was a Polish concert pianist and educator.Jakob Gimpel was born in Lvov...
, and Marguerite Campbell; violinist Yehudi Menuhin
Yehudi Menuhin
Yehudi Menuhin, Baron Menuhin, OM, KBE was a Russian Jewish American violinist and conductor who spent most of his performing career in the United Kingdom. He was born to Russian Jewish parents in the United States, but became a citizen of Switzerland in 1970, and of the United Kingdom in 1985...
; and an orchestra billed as "Symphony Orchestra of Hollywood" under the baton of Antal Dorati
Antal Doráti
Antal Doráti, KBE was a Hungarian-born conductor and composer who became a naturalized American citizen in 1947.-Biography:...
. Interspersed with purely instrumental selections, Beal performed the Bach-Gounod "Ave Maria"
Ave Maria (Bach/Gounod)
The Bach/Gounod Ave Maria is a popular and much-recorded setting of the Latin text Ave Maria.Written by French Romantic composer Charles Gounod in 1859, his Ave Maria consists of a melody superimposed over the Prelude No. 1 in C major, BWV 846, from Book I of The Well-Tempered Clavier, written by...
; Franz Schubert
Franz Schubert
Franz Peter Schubert was an Austrian composer.Although he died at an early age, Schubert was tremendously prolific. He wrote some 600 Lieder, nine symphonies , liturgical music, operas, some incidental music, and a large body of chamber and solo piano music...
's "Erlkönig" and "Ave Maria
Ellens dritter Gesang
Ellens dritter Gesang , in English: "Ellen's Third Song", was composed by Franz Schubert in 1825 as part of his Opus 52, a setting of seven songs from Walter Scott's popular epic poem The Lady of the Lake, loosely translated into German.It has become one of Schubert's most popular works under the...
"; Tchaikovsky's
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (Russian: Пётр Ильи́ч Чайко́вский ; often "Peter Ilich Tchaikovsky" in English. His names are also transliterated "Piotr" or "Petr"; "Ilitsch", "Il'ich" or "Illyich"; and "Tschaikowski", "Tschaikowsky", "Chajkovskij"...
"None but the lonely heart
None but the lonely heart
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky composed a set of six romances for voice and piano, Op. 6, in late 1869; the last of these songs is the melancholy "None but the Lonely Heart" ....
"; and "Lord, Have Mercy on Me" from the St. Matthew Passion of Johann Sebastian Bach
Johann Sebastian Bach
Johann Sebastian Bach was a German composer, organist, harpsichordist, violist, and violinist whose sacred and secular works for choir, orchestra, and solo instruments drew together the strands of the Baroque period and brought it to its ultimate maturity...
.
Beal married well known-aerial photographer William Garnett in 1941 and remained his wife until his death in 2006, bearing him three sons. After but a decade on the concert circuit, she opted to abandon her full-time performing career to devoting her time to her family. Nonetheless, she remained sporadically active in northern California, where she and Garnett made their home; besides providing music at local funerals and churches, she performed with the San Francisco Symphony
San Francisco Symphony
The San Francisco Symphony is an orchestra based in San Francisco, California. Since 1980, the orchestra has performed at the Louise M. Davies Symphony Hall. The San Francisco Symphony Youth Orchestra and the San Francisco Symphony Chorus are part of the organization...
, the Santa Rosa Symphony, the Napa Symphony, and a local Napa, California
Napa, California
-History:The name Napa was probably derived from the name given to a southern Nappan village whose people shared the area with elk, deer, grizzlies and cougars for many centuries, according to Napa historian Kami Santiago. At the time of the first recorded exploration into Napa Valley in 1823, the...
choral group. She died in Napa in 2008.