Frances Yeend
Encyclopedia
Frances Yeend was an American classical soprano
who had an active international career as a concert and opera
singer during the 1940s through the 1960s. She had a long and fruitful association with the New York City Opera
(NYCO) between 1948 and 1958, after which she joined the roster of principal sopranos at the Metropolitan Opera
where she sang between 1961 and 1963. She also had an extensive concert career, particularly in the United States. By 1963 she had sung in more than 200 orchestral concerts in North American with major symphonies like the New York Philharmonic
, the Boston Symphony Orchestra
, the Philadelphia Orchestra
, the Cleveland Orchestra
, and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra
among others.
, Yeend grew up in Portland, Oregon
. She had very little musical training before entering Washington State University
(then Washington State College) in Pullman, Washington
where she studied singing. After graduating she worked as a music teacher for a few years, during which time she also sang as a recitalist and on the radio. She also made her profesional opera début during this time as Nedda in Leoncavallo
's Pagliacci
in Spokane, Washington
, although it wasn't until much later that she would appear in operas frequently.
Yeend's first New York appearances were in 1943 as a member of the ensemble in the Broadway run of The Merry Widow
at the Majestic Theatre
with Jan Kiepura
as Danilo and Marta Eggerth
as Sonia. Around this time she also sang on network radio as an uncredited soloist with Phil Spitalny
and His All-Girl Orchestra. She joined Columbia Artists Management
(CAM) in 1944 and performed the role of Micaela in a U.S tour of Bizet's Carmen
that autumn.
In April 1946 Yeend made her first major concert appearance as the soprano
soloist
in Beethoven's Ninth Symphony
with the Boston Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Serge Koussevitzky
. The following summer she performed the role of Ellen Orford in the American premiere of Benjamin Britten
's Peter Grimes
at the Tanglewood Music Festival
. Yeend went on to become one of the members of CAM's Bel Canto Trio
with Mario Lanza
and George London
. She toured North America with the group in 1947–1948.
In 1948 Yeend was invited by Laszlo Halasz
, then artistic director of the New York City Opera, to join the roster of principal sopranos at the NYCO. She accepted and made her debut with the company as Violetta in Verdi's
La traviata
on March 20, 1948. She portrayed many other roles with the NYCO over a span of eleven consecutive seasons. Her early parts with the company were from the lyric soprano
repertoire, such as Nedda, Countess Almaviva in Mozart's The Marriage of Figaro
, Marguerite in Gounod
's Faust
, Micaela in Bizet
's Carmen
, and the three heroines in Offenbach's
The Tales of Hoffmann. Later on in her career with the company she began portraying heavier roles from the dramatic soprano
repertoire, including Amelia in Menotti's Amelia Goes to the Ball
, Eva in Wagner's
Die Meistersinger, the title role in Verdi's Aida
, the title roles in Giacomo Puccini
's Tosca
and Turandot
among others. She also notably sang Felice in the United States premiere of Wolf Ferrari's
I quattro rusteghi
with the NYCO in 1951. Her last appearance with the company was in November 1958 as Mimi in Puccini's La Bohème
.
While busy singing with the NYCO, Yeend also sang in operas with other companies in both the United States and Europe. She made her debut with the Vienna Staatsoper
in 1953 as Violetta. That same year she made her first appearance at London's Royal Opera
at Covent Garden
as Mimi. In 1956 she toured North America with the NBC Opera Theatre
portraying Cio-cio-san in Puccini's Madama Butterfly
. Another Puccini role, the ice princess Turandot, was a part with which Yeend became particularly associated, portraying the part with the San Antonio Opera, Cincinnati Opera
, New Orleans Opera
, San Francisco Opera
, Philadelphia Lyric Opera Company
(1958), Vienna State Opera
(1958) and at the Arena di Verona Festival
(1958).
In 1959 Yeend sang her first Elisabeth in Wagner's Tannhäuser
with Fort Worth Opera
and portrayed her first Ariadne in Strauss's Ariadne auf Naxos
at the Empire State Music Festival. She appeared at the Houston Grand Opera
in 1960 for her first portrayal of the role of Sieglinde in Wagner's Die Walküre
and that same year sang Abigaille in Verdi's Nabucco
at the San Antonio Opera. In the summer of 1961 she portrayed Donna Anna in Mozart's Don Giovanni
with the Zoo Opera in Cincinnati. Some of her other notable international appearances included Mimì in Bulawayo
, Rhodesia
, Violetta at the Bavarian State Opera
, Eva at the Liceu
, and the Israeli premiere of Verdi's Requiem
in Tel Aviv
with the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra
(1954).
Yeend made her Metropolitan Opera
debut on February 13, 1961 as Chrysothemis in Strauss
's Elektra
in 1961 with Inge Borkh
in the title role and Joseph Rosenstock
conducting. She also portrayed Violetta at the Met in performances opposite both George Shirley
and Charles Anthony in the role of Alfredo. Her last performance with the company was on December 4, 1963 as Gutrune in Wagner's Götterdämmerung
with Birgit Nilsson
as Brünnhilde, Hans Hopf
as Siegfried, and Walter Cassel
as Gunther
. One of the last opera performances of her career was as Desdemona in Verdi's Otello
with the Philadelphia Grand Opera Company
opposite Mario Del Monaco
in the title role in 1964.
Yeend retired from the stage in 1966 when she joined the faculty of West Virginia University
as Professor of Voice/Artist in Residence. She remained in that position until 1978 when she retired from teaching. She died thirty years later at the age of 95. She was married for fifty-four years to pianist James Benner who was her second husband. She had one son, Warren Yeend, by her first marriage to Kenneth Yeend which ended in divorce.
, Columbia
, Mercury
, and MGM labels. Most of her recordings are of the concert repertoire, including of particular note her lauded recording of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony with the New York Philharmonic under Bruno Walter
and her recording of Arthur Honegger
's oratorio Jeanne d'Arc au Bûcher
(Joan of Arc at the Stake) with the Philadelphia Orchestra. Among a relatively small number of opera recordings is the spectacular 1956 concert performance of scenes from Elektra with the Chicago Symphony and Chorus under Fritz Reiner, where she sang Chrysotemis to Inge Borkh's Elektra.
Soprano
A soprano is a voice type with a vocal range from approximately middle C to "high A" in choral music, or to "soprano C" or higher in operatic music. In four-part chorale style harmony, the soprano takes the highest part, which usually encompasses the melody...
who had an active international career as a concert and 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...
singer during the 1940s through the 1960s. She had a long and fruitful association 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...
(NYCO) between 1948 and 1958, after which she joined the roster of principal sopranos at the Metropolitan Opera
Metropolitan Opera
The Metropolitan Opera is an opera company, located in New York City. Originally founded in 1880, the company gave its first performance on October 22, 1883. The company is operated by the non-profit Metropolitan Opera Association, with Peter Gelb as general manager...
where she sang between 1961 and 1963. She also had an extensive concert career, particularly in the United States. By 1963 she had sung in more than 200 orchestral concerts in North American with major symphonies like the New York Philharmonic
New York Philharmonic
The New York Philharmonic is a symphony orchestra based in New York City in the United States. It is one of the American orchestras commonly referred to as the "Big Five"...
, 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...
, 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...
, the Cleveland Orchestra
Cleveland Orchestra
The Cleveland Orchestra is an American orchestra based in Cleveland, Ohio. It is one of the five American orchestras informally referred to as the "Big Five". Founded in 1918, the orchestra plays most of its concerts at Severance Hall...
, and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra
Chicago Symphony Orchestra
The Chicago Symphony Orchestra is an American orchestra based in Chicago, Illinois. It is one of the five American orchestras commonly referred to as the "Big Five". Founded in 1891, the Symphony makes its home at Orchestra Hall in Chicago and plays a summer season at the Ravinia Festival...
among others.
Biography
Born Frances Leone Lynch in Vancouver, WashingtonVancouver, Washington
Vancouver is a city on the north bank of the Columbia River in the U.S. state of Washington. Incorporated in 1857, it is the fourth largest city in the state with a 2010 census population of 161,791 as of April 1, 2010...
, Yeend grew up in Portland, Oregon
Portland, Oregon
Portland is a city located in the Pacific Northwest, near the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2010 Census, it had a population of 583,776, making it the 29th most populous city in the United States...
. She had very little musical training before entering Washington State University
Washington State University
Washington State University is a public research university based in Pullman, Washington, in the Palouse region of the Pacific Northwest. Founded in 1890, WSU is the state's original and largest land-grant university...
(then Washington State College) in Pullman, Washington
Pullman, Washington
Pullman is the largest city in Whitman County, Washington, United States. The population was 24,675 at the 2000 census and 29,799 according to the 2010 census...
where she studied singing. After graduating she worked as a music teacher for a few years, during which time she also sang as a recitalist and on the radio. She also made her profesional opera début during this time as Nedda in Leoncavallo
Ruggero Leoncavallo
Ruggero Leoncavallo was an Italian opera composer. His two-act work Pagliacci remains one of the most popular works in the repertory, appearing as number 20 on the Operabase list of the most-performed operas worldwide.-Biography:...
's 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 Spokane, Washington
Spokane, Washington
Spokane is a city located in the Northwestern United States in the state of Washington. It is the largest city of Spokane County of which it is also the county seat, and the metropolitan center of the Inland Northwest region...
, although it wasn't until much later that she would appear in operas frequently.
Yeend's first New York appearances were in 1943 as a member of the ensemble in the Broadway run of 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,...
at the Majestic Theatre
Majestic Theatre
The Majestic Theatre is a Broadway theatre located at 245 West 44th Street in midtown Manhattan.The Majestic, one of the largest Broadway theatres with 1,607 seats, traditionally has been used as a venue for major musical theatre productions...
with Jan Kiepura
Jan Kiepura
Jan Wiktor Kiepura was an acclaimed Polish singer and actor.-Biography:...
as Danilo and Marta Eggerth
Marta Eggerth
Marta Eggerth is a singer/actress from "The Silver Age of Operetta". Many of the 20th century's most famous operetta composers, including Franz Lehár, Fritz Kreisler, Robert Stolz, Oscar Straus, and Paul Abraham, composed works especially for her...
as Sonia. Around this time she also sang on network radio as an uncredited soloist with Phil Spitalny
Phil Spitalny
Phil Spitalny was a musician, music critic, composer and bandleader heard often on radio during the 1930s and 1940s...
and His All-Girl Orchestra. She joined Columbia Artists Management
Columbia Artists Management
Columbia Artists Management is an international leader in managing the careers and touring activities of the world's most prominent performing artists and institutions.Led by Chairman and CEO Ronald A...
(CAM) in 1944 and performed the role of Micaela in a U.S tour of Bizet's Carmen
Carmen
Carmen is a French opéra comique by Georges Bizet. The libretto is by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy, based on the novella of the same title by Prosper Mérimée, first published in 1845, itself possibly influenced by the narrative poem The Gypsies by Alexander Pushkin...
that autumn.
In April 1946 Yeend made her first major concert appearance as the soprano
Soprano
A soprano is a voice type with a vocal range from approximately middle C to "high A" in choral music, or to "soprano C" or higher in operatic music. In four-part chorale style harmony, the soprano takes the highest part, which usually encompasses the melody...
soloist
Solo (music)
In music, a solo is a piece or a section of a piece played or sung by a single performer...
in Beethoven's Ninth Symphony
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 Boston Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Serge Koussevitzky
Serge Koussevitzky
Serge Koussevitzky , was a Russian-born Jewish conductor, composer and double-bassist, known for his long tenure as music director of the Boston Symphony Orchestra from 1924 to 1949.-Early career:...
. The following summer she performed the role of Ellen Orford in the American premiere of Benjamin Britten
Benjamin Britten
Edward Benjamin Britten, Baron Britten, OM CH was an English composer, conductor, and pianist. He showed talent from an early age, and first came to public attention with the a cappella choral work A Boy Was Born in 1934. With the premiere of his opera Peter Grimes in 1945, he leapt to...
's Peter Grimes
Peter Grimes
Peter Grimes is an opera by Benjamin Britten, with a libretto adapted by Montagu Slater from the Peter Grimes section of George Crabbe's poem The Borough...
at the Tanglewood Music Festival
Tanglewood Music Festival
The Tanglewood Music Festival is a music festival held every summer on the Tanglewood estate in Lenox, Massachusetts in the Berkshire Hills in western Massachusetts....
. Yeend went on to become one of the members of CAM's Bel Canto Trio
Bel Canto Trio
The Bel Canto Trio, consisting of tenor Mario Lanza, soprano Frances Yeend and bass-baritone George London, was created by Columbia Artists Management in 1947. The Bel Canto Trio performed 86 concerts throughout the United States, Canada and Mexico between July 1947 and May 1948....
with Mario Lanza
Mario Lanza
right|thumb|[[MGM]] still, circa 1949Mario Lanza was an American tenor and Hollywood movie star of the late 1940s and the 1950s. The son of Italian emigrants, he began studying to be a professional singer at the age of 16....
and George London
George London (baritone)
George London , born George Burnstein, was a Montreal-born concert and operatic bass-baritone.- Biography :George London was born to a Russian Jewish family, and grew up in Los Angeles....
. She toured North America with the group in 1947–1948.
In 1948 Yeend was invited by Laszlo Halasz
Laszlo Halasz
Laszlo Halasz was an American opera director, conductor, and pianist of Hungarian birth. In 1943 he was appointed the first director of the New York City Opera; a position he held through 1951...
, then artistic director of the New York City Opera, to join the roster of principal sopranos at the NYCO. She accepted and made her debut with the company as Violetta in Verdi's
Giuseppe Verdi
Giuseppe Fortunino Francesco Verdi was an Italian Romantic composer, mainly of opera. He was one of the most influential composers of the 19th century...
La traviata
La traviata
La traviata is an opera in three acts by Giuseppe Verdi set to an Italian libretto by Francesco Maria Piave. It is based on La dame aux Camélias , a play adapted from the novel by Alexandre Dumas, fils. The title La traviata means literally The Fallen Woman, or perhaps more figuratively, The Woman...
on March 20, 1948. She portrayed many other roles with the NYCO over a span of eleven consecutive seasons. Her early parts with the company were from the lyric soprano
Lyric soprano
A lyric soprano is a type of operatic soprano that has a warm quality with a bright, full timbre which can be heard over an orchestra. The lyric soprano voice generally has a higher tessitura than a soubrette and usually plays ingenues and other sympathetic characters in opera. Lyric sopranos have...
repertoire, such as Nedda, Countess Almaviva in Mozart's The Marriage of Figaro
The Marriage of Figaro
Le nozze di Figaro, ossia la folle giornata , K. 492, is an opera buffa composed in 1786 in four acts by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, with Italian libretto by Lorenzo Da Ponte, based on a stage comedy by Pierre Beaumarchais, La folle journée, ou le Mariage de Figaro .Although the play by...
, Marguerite in Gounod
Charles Gounod
Charles-François Gounod was a French composer, known for his Ave Maria as well as his operas Faust and Roméo et Juliette.-Biography:...
's Faust
Faust (opera)
Faust is a drame lyrique in five acts by Charles Gounod to a French libretto by Jules Barbier and Michel Carré from Carré's play Faust et Marguerite, in turn loosely based on Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's Faust, Part 1...
, Micaela in Bizet
Georges Bizet
Georges Bizet formally Alexandre César Léopold Bizet, was a French composer, mainly of operas. In a career cut short by his early death, he achieved few successes before his final work, Carmen, became one of the most popular and frequently performed works in the entire opera repertory.During a...
's Carmen
Carmen
Carmen is a French opéra comique by Georges Bizet. The libretto is by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy, based on the novella of the same title by Prosper Mérimée, first published in 1845, itself possibly influenced by the narrative poem The Gypsies by Alexander Pushkin...
, and the three heroines in Offenbach's
Jacques Offenbach
Jacques Offenbach was a Prussian-born French composer, cellist and impresario. He is remembered for his nearly 100 operettas of the 1850s–1870s and his uncompleted opera The Tales of Hoffmann. He was a powerful influence on later composers of the operetta genre, particularly Johann Strauss, Jr....
The Tales of Hoffmann. Later on in her career with the company she began portraying heavier roles from the dramatic soprano
Dramatic soprano
A dramatic soprano is an operatic soprano with a powerful, rich, emotive voice that can sing over, or cut through, a full orchestra. Thicker vocal folds in dramatic voices usually mean less agility than lighter voices but a sustained, fuller sound. Usually this voice has a lower tessitura than...
repertoire, including Amelia in Menotti's Amelia Goes to the Ball
Amelia Goes to the Ball
Amelia Goes to the Ball is an opera buffa in one act composed by Gian Carlo Menotti. Menotti also wrote the original Italian libretto. Composed when he was twenty-three, it was Menotti's first mature opera and his first critical success...
, Eva in Wagner's
Richard Wagner
Wilhelm Richard Wagner was a German composer, conductor, theatre director, philosopher, music theorist, poet, essayist and writer primarily known for his operas...
Die Meistersinger, the title role in Verdi's Aida
Aida
Aida sometimes spelled Aïda, is an opera in four acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Antonio Ghislanzoni, based on a scenario written by French Egyptologist Auguste Mariette...
, the title roles in Giacomo Puccini
Giacomo Puccini
Giacomo Antonio Domenico Michele Secondo Maria Puccini was an Italian composer whose operas, including La bohème, Tosca, Madama Butterfly, and Turandot, are among the most frequently performed in the standard repertoire...
's Tosca
Tosca
Tosca is an opera in three acts by Giacomo Puccini to an Italian libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa. It premiered at the Teatro Costanzi in Rome on 14 January 1900...
and Turandot
Turandot
Turandot is an opera in three acts by Giacomo Puccini, set to a libretto in Italian by Giuseppe Adami and Renato Simoni.Though Puccini's first interest in the subject was based on his reading of Friedrich Schiller's adaptation of the play, his work is most nearly based on the earlier text Turandot...
among others. She also notably sang Felice in the United States premiere of Wolf Ferrari's
Ermanno Wolf-Ferrari
Ermanno Wolf-Ferrari was an Italian composer and teacher. He is best known for his comic operas such as Il segreto di Susanna...
I quattro rusteghi
I quattro rusteghi
I quatro rusteghi is a comic opera in three acts, music by Ermanno Wolf-Ferrari to a text by Luigi Sugana and Giuseppe Pizzolato based on Carlo Goldoni's 18th-century play I rusteghi. The opera is in Venetian dialect.-Performance history:The opera was first performed at the Hoftheater in Munich on...
with the NYCO in 1951. Her last appearance with the company was in November 1958 as Mimi in Puccini's La Bohème
La bohème
La bohème is an opera in four acts,Puccini called the divisions quadro, a tableau or "image", rather than atto . by Giacomo Puccini to an Italian libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa, based on Scènes de la vie de bohème by Henri Murger...
.
While busy singing with the NYCO, Yeend also sang in operas with other companies in both the United States and Europe. She made her debut with the Vienna Staatsoper
Vienna State Opera
The Vienna State Opera is an opera house – and opera company – with a history dating back to the mid-19th century. It is located in the centre of Vienna, Austria. It was originally called the Vienna Court Opera . In 1920, with the replacement of the Habsburg Monarchy by the First Austrian...
in 1953 as Violetta. That same year she made her first appearance at London's Royal Opera
Royal Opera, London
The Royal Opera is an opera company based in central London, resident at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden. Along with the English National Opera, it is one of the two principal opera companies in London. Founded in 1946 as the Covent Garden Opera Company, it was known by that title until 1968...
at Covent Garden
Covent Garden
Covent Garden is a district in London on the eastern fringes of the West End, between St. Martin's Lane and Drury Lane. It is associated with the former fruit and vegetable market in the central square, now a popular shopping and tourist site, and the Royal Opera House, which is also known as...
as Mimi. In 1956 she toured North America with the NBC Opera Theatre
NBC Opera Theatre
The NBC Opera Theatre was an American opera company operated by the National Broadcasting Company from 1949 to 1964. The company was established specifically for the purpose of filming both established and new operas for television...
portraying Cio-cio-san in Puccini's Madama Butterfly
Madama Butterfly
Madama Butterfly is an opera in three acts by Giacomo Puccini, with an Italian libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa. Puccini based his opera in part on the short story "Madame Butterfly" by John Luther Long, which was dramatized by David Belasco...
. Another Puccini role, the ice princess Turandot, was a part with which Yeend became particularly associated, portraying the part with the San Antonio Opera, Cincinnati Opera
Cincinnati Opera
Cincinnati Opera is an American opera company based in Cincinnati, Ohio and the second oldest opera company in the United States .-History:...
, New Orleans Opera
New Orleans Opera
Opera has long been part of the musical culture of New Orleans, Louisiana. Operas have regularly been performed in the city since the 1790s, and for the majority of the city's history since the early 19th century, New Orleans has had a resident company regularly performing opera in addition to...
, 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...
, Philadelphia Lyric Opera Company
Philadelphia Lyric Opera Company
The Philadelphia Lyric Opera Company was an American opera company located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania that was active between 1958 and 1974. The company was led by a number of Artistic Directors during its history, beginning with Aurelio Fabiani. Other notable Artistic Directors include Julius...
(1958), Vienna State Opera
Vienna State Opera
The Vienna State Opera is an opera house – and opera company – with a history dating back to the mid-19th century. It is located in the centre of Vienna, Austria. It was originally called the Vienna Court Opera . In 1920, with the replacement of the Habsburg Monarchy by the First Austrian...
(1958) and at the Arena di Verona Festival
Arena di Verona Festival
The Arena di Verona Festival is a summer festival of opera, located in the city of Verona Italy. Since 1936, it has been organized under the auspices of an official body, first the Ente Autonomo Spettacoli Lirici Arena di Verona, , and then, following legislation in 1996 and...
(1958).
In 1959 Yeend sang her first Elisabeth in Wagner's Tannhäuser
Tannhäuser (opera)
Tannhäuser is an opera in three acts, music and text by Richard Wagner, based on the two German legends of Tannhäuser and the song contest at Wartburg...
with Fort Worth Opera
Fort Worth Opera
According to the company, Fort Worth Opera is the oldest, continually performing opera company in the state of Texas and among the oldest in the United States. While originally presenting operas one at a time over a fall/winter season, it changed to a "festival" format in 2007...
and portrayed her first Ariadne in Strauss's Ariadne auf Naxos
Ariadne auf Naxos
Ariadne auf Naxos is an opera by Richard Strauss with a German libretto by Hugo von Hofmannsthal. Bringing together slapstick comedy and consuming beautiful music, the opera's theme is the competition between high and low art for the public's attention.- First version :The opera was originally...
at the Empire State Music Festival. She appeared at the Houston Grand Opera
Houston Grand Opera
Houston Grand Opera Houston Grand Opera was founded in 1955 through the joint efforts of Maestro Walter Herbert and cultural leaders Mrs. Louis G. Lobit, Edward Bing and Charles Cockrell...
in 1960 for her first portrayal of the role of Sieglinde in Wagner's Die Walküre
Die Walküre
Die Walküre , WWV 86B, is the second of the four operas that form the cycle Der Ring des Nibelungen , by Richard Wagner...
and that same year sang Abigaille in Verdi's Nabucco
Nabucco
Nabucco is an opera in four acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Temistocle Solera, based on the Biblical story and the 1836 play by Auguste Anicet-Bourgeois and Francis Cornue...
at the San Antonio Opera. In the summer of 1961 she portrayed Donna Anna in Mozart's Don Giovanni
Don Giovanni
Don Giovanni is an opera in two acts with music by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and with an Italian libretto by Lorenzo Da Ponte. It was premiered by the Prague Italian opera at the Teatro di Praga on October 29, 1787...
with the Zoo Opera in Cincinnati. Some of her other notable international appearances included Mimì in Bulawayo
Bulawayo
Bulawayo is the second largest city in Zimbabwe after the capital Harare, with an estimated population in 2010 of 2,000,000. It is located in Matabeleland, 439 km southwest of Harare, and is now treated as a separate provincial area from Matabeleland...
, Rhodesia
Rhodesia
Rhodesia , officially the Republic of Rhodesia from 1970, was an unrecognised state located in southern Africa that existed between 1965 and 1979 following its Unilateral Declaration of Independence from the United Kingdom on 11 November 1965...
, Violetta at the Bavarian State Opera
Bavarian State Opera
The Bavarian State Opera is an opera company based in Munich, Germany.Its orchestra is the Bavarian State Orchestra.- History:The opera company which was founded under Princess Henriette Adelaide of Savoy has been in existence since 1653...
, Eva at the Liceu
Liceu
The Gran Teatre del Liceu , or simply Liceu in Catalan and Liceo in Spanish, is an opera house on La Rambla in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain...
, and the Israeli premiere of Verdi's Requiem
Requiem (Verdi)
The Messa da Requiem by Giuseppe Verdi is a musical setting of the Roman Catholic funeral mass for four soloists, double choir and orchestra. It was composed in memory of Alessandro Manzoni, an Italian poet and novelist much admired by Verdi. The first performance in San Marco in Milan on 22 May...
in Tel Aviv
Tel Aviv
Tel Aviv , officially Tel Aviv-Yafo , is the second most populous city in Israel, with a population of 404,400 on a land area of . The city is located on the Israeli Mediterranean coastline in west-central Israel. It is the largest and most populous city in the metropolitan area of Gush Dan, with...
with the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra
Israel Philharmonic Orchestra
The Israel Philharmonic Orchestra is the leading symphony orchestra in Israel. It was originally known as the Palestine Orchestra, and in Hebrew as התזמורת הסימפונית הארץ ישראלית The Israel Philharmonic Orchestra (abbreviation IPO; Hebrew: התזמורת הפילהרמונית הישראלית, ha-Tizmoret ha-Filharmonit...
(1954).
Yeend made her Metropolitan Opera
Metropolitan Opera
The Metropolitan Opera is an opera company, located in New York City. Originally founded in 1880, the company gave its first performance on October 22, 1883. The company is operated by the non-profit Metropolitan Opera Association, with Peter Gelb as general manager...
debut on February 13, 1961 as Chrysothemis in 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 Elektra
Elektra (opera)
Elektra is a one-act opera by Richard Strauss, to a German-language libretto by Hugo von Hofmannsthal, which he adapted from his 1903 drama Elektra. The opera was the first of many collaborations between Strauss and Hofmannsthal...
in 1961 with Inge Borkh
Inge Borkh
Inge Borkh is a German soprano.Borkh was born Ingeborg Simon in Mannheim, Germany, in 1921. She was initially an actress and had some training in dance, both of which served her well in opera: she became known both for her voice and for her dramatic intensity - the "singing actress" exemplified,...
in the title role and Joseph Rosenstock
Joseph Rosenstock
Joseph Rosenstock was a Polish Jewish conductor.-Early years:He worked at the State Opera in Wiesbaden before being brought into the Metropolitan Opera in New York to replace Artur Bodanzky in 1928...
conducting. She also portrayed Violetta at the Met in performances opposite both George Shirley
George Shirley
George Irving Shirley is a renowned tenor opera singer.He is a National Patron of Delta Omicron, an international professional music fraternity.-External links:*** by Bruce Duffie...
and Charles Anthony in the role of Alfredo. Her last performance with the company was on December 4, 1963 as Gutrune in Wagner's Götterdämmerung
Götterdämmerung
is the last in Richard Wagner's cycle of four operas titled Der Ring des Nibelungen...
with Birgit Nilsson
Birgit Nilsson
right|thumb|Nilsson in 1948.Birgit Nilsson was a celebrated Swedish dramatic soprano who specialized in operatic and symphonic works...
as Brünnhilde, Hans Hopf
Hans Hopf
Hans Hopf was a German operatic tenor, one of the leading heldentenors of the immediate postwar period....
as Siegfried, and Walter Cassel
Walter Cassel
Walter Cassel was a renowned American operatic baritone and actor. He began his career singing on the radio during the mid 1930s and appeared in a couple of Hollywood musical films in the late 1930s. He made his first stage appearances in a handful of Broadway productions during the late 1930s and...
as Gunther
Gunther
Gunther is the German name of a semi-legendary king of Burgundy of the early 5th century...
. One of the last opera performances of her career was as Desdemona in Verdi's Otello
Otello
Otello is an opera in four acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Arrigo Boito, based on Shakespeare's play Othello. It was Verdi's penultimate opera, and was first performed at the Teatro alla Scala, Milan, on February 5, 1887....
with the Philadelphia Grand Opera Company
Philadelphia Grand Opera Company
The Philadelphia Grand Opera Company was the name of four different American opera companies active at the Academy of Music in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania during the twentieth century. The last and most well known of the four was founded in November 1954 with the merger of the Philadelphia Civic...
opposite Mario Del Monaco
Mario del Monaco
Mario Del Monaco was an Italian tenor who is regarded by his admirers as being one of the greatest dramatic tenors of the 20th century....
in the title role in 1964.
Yeend retired from the stage in 1966 when she joined the faculty of West Virginia University
West Virginia University
West Virginia University is a public research university in Morgantown, West Virginia, USA. Other campuses include: West Virginia University at Parkersburg in Parkersburg; West Virginia University Institute of Technology in Montgomery; Potomac State College of West Virginia University in Keyser;...
as Professor of Voice/Artist in Residence. She remained in that position until 1978 when she retired from teaching. She died thirty years later at the age of 95. She was married for fifty-four years to pianist James Benner who was her second husband. She had one son, Warren Yeend, by her first marriage to Kenneth Yeend which ended in divorce.
Recordings
Yeend made a number of recordings during her career on the DaVinci Records, RCARCA
RCA Corporation, founded as the Radio Corporation of America, was an American electronics company in existence from 1919 to 1986. The RCA trademark is currently owned by the French conglomerate Technicolor SA through RCA Trademark Management S.A., a company owned by Technicolor...
, Columbia
Columbia Records
Columbia Records is an American record label, owned by Japan's Sony Music Entertainment, operating under the Columbia Music Group with Aware Records. It was founded in 1888, evolving from an earlier enterprise, the American Graphophone Company — successor to the Volta Graphophone Company...
, Mercury
Mercury Records
Mercury Records is a record label operating as a standalone company in the UK and as part of the Island Def Jam Motown Music Group in the US; both are subsidiaries of Universal Music Group. There is also a Mercury Records in Australia, which is a local artist and repertoire division of Universal...
, and MGM labels. Most of her recordings are of the concert repertoire, including of particular note her lauded recording of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony with the New York Philharmonic under Bruno Walter
Bruno Walter
Bruno Walter was a German-born conductor. He is considered one of the best known conductors of the 20th century. Walter was born in Berlin, but is known to have lived in several countries between 1933 and 1939, before finally settling in the United States in 1939...
and her recording of Arthur Honegger
Arthur Honegger
Arthur Honegger was a Swiss composer, who was born in France and lived a large part of his life in Paris. He was a member of Les six. His most frequently performed work is probably the orchestral work Pacific 231, which is interpreted as imitating the sound of a steam locomotive.-Biography:Born...
's oratorio Jeanne d'Arc au Bûcher
Jeanne d'Arc au bûcher
Jeanne d'Arc au bûcher is an oratorio by Arthur Honegger, originally commissioned by Ida Rubinstein. The drama takes place during the heroine's trial and execution, with flashbacks to her younger days...
(Joan of Arc at the Stake) with the Philadelphia Orchestra. Among a relatively small number of opera recordings is the spectacular 1956 concert performance of scenes from Elektra with the Chicago Symphony and Chorus under Fritz Reiner, where she sang Chrysotemis to Inge Borkh's Elektra.