Lauren Flanigan
Encyclopedia
Lauren Flanigan is an American opera
tic soprano
who has had an active international career since the 1980s. She has enjoyed a particularly fruitful partnership with the New York City Opera
, appearing with the company almost every year since 1990. She has sung more than 100 different opera roles on stage during her career, often appearing in contemporary works or more rarely staged operas. Opera News
stated that, "Flanigan has enjoyed one of the most distinctive careers of any artist of her generation, one marked by a high volume of contemporary works. Modern composers love her because of her innate musicality, dramatic power and lightning-fast skills and instincts."
, the daughter of Irish and Pennsylvania Dutch parents. In 1971, at the age of 12, she appeared as Flora in Benjamin Britten
's The Turn of the Screw
with the San Francisco Western Opera Theatre. Her portrayal of Flora resulted in being offered a full scholarship to study music, violin and voice in the pre-college program at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music
. While there she studied voice with Alice Taylor. She went on to earn a Bachelor of Music
degree from Boston University
where she was a voice student of Mac Morgan
. She pursued graduate studies in vocal performance with Judith Raskin
at the Manhattan School of Music
, earning a Master of Music
degree in 1984. In 1986 she was accepted as a post graduate student in voice at the Juilliard School
.
Flanigan credits much of her early experience to the singular interest of Dr. Robert Larsen of the Des Moines Metro Opera
where in 1985 she was cast as Clorinda in Gioachino Rossini's La Cenerentola
and as Curley's Wife in Carlisle Floyd
's Of Mice and Men
. This was followed by performances in 1987 as Musetta in Giacomo Puccini
's La bohème
and Miss Jessel in The Turn of the Screw; 1989 as Rosalinda in Johann Strauss II
's Die Fledermaus
; and 1990 in Britten's Peter Grimes
. In 1986 she performed the role of Leila in Georges Bizet
's Les Pecheurs de Perles
for the Hawaii Opera Theatre
. In 1987 she appeared in the world premiere of Stewart Wallace
's Where's Dick?
with Opera Omaha
under the direction of Anne Bogart
. She later reprised that role at the Houston Grand Opera
in 1989. She returned to Omaha in 1988 to perform the role of Sophie Scholl
in the United States premiere of Udo Zimmermann
's Weiße Rose
.
In 1990 Flanigan sang the role of Christine in Richard Strauss
' Intermezzo
with the Glimmerglass Opera
, returning there two years later to portray the Governess in The Turn of the Screw. In 1991 she made her debut at the Seattle Opera
as Donna Anna in Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
's Don Giovanni
, later returning there as the Governess and as Violetta in Giuseppe Verdi
’s La traviata
. In 1992 she sang the role of the Bride/Wife/Mother in the United States premiere of Judith Weir
's The Vanishing Bridegroom
at the Opera Theatre of Saint Louis
.
(NYCO) in October 1990 as Musetta in La bohème with Jianyi Zhang
as Rodolfo, Geraldine McMillian
as Mimi, Peter Barcza
as Marcello, and Joseph Colaneri
conducting. She made her debut at the Metropolitan Opera
the following year as Lucienne in the world premiere of John Corigliano
's The Ghosts of Versailles
. She returned to the Met in 1993 to portray the role of the Foreign Princess in Antonín Dvořák
's Rusalka
(with Gwynne Geyer
in the title role and Ben Heppner
as the Prince) and Giselda in Giuseppe Verdi
's I Lombardi alla prima crociata
(opposite Luciano Pavarotti
and Samuel Ramey
). She made her last appearance to date at the Met on October 6, 1994 as Musetta to the Mimì of Angela Gheorghiu
and Rodolfo as Richard Leech
.
While Flanigan's appearances at the Met have been limited, she has remained a constant presence at the NYCO for the past two decades. For this company, she created the title role in the world premiere of Hugo Weisgall
's Esther
on 8 October 1993 and the role of Eve in the premiere of Deborah Drattell
's Lilith
in November 2001. Some of the other roles she has sung with the company include Ursula in Mathis der Maler
(1995), the Governess in The Turn of the Screw (1996), Anna I in Kurt Weill
's The Seven Deadly Sins (1997), Lady Macbeth in Giuseppe Verdi
's Macbeth
(1997 and 2001), Abigail Borden in Jack Beeson
's Lizzie Borden
(1999), Greta in Drattell's Festival of Regrets (1999), Susan B. Anthony
in Virgil Thomson
's The Mother of Us All
(2000), Elizabeth I in Gaetano Donizetti
's Roberto Devereux
(2000), Marietta in Erich Wolfgang Korngold
's Die tote Stadt
(2001), Christine Mannon in Marvin David Levy's Mourning Becomes Electra
(2003), the title role in Samuel Barber
's Vanessa
(2007), and Cleopatra in Barber's Antony and Cleopatra
(2008–2009). She was most recently heard with the company in a revival of Weisgall's Esther in 2009 and in 2011 as Myra in Stephen Schwartz
's Séance on a Wet Afternoon
.
Flanigan has also appeared in numerous concerts and operas at Carnegie Hall
. Carnegie Hall notably commissioned composer Philip Glass
's Symphony No. 6
, Plutonian Ode, specifically for her.
as Abigaille in Giuseppe Verdi
's Nabucco
under conductor Riccardo Muti
. On 6 September 1996 she made her debut at the San Francisco Opera
as Yaroslavna in Alexander Borodin
's Prince Igor
, with Sergei Leiferkus
in the title role. In 1998 she made her debut at the Lyric Opera of Chicago
as Christine Mannon in Marvin David Levy's Mourning Becomes Electra
. She appeared at the Santa Fe Opera
in 2000 as the Prima Donna in Hans Werner Henze
's Venus und Adonis
. She returned to Chicago in 2004-2005 to portray Tulip in the world premiere of William Bolcom
's A Wedding
. On 2 June 2007 she created the title role in the world premiere of Thomas Pasatieri
’s Frau Margot
at the Fort Worth Opera
. She has also appeared at the Bavarian State Opera
, the Glyndebourne Festival Opera
, and the Teatro San Carlo.
's The Sun Cantata, Amy Beach
's Cabildo, Thomas Pasatieri
's Frau Margot
, Pasatieri's Monologues, Philip Glass's Symphony #6 Plutonian Ode, Gustav Mahler
's Symphony #8, Deems Taylor
's Peter Ibbetson
, and Howard Hanson
's Merry Mount
. In 2002 her recording of Richard Strauss
’s Die Liebe der Danae
was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Opera Recording
.She can be seen as the Ice Skating Opera Diva in the major motion picture Death to Smoochy
.
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...
tic 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...
who has had an active international career since the 1980s. She has enjoyed a particularly fruitful partnership 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...
, appearing with the company almost every year since 1990. She has sung more than 100 different opera roles on stage during her career, often appearing in contemporary works or more rarely staged operas. Opera News
Opera News
Opera News is an American classical music magazine. It has been published since 1936 by the Metropolitan Opera Guild, a non-profit organization located at Lincoln Center which was founded to support the Metropolitan Opera of New York City...
stated that, "Flanigan has enjoyed one of the most distinctive careers of any artist of her generation, one marked by a high volume of contemporary works. Modern composers love her because of her innate musicality, dramatic power and lightning-fast skills and instincts."
Education and early career
Flanigan was born in San Francisco, CaliforniaCalifornia
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
, the daughter of Irish and Pennsylvania Dutch parents. In 1971, at the age of 12, she appeared as Flora in 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 The Turn of the Screw
The Turn of the Screw (opera)
The Turn of the Screw is a 20th century English chamber opera composed by Benjamin Britten with a libretto by Myfanwy Piper, "wife of the artist John Piper, who had been a friend of the composer since 1935 and had provided designs for several of the operas". The libretto is based on the novella...
with the San Francisco Western Opera Theatre. Her portrayal of Flora resulted in being offered a full scholarship to study music, violin and voice in the pre-college program at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music
San Francisco Conservatory of Music
San Francisco Conservatory of Music, formerly the California Conservatory of Music, founded in 1917, is a music school, with an enrollment of about 400 students. It was launched by Ada Clement and Lillian Hodgehead in the remodeled home of Lillian's parents on Sacramento Street. It was called the...
. While there she studied voice with Alice Taylor. She went on to earn a Bachelor of Music
Bachelor of Music
Bachelor of Music is an academic degree awarded by a college, university, or conservatory upon completion of program of study in music. In the United States, it is a professional degree; the majority of work consists of prescribed music courses and study in applied music, usually requiring a...
degree from Boston University
Boston University
Boston University is a private research university located in Boston, Massachusetts. With more than 4,000 faculty members and more than 31,000 students, Boston University is one of the largest private universities in the United States and one of Boston's largest employers...
where she was a voice student of Mac Morgan
Mac Morgan
Mac Morgan was an American bass-baritone who had an active performance career in concerts and operas from the early 1940s until the mid 1970s. The Boston Globe described him as a singer "known for his rich tone and enviable diction"...
. She pursued graduate studies in vocal performance with Judith Raskin
Judith Raskin
Judith Raskin was an American lyric soprano, renowned for her fine voice as well as her acting.Raskin was born in New York to Harry A. Raskin, a high school music teacher, and Lillian Raskin, a grade school teacher. Her father aroused her childhood interest in music, leading her to study violin...
at 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...
, earning a Master of Music
Master of Music
The Master of Music is the first graduate degree in Music awarded by universities and music conservatories. The M.Mus. combines advanced studies in an applied area of specialization with graduate-level academic study in subjects such as music history, music theory, or music pedagogy...
degree in 1984. In 1986 she was accepted as a post graduate student in voice at the Juilliard School
Juilliard School
The Juilliard School, located at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in New York City, United States, is a performing arts conservatory which was established in 1905...
.
Flanigan credits much of her early experience to the singular interest of Dr. Robert Larsen of the Des Moines Metro Opera
Des Moines Metro Opera
The Des Moines Metro Opera is based in Indianola, Iowa, a town of approximately 14,000 located 12 miles south of Des Moines, Iowa. DMMO was founded by Dr. Robert L. Larsen and Douglas Duncan in 1973. A summer opera festival, the company usually performs three operas in rolling repertory during...
where in 1985 she was cast as Clorinda in Gioachino Rossini's La Cenerentola
La Cenerentola
La Cenerentola, ossia La bontà in trionfo is an operatic dramma giocoso in two acts by Gioachino Rossini. The libretto was written by Jacopo Ferretti, based on the fairy tale Cinderella...
and as Curley's Wife in Carlisle Floyd
Carlisle Floyd
Carlisle Floyd is an American opera composer. The son of a Methodist minister, he based many of his works on themes from the South...
's Of Mice and Men
Of Mice and Men (opera)
Of Mice and Men is an opera in three acts by the American composer Carlisle Floyd. The English libretto was written by Floyd and is based on the novella of the same name by John Steinbeck. The opera was composed in 1969.- History :...
. This was followed by performances in 1987 as Musetta 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 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...
and Miss Jessel in The Turn of the Screw; 1989 as Rosalinda in Johann Strauss II
Johann Strauss II
Johann Strauss II , also known as Johann Baptist Strauss or Johann Strauss, Jr., the Younger, or the Son , was an Austrian composer of light music, particularly dance music and operettas. He composed over 500 waltzes, polkas, quadrilles, and other types of dance music, as well as several operettas...
's 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 :...
; and 1990 in Britten'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...
. In 1986 she performed the role of Leila in Georges 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 Les Pecheurs de Perles
Les pêcheurs de perles
Les pêcheurs de perles is an opera in three acts by the French composer Georges Bizet, to a libretto by Eugène Cormon and Michel Carré. It was first performed on 30 September 1863 at the Théâtre Lyrique in Paris, and was given 18 performances in its initial run...
for the Hawaii Opera Theatre
Hawaii Opera Theatre
The Hawaii Opera Theatre is an opera company located in Honolulu, Hawaii, which became active in 1961. The company typically performs three operas during February and March in Blaisdell Concert Hall...
. In 1987 she appeared in the world premiere of Stewart Wallace
Stewart Wallace
Stewart Wallace is an American composer and cantor. He has spent much of his career composing experimental operas, from the dance-centered Kabbalah to the surrealist Hopper's Wife...
's Where's Dick?
Where's Dick?
Where's Dick? is an opera in 2 Acts by composer Stewart Wallace. The work uses an English language libretto by Michael Kone. The opera was first performed in a workshop format by Opera Omaha on 26 September 1987. The opera's first full scale production and official premiere, with largely the same...
with Opera Omaha
Opera Omaha
Opera Omaha is an opera company in Omaha, Nebraska. It is well known for premiering Wakonda's Dream, a contemporary opera about Native Americans set in the Niobrara....
under the direction of Anne Bogart
Anne Bogart
-Biography:She earned her Bachelor of Arts degree from Bard College in 1974, followed by a Master of Arts degree from New York University's Tisch School of the Arts in 1977. She served as Artistic Director of the Trinity Repertory Company for its 1989-90 season...
. She later reprised that role 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 1989. She returned to Omaha in 1988 to perform the role of Sophie Scholl
Sophie Scholl
Sophia Magdalena Scholl was a German student, active within the White Rose non-violent resistance group in Nazi Germany. She was convicted of high treason after having been found distributing anti-war leaflets at the University of Munich with her brother Hans...
in the United States premiere of Udo Zimmermann
Udo Zimmermann
Udo Zimmermann was born in Dresden on October 6, 1943. He is a German composer, music director, and conductor.- Biography :Zimmermann was a member of the Dresdner Kreuzchor from 1954 to 1962. He then continued his music education at the Dresden Music School. He studied composition with Johannes...
's Weiße Rose
Weiße Rose (opera)
Weiße Rose The title of the opera is often shown as Die Weiße Rose; however, the publisher, Breitkopf & Härtel, shows both versions as .is a chamber opera in one act by composer Udo Zimmermann...
.
In 1990 Flanigan sang the role of Christine 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...
' Intermezzo
Intermezzo (opera)
Intermezzo is an opera in two acts by Richard Strauss to his own German libretto, described as a Bürgerliche Komödie mit sinfonischen Zwischenspielen . It premiered at the Dresden Semperoper on November 4, 1924, with sets that reproduced Strauss' home in Garmisch...
with the Glimmerglass Opera
Glimmerglass Opera
Glimmerglass Festival is an opera company which was founded in 1975 by Peter Macris and presents an annual season of operas at the Alice Busch Opera Theater on Otsego Lake eight miles north of Cooperstown, New York, United States.The summer-only season usually consists of four operas performed in...
, returning there two years later to portray the Governess in The Turn of the Screw. In 1991 she made her debut at the Seattle Opera
Seattle Opera
The Seattle Opera is an opera company located in Seattle, Washington. Founded in 1963 by Glynn Ross, who served as the company's first general director through 1983, Seattle Opera's season runs from August to late May, with five or six operas offered and with eight to ten performances each, often...
as Donna Anna in Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart , baptismal name Johannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart , was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical era. He composed over 600 works, many acknowledged as pinnacles of symphonic, concertante, chamber, piano, operatic, and choral music...
'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...
, later returning there as the Governess and as Violetta in Giuseppe Verdi
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...
’s 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...
. In 1992 she sang the role of the Bride/Wife/Mother in the United States premiere of Judith Weir
Judith Weir
Judith Weir CBE, is a British composer.-Biography:Her music has been appreciated by audiences and critics alike. She trained with John Tavener while still at school and subsequently with Robin Holloway at King's College, Cambridge, graduating in 1976...
's The Vanishing Bridegroom
The Vanishing Bridegroom
The Vanishing Bridegroom is an opera by composer Judith Weir. Commissioned by the Glasgow District Council, the opera was premiered by the Scottish Opera as a part of the 1990 European Capital of Culture celebrations in Glasgow. The United States premiere of the opera was given by the Opera Theatre...
at the Opera Theatre of Saint Louis
Opera Theatre of Saint Louis
Opera Theatre of Saint Louis is a summer opera festival held in St. Louis, Missouri. Typically four operas, all sung in English, are presented each season, which runs from late May to late June. Performances are accompanied by the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra, which is divided into two...
.
Singing in New York City
Flanigan made her debut at the New York City OperaNew 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) in October 1990 as Musetta in La bohème with Jianyi Zhang
Jianyi Zhang
Jianyi Zhang is an American operatic tenor of Chinese birth. A graduate of the Shanghai Conservatory of Music and the Juilliard School, he has had an active international career in concerts and operas since the mid 1980s...
as Rodolfo, Geraldine McMillian
Geraldine McMillian
Geraldine McMillian is an American soprano who has had an active career in concerts and operas since the mid 1980s.-Career:After graduating from the Juilliard School, McMillian made her professional opera debut in 1986 at the Houston Grand Opera as Annie in George Gershwin's Porgy and Bess...
as Mimi, Peter Barcza
Peter Barcza
Peter Barcza is a Canadian operatic baritone who has had an active international career since the early 1970s. After studies at the University of Toronto, he became a member of the Canadian Opera Company in 1971. The following year he won the Metropolitan Opera regional auditions...
as Marcello, and Joseph Colaneri
Joseph Colaneri
Joseph Colaneri is an American conductor. From 1987-1998 he was a conductor with the New York City Opera. He has been a member of the conducting staff at the Metropolitan Opera since 1998, and as of 2009 has conducted a total of 35 performances for the company. He is currently the Director of the...
conducting. She made her debut 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...
the following year as Lucienne in the world premiere of John Corigliano
John Corigliano
John Corigliano is an American composer of classical music and a teacher of music. He is a distinguished professor of music at Lehman College in the City University of New York.-Biography:...
's The Ghosts of Versailles
The Ghosts of Versailles
The Ghosts of Versailles is an opera in two acts, with music by John Corigliano to an English libretto by William M. Hoffman. The Metropolitan Opera had commissioned the work from Corigliano in 1980 in celebration of its 100th anniversary, with the premiere scheduled for 1983...
. She returned to the Met in 1993 to portray the role of the Foreign Princess in Antonín Dvořák
Antonín Dvorák
Antonín Leopold Dvořák was a Czech composer of late Romantic music, who employed the idioms of the folk music of Moravia and his native Bohemia. Dvořák’s own style is sometimes called "romantic-classicist synthesis". His works include symphonic, choral and chamber music, concerti, operas and many...
's Rusalka
Rusalka (opera)
Rusalka is an opera by Antonín Dvořák. The Czech libretto was written by the poet Jaroslav Kvapil based on the fairy tales of Karel Jaromír Erben and Božena Němcová. Rusalka is one of the most successful Czech operas, and represents a cornerstone of the repertoire of Czech opera houses...
(with Gwynne Geyer
Gwynne Geyer
Gwynne Geyer is an American operatic soprano. A graduate of the Jacobs School of Music at Indiana University, she has sung leading roles at major opera houses throughout the world, including La Scala, the Metropolitan Opera, and the Vienna State Opera....
in the title role and Ben Heppner
Ben Heppner
Ben Heppner, CC is a Canadian tenor, specializing in opera and other classical works for voice.Heppner was born in Murrayville, British Columbia, and lived in Dawson Creek...
as the Prince) and Giselda in Giuseppe Verdi
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...
's I Lombardi alla prima crociata
I Lombardi alla prima crociata
I Lombardi alla prima crociata is an operatic dramma lirico in four acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Temistocle Solera, based on an epic poem by Tommaso Grossi. Its first performance was given at the Teatro alla Scala in Milan on 11 February 1843...
(opposite Luciano Pavarotti
Luciano Pavarotti
right|thumb|Luciano Pavarotti performing at the opening of the Constantine Palace in [[Strelna]], 31 May 2003. The concert was part of the celebrations for the 300th anniversary of [[St...
and Samuel Ramey
Samuel Ramey
Samuel Edward Ramey is an American operatic bass with a long, distinguished career.During his best years, he was greatly admired for his range and versatility, having possessed a sufficiently accomplished bel canto technique to enable him to sing the music of Handel, Mozart, Rossini, yet power...
). She made her last appearance to date at the Met on October 6, 1994 as Musetta to the Mimì of Angela Gheorghiu
Angela Gheorghiu
Angela Gheorghiu is a Romanian soprano opera singer. Since her professional debut in 1990, she has sung as soprano leading roles at New York's Metropolitan Opera, Covent Garden's Royal Opera House, the Vienna State Opera, Milan's La Scala, and many other opera houses in Europe and the United States...
and Rodolfo as Richard Leech
Richard Leech
Richard Leech , born Richard Leeper McClelland, was an accomplished actor.Richard Leeper McClelland was born in Dublin, Ireland, son of Isabella Frances and Herbert Saunderson McClelland, a lawyer. He was educated at Haileybury and Trinity College, Dublin...
.
While Flanigan's appearances at the Met have been limited, she has remained a constant presence at the NYCO for the past two decades. For this company, she created the title role 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 Esther
Esther (opera)
Esther is an American opera in 3 acts composed by Hugo Weisgall, with a libretto by Charles Kondek. Esther was premiered by the New York City Opera in October 1993...
on 8 October 1993 and the role of Eve in the premiere of Deborah Drattell
Deborah Drattell
Deborah Drattell is an American composer. She was born in Brooklyn, New York, and started her career in music as a violinist. Her compositions have been performed by the New York Philharmonic, Orchestra of St. Luke's, the Tanglewood and Caramoor Music Festivals, and many other groups and venues...
's Lilith
Lilith (opera)
Lilith is an English-language opera created by American composer Deborah Drattell, with a libretto by David Steven Cohen. The opera reimagines Eve returning to Eden following the funeral of Adam...
in November 2001. Some of the other roles she has sung with the company include Ursula in Mathis der Maler
Mathis der Maler (opera)
Mathis der Maler is an opera by Paul Hindemith. The libretto is also by the composer.The opera's genesis lay in Hindemith's interest in the Protestant Reformation...
(1995), the Governess in The Turn of the Screw (1996), Anna I in Kurt Weill
Kurt Weill
Kurt Julian Weill was a German-Jewish composer, active from the 1920s, and in his later years in the United States. He was a leading composer for the stage who was best known for his fruitful collaborations with Bertolt Brecht...
's The Seven Deadly Sins (1997), Lady Macbeth in Giuseppe Verdi
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...
's 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...
(1997 and 2001), Abigail Borden in Jack Beeson
Jack Beeson
Jack Beeson was an American composer. He was known particularly for his operas, the best known of which are Lizzie Borden, Hello Out There! and The Sweet Bye and Bye.-Biography:...
's Lizzie Borden
Lizzie Borden (opera)
Lizzie Borden is the best known opera by Jack Beeson. It is based on the real-life case of Lizzie Borden.It was written in 1965 and premiered on March 25, 1965 by the New York City Opera conducted by Anton Coppola. The English libretto is by Kenward Elmslie after a scenario by Richard Plant...
(1999), Greta in Drattell's Festival of Regrets (1999), Susan B. Anthony
Susan B. Anthony
Susan Brownell Anthony was a prominent American civil rights leader who played a pivotal role in the 19th century women's rights movement to introduce women's suffrage into the United States. She was co-founder of the first Women's Temperance Movement with Elizabeth Cady Stanton as President...
in Virgil Thomson
Virgil Thomson
Virgil Thomson was an American composer and critic. He was instrumental in the development of the "American Sound" in classical music...
's The Mother of Us All
The Mother of Us All
The Mother of Us All is an opera by Virgil Thomson to a libretto by Gertrude Stein. It chronicles the life of Susan B. Anthony, one of the major figures in the fight for women's suffrage in the United States...
(2000), Elizabeth I in Gaetano Donizetti
Gaetano Donizetti
Domenico Gaetano Maria Donizetti was an Italian composer from Bergamo, Lombardy. His best-known works are the operas L'elisir d'amore , Lucia di Lammermoor , and Don Pasquale , all in Italian, and the French operas La favorite and La fille du régiment...
's Roberto Devereux
Roberto Devereux
Roberto Devereux is a tragedia lirica, or tragic opera, by Gaetano Donizetti...
(2000), Marietta in Erich Wolfgang Korngold
Erich Wolfgang Korngold
Erich Wolfgang Korngold was an Austro-Hungarian film and romantic music composer. While his compositional style was considered well out of vogue at the time he died, his music has more recently undergone a reevaluation and a gradual reawakening of interest...
's Die tote Stadt
Die tote Stadt
Die tote Stadt is an opera in three acts by Erich Wolfgang Korngold. The libretto is by the composer and Paul Schott , and is based on Bruges-la-Morte, a short novel by Georges Rodenbach.-Performance history:When Die tote Stadt had its premiere on December 4, 1920, Korngold was just 23...
(2001), Christine Mannon in Marvin David Levy's Mourning Becomes Electra
Mourning Becomes Electra (opera)
Mourning Becomes Electra is an opera in 3 acts by composer Marvin David Levy. The work uses an English language libretto by Henry W Butler after the play of the same name by Eugene O'Neill. It premiered at the Metropolitan Opera in New York City on March 17, 1967 with Zubin Mehta conducting...
(2003), the title role in Samuel Barber
Samuel Barber
Samuel Osborne Barber II was an American composer of orchestral, opera, choral, and piano music. His Adagio for Strings is his most popular composition and widely considered a masterpiece of modern classical music...
's Vanessa
Vanessa (opera)
Vanessa is an opera in three acts by Samuel Barber with an original English libretto by Gian-Carlo Menotti. It was composed in 1956–1957 and was first performed at the Metropolitan Opera in New York City on January 15, 1958 under the baton of Dimitri Mitropoulos in a production designed by...
(2007), and Cleopatra in Barber's Antony and Cleopatra
Antony and Cleopatra (opera)
Antony and Cleopatra is an opera in three acts by American composer Samuel Barber. The libretto was prepared by Franco Zeffirelli based on the play Antony and Cleopatra by Shakespeare...
(2008–2009). She was most recently heard with the company in a revival of Weisgall's Esther in 2009 and in 2011 as Myra in Stephen Schwartz
Stephen Schwartz
Stephen Schwartz may refer to:*Stephen Schwartz , American musical theater and film lyricist and composer*Stephen Suleyman Schwartz , journalist, political author, and historian...
's Séance on a Wet Afternoon
Séance on a Wet Afternoon (opera)
Séance on a Wet Afternoon is an opera in 2 acts by Stephen Schwartz to a libretto by the composer, based on the novel by Mark McShane and the screenplay by Bryan Forbes to the 1964 film of the same name...
.
Flanigan has also appeared in numerous concerts and operas at Carnegie Hall
Carnegie Hall
Carnegie Hall is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City, United States, located at 881 Seventh Avenue, occupying the east stretch of Seventh Avenue between West 56th Street and West 57th Street, two blocks south of Central Park....
. Carnegie Hall notably commissioned composer Philip Glass
Philip Glass
Philip Glass is an American composer. He is considered to be one of the most influential composers of the late 20th century and is widely acknowledged as a composer who has brought art music to the public .His music is often described as minimalist, along with...
's Symphony No. 6
Symphony No. 6 (Glass)
Symphony No. 6, also known as the Plutonian Ode Symphony, is a symphony composed by Philip Glass. It is based on the poem Plutonian Ode by Allen Ginsberg; parts of which are sung by the soprano soloist in the work. The symphony was commissioned by Carnegie Hall in honor of Glass' 65th birthday and...
, Plutonian Ode, specifically for her.
Other work in the United States and abroad
In March 1996 Flanigan made her debut at La ScalaLa Scala
La Scala , is a world renowned opera house in Milan, Italy. The theatre was inaugurated on 3 August 1778 and was originally known as the New Royal-Ducal Theatre at La Scala...
as Abigaille in Giuseppe Verdi
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...
'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...
under conductor Riccardo Muti
Riccardo Muti
Riccardo Muti, Cavaliere di Gran Croce OMRI is an Italian conductor and music director of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.-Childhood and education:...
. On 6 September 1996 she made her debut 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...
as Yaroslavna in Alexander Borodin
Alexander Borodin
Alexander Porfiryevich Borodin was a Russian Romantic composer and chemist of Georgian–Russian parentage. He was a member of the group of composers called The Five , who were dedicated to producing a specifically Russian kind of art music...
's Prince Igor
Prince Igor
Prince Igor is an opera in four acts with a prologue. It was composed by Alexander Borodin. The composer adapted the libretto from the East Slavic epic The Lay of Igor's Host, which recounts the campaign of Russian prince Igor Svyatoslavich against the invading Polovtsian tribes in 1185...
, with Sergei Leiferkus
Sergei Leiferkus
Sergei Leiferkus is an operatic baritone from Russia, known for his dramatic technique and powerful voice particularly in Russian and Italian language repertoire. He is most notable for his roles as Scarpia in Tosca, Iago in Otello, Grand-prétre de Dagon in Samson et Dalila and Simon Boccanegra...
in the title role. In 1998 she made her debut at the Lyric Opera of Chicago
Lyric Opera of Chicago
Lyric Opera of Chicago is one of the leading opera companies in the United States. It was founded in Chicago in 1952, under the name 'Lyric Theatre of Chicago' by Carol Fox, Nicolà Rescigno and Lawrence Kelly, with a season that included Maria Callas's American debut in Norma...
as Christine Mannon in Marvin David Levy's Mourning Becomes Electra
Mourning Becomes Electra (opera)
Mourning Becomes Electra is an opera in 3 acts by composer Marvin David Levy. The work uses an English language libretto by Henry W Butler after the play of the same name by Eugene O'Neill. It premiered at the Metropolitan Opera in New York City on March 17, 1967 with Zubin Mehta conducting...
. She appeared at the Santa Fe Opera
Santa Fe Opera
The Santa Fe Opera is an American opera company, located north of Santa Fe in the U.S. state of New Mexico, headquartered on a former guest ranch of .-General history:...
in 2000 as the Prima Donna in Hans Werner Henze
Hans Werner Henze
Hans Werner Henze is a German composer of prodigious output best known for "his consistent cultivation of music for the theatre throughout his life"...
's Venus und Adonis
Venus und Adonis
Venus und Adonis is a one-act opera by Hans Werner Henze with a German libretto by Hans-Ulrich Treichel, after the poem by William Shakespeare. The work uses both singers and dancers....
. She returned to Chicago in 2004-2005 to portray Tulip in the world premiere of William Bolcom
William Bolcom
William Elden Bolcom is an American composer and pianist. He has received the Pulitzer Prize, the National Medal of Arts, two Grammy Awards, the Detroit Music Award and was named 2007 Composer of the Year by Musical America. Bolcom taught composition at the University of Michigan from 1973–2008...
's A Wedding
A Wedding (opera)
A Wedding is a comic opera based on Robert Altman's 1978 film A Wedding and was composed by William Bolcom with a libretto written by Robert Altman and Arnold Weinstein.-Performance History:...
. On 2 June 2007 she created the title role in the world premiere of Thomas Pasatieri
Thomas Pasatieri
Thomas Pasatieri is an American opera composer.He began composing at age 10 and, as a teenager, studied with Nadia Boulanger...
’s Frau Margot
Frau Margot
Frau Margot is an opera in 3 acts by composer Thomas Pasatieri. The work uses an English language libretto by Frank Corsaro which is based on Corsaro's play Lyric Suite. The opera's premiere was presented by the Fort Worth Opera on June 2, 2007. Corsaro directed the production which used sets by...
at the 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...
. She has also appeared 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...
, the Glyndebourne Festival Opera
Glyndebourne Festival Opera
Glyndebourne Festival Opera is an English opera festival held at Glyndebourne, an English country house near Lewes, in East Sussex, England.-History:...
, and the Teatro San Carlo.
Recordings
Flanigan has sung on recordings of Ned RoremNed Rorem
Ned Rorem is a Pulitzer prize-winning American composer and diarist. He is best known and most praised for his song settings.-Life:...
's The Sun Cantata, Amy Beach
Amy Beach
Amy Marcy Cheney Beach was an American composer and pianist. She was the first successful American female composer of large-scale art music. Most of her compositions and performances were under the name Mrs. H.H.A. Beach.-Early years:Beach was born Amy Marcy Cheney in Henniker, New Hampshire into...
's Cabildo, Thomas Pasatieri
Thomas Pasatieri
Thomas Pasatieri is an American opera composer.He began composing at age 10 and, as a teenager, studied with Nadia Boulanger...
's Frau Margot
Frau Margot
Frau Margot is an opera in 3 acts by composer Thomas Pasatieri. The work uses an English language libretto by Frank Corsaro which is based on Corsaro's play Lyric Suite. The opera's premiere was presented by the Fort Worth Opera on June 2, 2007. Corsaro directed the production which used sets by...
, Pasatieri's Monologues, Philip Glass's Symphony #6 Plutonian Ode, 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...
's Symphony #8, Deems Taylor
Deems Taylor
Joseph Deems Taylor was a U.S. composer, music critic, and promoter of classical music.-Career:Taylor initially planned to become an architect; however, despite minimal musical training he soon took to music composition. The result was a series of works for orchestra and/or voices...
's Peter Ibbetson
Peter Ibbetson
Peter Ibbetson is an American black-and-white drama film released in 1935 and directed by Henry Hathaway.The picture is based on a novel by George du Maurier, first published in 1891. In 1917, du Maurier's story was adapted into a very successful Broadway play starring John Barrymore, Lionel...
, and Howard Hanson
Howard Hanson
Howard Harold Hanson was an American composer, conductor, educator, music theorist, and champion of American classical music. As director for 40 years of the Eastman School of Music, he built a high-quality school and provided opportunities for commissioning and performing American music...
's Merry Mount
Merry Mount
Merry Mount is an opera in three acts by American composer Howard Hanson; its libretto, by Richard Stokes, is loosely based on Nathaniel Hawthorne's short story "The Maypole of Merry Mount", taken from his Twice Told Tales...
. In 2002 her recording of 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 Die Liebe der Danae
Die Liebe der Danae
Die Liebe der Danae is an opera in three acts by Richard Strauss to a February 1937 German libretto by Joseph Gregor, based on an outline written in 1920, "Danae, or The Marriage of Convenience", by Hugo Hofmannsthal...
was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Opera Recording
Grammy Award for Best Opera Recording
The Grammy Award for Best Opera Recording has been awarded since 1961. The award was originally titled Best Classical Opera Production. The current title has been used since 1962....
.She can be seen as the Ice Skating Opera Diva in the major motion picture Death to Smoochy
Death to Smoochy
Death to Smoochy is a 2002 American dark comedy film directed by and starring Danny DeVito and starring Robin Williams, Edward Norton, Catherine Keener, and Jon Stewart.-Plot:...
.
Awards and honours
- Betty Allen PrizeBetty AllenBetty Allen was a renowned American operatic mezzo-soprano who had an active international singing career during the 1950s through the 1970s...
from the New York City Opera - Diva Award from Emmanuel Ungaro
- An award from American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers for her commitment to performing the works of living composers.
- Artist of the Year Award from the Center for Contemporary OperaCenter for Contemporary OperaThe Center for Contemporary Opera is a professional opera company based in New York City, and a member of OPERA America. The company focuses on producing and developing new opera and music theater works and reviving rarely seen American operas written after the second World War...
. - She is featured in the books Bad Behavior and The Irish Face.
- Thrice named one of the “Top 100 Irish Americans” by Irish America MagazineIrish America magazineIrish America magazine is a bi-monthly periodical that aims to cover topics relevant to the Irish in North America including a range of political, economic, social, and cultural themes. The magazine’s inaugural issue was published in October 1985...
for her concert series Comfort Ye, which raises food and clothing for New York’s homeless. - The Spirit of the City Award from the Cathedral of St. John the Divine for enlivening the musical life of New York City.
- The Distinguished Alumni Award from Boston University.