Mack Harrell
Encyclopedia
Mack Harrell was an American baritone
who was regarded as one of the greatest concert singers of his generation.
Born in Celeste, Texas
to M. K. Harrell and Mollie Kelly Harrell, he was raised and educated in Greenville, Texas
. He studied violin from the age of ten and continued for twelve years. Harrell studied the violin at Oklahoma City University
. Later, he was awarded a scholarship to attend Philadelphia's Curtis Institute of Music
where he studied violin under Emanuel Zetlin. He met his wife, violinist Marjorie Fulton, while they were both students at the Curtis Institute. It was at the Curtis Institute that the quality of his baritone voice was discovered, after which he left Curtis for The Juilliard School to study singing with Anna E. Schoen-René, a pupil of Pauline Viardot-Garcia and Manuel Garcia. Harrell believed that his experience of musical studies as a violinist first made him a better singer than he might have been otherwise. In 1939, Harrell's book, The Sacred Hour of Song: A Collection of Sacred Solos Suitable for Christian Science Services, was published by C. Fischer.
Harrell made his made his concert debut at New York City
's Town Hall
singing a recital of opera
and lieder in 1938. That same year he won the Metropolitan Opera
's Audition of the Air competition (pre-cursor to the National Council Auditions) which led to Edward Johnson
offering him a contract with the company. Harrell made his professional opera debut at the Met on December 16, 1939 as Biterolf in Richard Wagner
's Tannhäuser
. He sang with the company every year through 1948, and returned there for the 1949-1950, 1952-1954, and 1957-1958 seasons. Among the many roles he portrayed at the Met are Amfortas in Parsifal
, Baron Douphol in La Traviata
, Captain Balstrode in Peter Grimes
, Dancaïre in Carmen
, Dodon in Le Coq d'Or, Fiorello in Il Barbiere di Siviglia, Frédéric in Lakmé
, Herald in Lohengrin
, Kothner in Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg
, Lindorf in Les Contes d'Hoffmann
, Masetto in Don Giovanni
, Papageno in Die Zauberflöte, Peter in Hänsel und Gretel
, Shchelkalov in Boris Godunov
, and Wolfram in Tannhäuser among others.
He notably created the role of Samson in the world premiere of Bernard Rogers
's The Warrior opposite Regina Resnik
as Delilah at the Met on January 11, 1947. He also portrayed Nick Shadow in The Rake’s Progress for the works US premiere at the Met in February 1953. After 1954, Harrell returned to the Met only one more time during his career to portray Jochanaan in Richard Strauss
's Salome
in 1958. His final and 156th performance at the Met was as Jochanaan on February 17, 1958 with Inge Borkh
as Salome.
While performing at the Met, Harrell also maintained an active concert career and performed roles with a number of other opera companies. In 1940 he sang Alfio in Cavalleria rusticana
and Ford in Verdi's Falstaff
in Chicago. In May 1944 he made his first appearance at the New York City Opera
(NYCO) as Germont in La Traviata
, and returned there in 1948, 1951-1952, and 1959. At the NYCO he notably portrayed the role of Rabbi Azrael in the world premiere of David Tamkin
's The Dybbuk
(1951) and Pierre Cauchon
in the premiere of the one act version of Norman Dello Joio
's The Triumph of St. Joan
(1959). In September 1945 Harrell made his debut with the San Francisco Opera
portraying Escamillo in Carmen. He sang several more roles with that company during the 1945-1946 season, including the Commissioner in Der Rosenkavalier
, Dapertutto in Les Contes d'Hoffmann, Fernando in Fidelio
, Germont, Marcello in La bohème
, Ramiro in L'Heure Espagnole
, and Silvio in Pagliacci
among others. In 1952 he portrayed the King of Spain in the United States premiere of Darius Milhaud
's Christophe Colomb
at Carnegie Hall
. In 1955, he portrayed Olin Blitch in the world premiere of Carlisle Floyd
's Susannah
at Florida State University
opposite Phyllis Curtin
in the title role. In 1956 he sang in the United States premiere of Milhaud's David at the Hollywood Bowl
.
In 1944 Mack and his wife's son, the celebrated cellist Lynn Harrell
, was born. From 1945 to 1956 Harrell taught voice at The Juilliard School. In 1954 he succeeded Walter Paepcke
as the director of the Aspen Music Festival and School
, a position he held until his death in 1960. Harrell died in Dallas, aged 50.
Baritone
Baritone is a type of male singing voice that lies between the bass and tenor voices. It is the most common male voice. Originally from the Greek , meaning deep sounding, music for this voice is typically written in the range from the second F below middle C to the F above middle C Baritone (or...
who was regarded as one of the greatest concert singers of his generation.
Born in Celeste, Texas
Celeste, Texas
Celeste is a city in Hunt County, Texas, United States. The population was 817 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Celeste is located at .According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , all of it land....
to M. K. Harrell and Mollie Kelly Harrell, he was raised and educated in Greenville, Texas
Greenville, Texas
Greenville is the county seat, and the largest city, of Hunt County, Texas, in the United States. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 25,557....
. He studied violin from the age of ten and continued for twelve years. Harrell studied the violin at Oklahoma City University
Oklahoma City University
Oklahoma City University, often referred to as OCU, is a coeducational, urban, private university historically affiliated with the United Methodist Church...
. Later, he was awarded a scholarship to attend Philadelphia's Curtis Institute of Music
Curtis Institute of Music
The Curtis Institute of Music is a conservatory in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, that offers courses of study leading to a performance Diploma, Bachelor of Music, Master of Music in Opera, and Professional Studies Certificate in Opera. According to statistics compiled by U.S...
where he studied violin under Emanuel Zetlin. He met his wife, violinist Marjorie Fulton, while they were both students at the Curtis Institute. It was at the Curtis Institute that the quality of his baritone voice was discovered, after which he left Curtis for The Juilliard School to study singing with Anna E. Schoen-René, a pupil of Pauline Viardot-Garcia and Manuel Garcia. Harrell believed that his experience of musical studies as a violinist first made him a better singer than he might have been otherwise. In 1939, Harrell's book, The Sacred Hour of Song: A Collection of Sacred Solos Suitable for Christian Science Services, was published by C. Fischer.
Harrell made his made his concert debut at New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
's Town Hall
The Town Hall
The Town Hall is a performance space, located at 123 West 43rd Street, between Sixth Avenue and Broadway, in New York City. It seats approximately 1,500 people.-History:...
singing a recital of 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...
and lieder in 1938. That same year he won 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...
's Audition of the Air competition (pre-cursor to the National Council Auditions) which led to Edward Johnson
Edward Johnson (tenor)
Edward Patrick Johnson CBE was a Canadian operatic tenor who was billed outside North America as Edoardo Di Giovanni, and became director of the Metropolitan Opera in New York City.- Early life :...
offering him a contract with the company. Harrell made his professional opera debut at the Met on December 16, 1939 as Biterolf in Richard Wagner
Richard Wagner
Wilhelm Richard Wagner was a German composer, conductor, theatre director, philosopher, music theorist, poet, essayist and writer primarily known for his operas...
'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...
. He sang with the company every year through 1948, and returned there for the 1949-1950, 1952-1954, and 1957-1958 seasons. Among the many roles he portrayed at the Met are Amfortas in Parsifal
Parsifal
Parsifal is an opera in three acts by Richard Wagner. It is loosely based on Wolfram von Eschenbach's Parzival, the 13th century epic poem of the Arthurian knight Parzival and his quest for the Holy Grail, and on Chrétien de Troyes' Perceval, the Story of the Grail.Wagner first conceived the work...
, Baron Douphol in 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...
, Captain Balstrode in 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...
, Dancaïre in 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...
, Dodon in Le Coq d'Or, Fiorello in Il Barbiere di Siviglia, Frédéric in Lakmé
Lakmé
Lakmé is an opera in three acts by Léo Delibes to a French libretto by Edmond Gondinet and Philippe Gille. Delibes wrote the score during 1881–82 with its first performance on 14 April 1883 at the Opéra Comique in Paris. Set in British India in the mid 19th century, Lakmé is based on the 1880 novel...
, Herald in Lohengrin
Lohengrin (opera)
Lohengrin is a romantic opera in three acts composed and written by Richard Wagner, first performed in 1850. The story of the eponymous character is taken from medieval German romance, notably the Parzival of Wolfram von Eschenbach and its sequel, Lohengrin, written by a different author, itself...
, Kothner in Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg
Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg
Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg is an opera in three acts, written and composed by Richard Wagner. It is among the longest operas still commonly performed today, usually taking around four and a half hours. It was first performed at the Königliches Hof- und National-Theater in Munich, on June 21,...
, Lindorf in Les Contes d'Hoffmann
Les contes d'Hoffmann
Les contes d'Hoffmann is an opéra by Jacques Offenbach. The French libretto was written by Jules Barbier, based on short stories by E. T. A...
, Masetto in 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...
, Papageno in Die Zauberflöte, Peter in Hänsel und Gretel
Hänsel und Gretel
Hansel and Gretel is an opera by nineteenth-century composer Engelbert Humperdinck, who described it as a Märchenoper . The libretto was written by Humperdinck's sister, Adelheid Wette, based on the Grimm brothers' fairy tale "Hansel and Gretel"...
, Shchelkalov 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,...
, and Wolfram in Tannhäuser among others.
He notably created the role of Samson in the world premiere of Bernard Rogers
Bernard Rogers
Bernard Rogers was an American composer.Rogers was born in New York City. He studied with Arthur Farwell, Ernest Bloch, Percy Goetschius, and Nadia Boulanger. He taught at the Cleveland Institute of Music, The Hartt School, and the Eastman School of Music...
's The Warrior opposite Regina Resnik
Regina Resnik
Regina Resnik is an American operatic singer.Regina Resnik, the American mezzo-soprano, started a dramatic career ten months after earning her B.A. in Music at Hunter College. The role was Lady Macbeth under Fritz Busch in December, 1942 with the New Opera Company. A few months later, she sang...
as Delilah at the Met on January 11, 1947. He also portrayed Nick Shadow in The Rake’s Progress for the works US premiere at the Met in February 1953. After 1954, Harrell returned to the Met only one more time during his career to portray Jochanaan in Richard Strauss
Richard Strauss
Richard Georg Strauss was a leading German composer of the late Romantic and early modern eras. He is known for his operas, which include Der Rosenkavalier and Salome; his Lieder, especially his Four Last Songs; and his tone poems and orchestral works, such as Death and Transfiguration, Till...
's Salome
Salome (opera)
Salome is an opera in one act by Richard Strauss to a German libretto by the composer, based on Hedwig Lachmann’s German translation of the French play Salomé by Oscar Wilde. Strauss dedicated the opera to his friend Sir Edgar Speyer....
in 1958. His final and 156th performance at the Met was as Jochanaan on February 17, 1958 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,...
as Salome.
While performing at the Met, Harrell also maintained an active concert career and performed roles with a number of other opera companies. In 1940 he sang Alfio in Cavalleria rusticana
Cavalleria rusticana
Cavalleria rusticana is an opera in one act by Pietro Mascagni to an Italian libretto by Giovanni Targioni-Tozzetti and Guido Menasci, adapted from a play written by Giovanni Verga based on his short story. Considered one of the classic verismo operas, it premiered on May 17, 1890 at the Teatro...
and Ford in Verdi's Falstaff
Falstaff (opera)
Falstaff is an operatic commedia lirica in three acts by Giuseppe Verdi, adapted by Arrigo Boito from Shakespeare's plays The Merry Wives of Windsor and scenes from Henry IV. It was Verdi's last opera, written in the composer's ninth decade, and only the second of his 26 operas to be a comedy...
in Chicago. In May 1944 he made his first appearance at 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) as Germont in 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...
, and returned there in 1948, 1951-1952, and 1959. At the NYCO he notably portrayed the role of Rabbi Azrael in the world premiere of David Tamkin
David Tamkin
David Tamkin was an American composer of Jewish descent. He devoted much of his professional career as an arranger, composer [uncredited] and orchestrator of film scores for Hollywood movies. He worked on more than 50 films between 1939 and 1970.-Biography:Tamkin was born in Chernihiv, Ukraine...
's The Dybbuk
The Dybbuk (opera)
The Dybbuk is an opera in three acts by composer David Tamkin. The work uses an English libretto by Alex Tamkin, the composer's brother, which is based on S. Ansky’s Yiddish play of the same name. Composed in 1933, the work was not premiered until October 4, 1951 when it was mounted by the New York...
(1951) and Pierre Cauchon
Pierre Cauchon
Pierre Cauchon , bishop of Beauvais. A strong partisan of English interests in France during the latter years of the Hundred Years' War, his role in arranging Joan of Arc's downfall led most subsequent observers to condemn his extension of secular politics into an ecclesiastical trial...
in the premiere of the one act version of Norman Dello Joio
Norman Dello Joio
- Life :He was born Nicodemo DeGioio in New York City to Italian immigrants. He began his musical career as organist and choir director at the Star of the Sea Church on City Island in New York at age 14. His father was an organist, pianist, and vocal coach and coached many opera stars from the...
's The Triumph of St. Joan
The Triumph of St. Joan
The Triumph of St. Joan was originally an opera in three acts by Norman Dello Joio to an English language libretto on the subject of the martyrdom of Joan of Arc by Dello Joio and Joseph Machilis. It was premiered at Sarah Lawrence College on May 9, 1950. Although the opera was received positively,...
(1959). In September 1945 Harrell made his debut 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...
portraying Escamillo in Carmen. He sang several more roles with that company during the 1945-1946 season, including the Commissioner in Der Rosenkavalier
Der Rosenkavalier
Der Rosenkavalier is a comic opera in three acts by Richard Strauss to an original German libretto by Hugo von Hofmannsthal. It is loosely adapted from the novel Les amours du chevalier de Faublas by Louvet de Couvrai and Molière’s comedy Monsieur de Pourceaugnac...
, Dapertutto in Les Contes d'Hoffmann, Fernando in Fidelio
Fidelio
Fidelio is a German opera in two acts by Ludwig van Beethoven. It is Beethoven's only opera. The German libretto is by Joseph Sonnleithner from the French of Jean-Nicolas Bouilly which had been used for the 1798 opera Léonore, ou L’amour conjugal by Pierre Gaveaux, and for the 1804 opera Leonora...
, Germont, Marcello in 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...
, Ramiro in L'Heure Espagnole
L'heure espagnole
L'heure espagnole is a one-act opera, described as a comédie musicale, with music by Maurice Ravel to a French libretto by Franc-Nohain, based on his play of the same name first performed at the Théâtre de l'Odéon on 28 October 1904...
, and Silvio in Pagliacci
Pagliacci
Pagliacci , sometimes incorrectly rendered with a definite article as I Pagliacci, is an opera consisting of a prologue and two acts written and composed by Ruggero Leoncavallo. It recounts the tragedy of a jealous husband in a commedia dell'arte troupe...
among others. In 1952 he portrayed the King of Spain in the United States premiere of Darius Milhaud
Darius Milhaud
Darius Milhaud was a French composer and teacher. He was a member of Les Six—also known as The Group of Six—and one of the most prolific composers of the 20th century. His compositions are influenced by jazz and make use of polytonality...
's Christophe Colomb
Christophe Colomb
Christophe Colomb is an opera in two parts by the French composer Darius Milhaud. The libretto, by the poet Paul Claudel, is based on his own play Le livre de Christophe Colomb about the life of Christopher Columbus. The opera was first performed at the Staatsoper, Berlin on 5 May 1930 in a German...
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....
. In 1955, he portrayed Olin Blitch in the world premiere of 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 Susannah
Susannah
Susannah is an opera in two acts by American composer Carlisle Floyd, who wrote the libretto and music while a member of the piano faculty at Florida State University. Floyd adapted the story from the Apocryphal tale of Susannah and the Elders, though the latter story has a more positive ending...
at Florida State University
Florida State University
The Florida State University is a space-grant and sea-grant public university located in Tallahassee, Florida, United States. It is a comprehensive doctoral research university with medical programs and significant research activity as determined by the Carnegie Foundation...
opposite Phyllis Curtin
Phyllis Curtin
Phyllis Curtin is an American classical soprano who had an active career in operas and concerts from the early 1950s through the 1980s. She was known for her creation of new roles such as the title role in the Carlisle Floyd opera Susannah, Catherine Earnshaw in Floyd's Wuthering Heights, and in...
in the title role. In 1956 he sang in the United States premiere of Milhaud's David 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...
.
In 1944 Mack and his wife's son, the celebrated cellist Lynn Harrell
Lynn Harrell
Lynn Harrell is an American classical cellist.-Biography:Harrell was born in New York City of musician parents; his father was the baritone Mack Harrell and his mother, Marjorie Fulton, was a violinist. At the age of eight he decided to learn to play the cello. When Lynn was 12, his family moved...
, was born. From 1945 to 1956 Harrell taught voice at The Juilliard School. In 1954 he succeeded Walter Paepcke
Walter Paepcke
Walter Paepcke was a U.S. industrialist and philanthropist prominent in the middle-20th century.-Biography:A longtime executive of the Chicago-based Container Corporation of America, Paepcke is best noted for his founding of the Aspen Institute and the Aspen Skiing Company in the early 1950s, both...
as the director of the Aspen Music Festival and School
Aspen Music Festival and School
The Aspen Music Festival and School, founded in 1949, is an internationally renowned classical music festival that presents music in an intimate, small-town setting...
, a position he held until his death in 1960. Harrell died in Dallas, aged 50.