Marilyn Tyler
Encyclopedia
Marilyn Tyler is an American operatic soprano
, former director of Opera Studies and Emeritus Faculty Member at the University of New Mexico
. As a soloist, she worked with many notable conductors such as Leonard Bernstein
, Sir Georg Solti, Bernard Haitink
, Jean Fournet
, Charles Groves
, Brian Priestman
, Colin Davis
, Carlo Maria Giulini
, Otto Ackermann
, Erich Leinsdorf
, Christoph von Dohnányi
, and Charles Munch.
The major orchestras she sang with include The Boston Symphony, The London Philharmonic, The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, The Rotterdam Philharmonic, Radio Filharmonisch Orkest, The New York Philharmonic, Concertgebouw, The Vienna Philharmonic, The BBC Symphony, The Cologne Radio Symphony, The Vienna Radio Orchestra, The Saint Cecilia Orchestra, The San Diego Symphony, The Canadian Symphony, and The Frankfurt Symphony.
In her 25 years as a performer she sang over seventy opera roles in eight languages. Notable debuts included Constanza in The Abduction from the Seraglio at Rome Opera, Violetta in La traviata
with the Royal Nederlandse Opera, and Susanna in Le nozze di Figaro at the Holland Festival, where the cast included Elizabeth Schwarzkopf as the Countess, Hermann Prey
as Figaro, and Eberhard Wächter as the Count. She created numerous roles in world premiere operas, such as "Die Schwarze Spinne" by Josef Matthias Hauer, "Martin Korda" by Henk Badings, and "Raskolnikoff" by Heinrich Sütermeister, to name a few. Tyler also sang and recorded many works with the BBC, and received the UNESCO Award for the best recording of a contemporary composition for orchestra and soprano.
Tyler received a stellar review in the January 2010 edition of Opera News for her 1965 recording of Handel's "Serse", in which she sang the role of Atalanta. The opera was remastered and released by Deutsche Grammophon. The article said "Marilyn Tyler is superb as Romilda's sister Atalanta, her dusky soprano providing a clear contrast to Popp's gleaming tone, and she exhibits an impressive range up to a brilliantly finessed high D in the final cadenza of "Voi mi dite."
In the late 1970's, Tyler moved to Tehran, Iran to direct for the Western-style Iran Opera, created by Empress Farah Diba. After the Iranian Revolution of 1979, she remained in Iran for nine frightening months before escaping into Pakistan, where she became the director of the U.S. Information Service's Pakistan-American Cultural Center in Karachi. Tyler remained there for two years until the U.S. Embassy in Karachi was attacked. She returned to the U.S., and taught for a short time at Jacksonville University in Florida before entering into her position at the University of New Mexico.
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...
, former director of Opera Studies and Emeritus Faculty Member at the University of New Mexico
University of New Mexico
The University of New Mexico at Albuquerque is a public research university located in Albuquerque, New Mexico, in the United States. It is the state's flagship research institution...
. As a soloist, she worked with many notable conductors such as Leonard Bernstein
Leonard Bernstein
Leonard Bernstein August 25, 1918 – October 14, 1990) was an American conductor, composer, author, music lecturer and pianist. He was among the first conductors born and educated in the United States of America to receive worldwide acclaim...
, Sir Georg Solti, Bernard Haitink
Bernard Haitink
Bernard Johan Herman Haitink, CH, KBE is a Dutch conductor and violinist.- Early life :Haitink was born in Amsterdam, the son of Willem Haitink and Anna Haitink. He studied music at the conservatoire in Amsterdam...
, Jean Fournet
Jean Fournet
Jean Fournet was a French conductor.Fournet’s father was a flutist who gave him some instruction on the flute and music theory. Fournet was then trained at the Conservatoire de Paris in flute by Gaston Blanquart and Marcel Moyse, and conducting by Philippe Gaubert...
, Charles Groves
Charles Groves
Sir Charles Barnard Groves CBE was an English conductor. He was known for the breadth of his repertoire and for encouraging contemporary composers and young conductors....
, Brian Priestman
Brian Priestman
Brian Priestman is a British conductor and music educator.Priestman studied at the University of Birmingham and the Conservatoire Royal de Bruxelles, Belgium....
, Colin Davis
Colin Davis
Sir Colin Rex Davis, CH, CBE is an English conductor. His repertoire is broad, but among the composers with whom he is particularly associated are Mozart, Berlioz, Elgar, Sibelius, Stravinsky and Tippett....
, Carlo Maria Giulini
Carlo Maria Giulini
Carlo Maria Giulini was an Italian conductor.-Biography:Giulini was born in Barletta, Italy, to a father born in Lombardy and a mother born in Naples; but he was raised in Bolzano, which at the time of his birth was part of Austria...
, Otto Ackermann
Otto Ackermann
Otto Ackermann was a Romanian conductor who made his career mainly in Switzerland.He studied at the Hochschule, Berlin, conducted the Royal Romanian Opera when aged only 15, and then held many important appointments as operatic conductor, beginning with Düsseldorf Opera, 1928-1932...
, Erich Leinsdorf
Erich Leinsdorf
Erich Leinsdorf was a naturalized American Austrian conductor. He performed and recorded with leading orchestras and opera companies throughout the United States and Europe, earning a reputation for exacting standards as well as an acerbic personality...
, Christoph von Dohnányi
Christoph von Dohnányi
Christoph von Dohnányi is a German conductor of Hungarian ancestry.- Youth and World War II :Dohnányi was born in Berlin, Germany to jurist Hans von Dohnányi and Christine Bonhoeffer. His uncle on his mother's side was Dietrich Bonhoeffer, a Lutheran pastor and theologian/ethicist...
, and Charles Munch.
The major orchestras she sang with include The Boston Symphony, The London Philharmonic, The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, The Rotterdam Philharmonic, Radio Filharmonisch Orkest, The New York Philharmonic, Concertgebouw, The Vienna Philharmonic, The BBC Symphony, The Cologne Radio Symphony, The Vienna Radio Orchestra, The Saint Cecilia Orchestra, The San Diego Symphony, The Canadian Symphony, and The Frankfurt Symphony.
In her 25 years as a performer she sang over seventy opera roles in eight languages. Notable debuts included Constanza in The Abduction from the Seraglio at Rome Opera, Violetta 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...
with the Royal Nederlandse Opera, and Susanna in Le nozze di Figaro at the Holland Festival, where the cast included Elizabeth Schwarzkopf as the Countess, Hermann Prey
Hermann Prey
Hermann Prey was a German lyric baritone. He is most famous for lieder and for light comic baritone roles in opera.-Biography:...
as Figaro, and Eberhard Wächter as the Count. She created numerous roles in world premiere operas, such as "Die Schwarze Spinne" by Josef Matthias Hauer, "Martin Korda" by Henk Badings, and "Raskolnikoff" by Heinrich Sütermeister, to name a few. Tyler also sang and recorded many works with the BBC, and received the UNESCO Award for the best recording of a contemporary composition for orchestra and soprano.
Tyler received a stellar review in the January 2010 edition of Opera News for her 1965 recording of Handel's "Serse", in which she sang the role of Atalanta. The opera was remastered and released by Deutsche Grammophon. The article said "Marilyn Tyler is superb as Romilda's sister Atalanta, her dusky soprano providing a clear contrast to Popp's gleaming tone, and she exhibits an impressive range up to a brilliantly finessed high D in the final cadenza of "Voi mi dite."
In the late 1970's, Tyler moved to Tehran, Iran to direct for the Western-style Iran Opera, created by Empress Farah Diba. After the Iranian Revolution of 1979, she remained in Iran for nine frightening months before escaping into Pakistan, where she became the director of the U.S. Information Service's Pakistan-American Cultural Center in Karachi. Tyler remained there for two years until the U.S. Embassy in Karachi was attacked. She returned to the U.S., and taught for a short time at Jacksonville University in Florida before entering into her position at the University of New Mexico.
Sources
- http://epaper.abqjournal.com/Olive/ODE/AJSPECIALS/Default.aspx?href=SP/2011/08/21, Albuquerque Journal Special Sections, August 21, 2011
- Faculty page, University of New Mexico
- Time Magazine, "Music: Withering Paradise?", May. 28, 1956
- Opera News, "HANDEL: Serse