Biography

Born Robert Wiedefeld in Baltimore, Maryland, Weede studied voice at the Eastman School of Music

Eastman School of Music

The Eastman School of Music is a music conservatory located in Rochester, New York. The Eastman School is a professional school within the University of Rochester...

 and in Milan. He made his 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 in 1937, as Tonio 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...

. His other roles at the Metropolitan included the name part in Rigoletto

Rigoletto

Rigoletto is an opera in three acts by Giuseppe Verdi. The Italian libretto was written by Francesco Maria Piave based on the play Le roi s'amuse by Victor Hugo. It was first performed at La Fenice in Venice on March 11, 1851...

(opposite Jussi Björling

Jussi Björling

Johan Jonatan "Jussi" Björling was a Swedish tenor. One of the leading operatic singers of the 20th Century, Björling appeared frequently at the Royal Opera House in London, La Scala in Milan, and the Metropolitan Opera in New York City as well as at other major European opera...

), Amonasro (Aïda

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...

), Manfredo (L'amore dei tre re

L'amore dei tre re

L'amore dei tre re is an opera in three acts by Italo Montemezzi. Its Italian-language libretto was written by playwright Sem Benelli who based it on his own play of the same title.-Performance history:...

), Shaklovity (Khovanshchina

Khovanshchina

Khovanshchina is an opera in five acts by Modest Mussorgsky. The work was written between 1872 and 1880 in St. Petersburg, Russia. The composer wrote the libretto based on historical sources...

) and Baron Scarpia (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...

). It was with Rigoletto, that he made his debuts in Chicago (1939), San Francisco (1940), and 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...

 (1948).

At the New York City Opera, Weede also sang 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...

and in the world premiere of William Grant Still

William Grant Still

William Grant Still was an African-American classical composer who wrote more than 150 compositions. He was the first African American to conduct a major American symphony orchestra, the first to have a symphony performed by a leading orchestra, the first to have an opera performed by a major...

's Troubled Island

Troubled Island

Troubled Island is an American opera in three acts composed by William Grant Still , with a libretto begun by poet Langston Hughes and completed by Verna Arvey...

, opposite Marie Powers

Marie Powers

Marie Powers was an American contralto who was best known for her performance as Madame Flora in Gian Carlo Menotti’s The Medium, a role that she played on stage, screen and television....

, Marguerite Piazza

Marguerite Piazza

Marguerite Piazza is an American soprano and entertainer.In 1935, Piazza was the first Queen of the Krewe of Virgilians, during Mardi Gras, in New Orleans. A 1940 graduate of Loyola University of the South's College of Music, she then studied at Louisiana State University, where she was a student...

 and Robert McFerrin

Robert McFerrin

Robert McFerrin Sr. was the first African-American male to sing at the Metropolitan Opera in New York City...

. In Mexico City, the baritone appeared with Maria Callas

Maria Callas

Maria Callas was an American-born Greek soprano and one of the most renowned opera singers of the 20th century. She combined an impressive bel canto technique, a wide-ranging voice and great dramatic gifts...

 in 1950, in Aïda

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...

and 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...

. Later, he sang again with Callas in Chicago, in Il trovatore

Il trovatore

Il trovatore is an opera in four acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Salvadore Cammarano, based on the play El Trovador by Antonio García Gutiérrez. Cammarano died in mid-1852 before completing the libretto...

and 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...

.

In 1956, he scored a great success on Broadway

Broadway theatre

Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...

 as Tony Esposito in the original production of Frank Loesser

Frank Loesser

Frank Henry Loesser was an American songwriter who wrote the lyrics and scores to the Broadway hits Guys and Dolls and How To Succeed In Business Without Really Trying, among others. He won separate Tony Awards for the music and lyrics in both shows, as well as sharing the Pulitzer Prize for...

's The Most Happy Fella

The Most Happy Fella

The Most Happy Fella is a 1956 musical with a book, music, and lyrics by Frank Loesser. The story, about a romance between an older man and younger woman, is based on the play They Knew What They Wanted by Sidney Howard...

, which was recorded by Columbia Records

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...

. He was also seen on Broadway in Milk and Honey

Milk and Honey (musical)

Milk and Honey is a musical with a book by Don Appell and music and lyrics by Jerry Herman. The story centers on a busload of lonely American widows hoping to catch husbands while touring Israel and is set against the background of the country's fight for recognition as an independent nation...

(1961-63, also recorded) and Cry for Us All

Cry for Us All

Cry for Us All is a musical with a book by William Alfred and Albert Marre, lyrics by Alfred and Phyllis Robinson, and music by Mitch Leigh. In response to poor advance sales, the title was...

(1970).

Weede's operatic recordings include excerpts from Bizet's Carmen, for Columbia in 1946, with Risë Stevens

Risë Stevens

Risë Stevens is a retired American operatic mezzo-soprano.-Professional life:Stevens studied at New York's Juilliard School for three years. She went to Vienna, where she was trained by Marie Gutheil-Schoder and Herbert Graf. She made her début as Mignon in Prague in 1936 and stayed there until...

 conducted by Georges Sébastian

Georges Sébastian

Georges Sébastian was a French conductor of Hungarian birth, particularly associated with Wagner and the post-romantic repertory ....

; and an album of arias by Verdi for Capitol Records in 1953, conducted by Nicola Rescigno

Nicola Rescigno

Nicola Rescigno was an Italian-American conductor, particularly associated with the Italian opera repertory. Opera News said that "Rescigno was a seminal figure in the history of opera in America, a maestro and mentor who shaped the destiny and reputation of two major U.S...

. In 2006, Lebendige Vergangenheit published a Compact Disc of excerpts from his Bizet and Verdi recordings, as well as various live performances from 1948 through 1954.

Weede often gave assistance to younger singers, especially John Alexander

John Alexander (tenor)

John Alexander was an American operatic tenor who had a substantial career during the 1950s through the 1980s. He had a long standing relationship with the Metropolitan Opera in New York City, singing with that company every year between 1961 and 1987 for a total of 379 performances...

, Dominic Cossa

Dominic Cossa

Dominic Cossa is an American operatic lyric baritone particularly associated with the Italian and French repertoire.-Biography:...

, 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....

, Seymour Schwartzman

Seymour Schwartzman

Seymour Schwartzman was an American cantor and opera singer. He was a principal baritone at New York City Opera where he sang over thirty roles and also performed internationally in opera houses and on the concert stage...

 and Norman Treigle

Norman Treigle

Norman Treigle was an American operatic bass-baritone, who was acclaimed for his great abilities as a singing-actor, and specialized in roles that evoked villainy and terror....

.
He died in Walnut Creek, California

Walnut Creek, California

Walnut Creek is an incorporated city located east of the city of Oakland. It lies in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area. While not as large as neighboring Concord, Walnut Creek serves as the business and entertainment hub for the neighboring cities within central Contra Costa...

, in 1972.

External links

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F6Ioixst55I YouTube: Robert Weede in an excerpt from Il trovatore (audio only, 1952).