- Arleen Auger
Joyce Arleen Auger (or Augér) (September 13, 1939 - June 10, 1993) was an American
soprano singer, admired for hercoloratura voice and interpretations of works byBach ,Handel ,Haydn ,Monteverdi ,Gluck , andMozart .Auger was born in
South Gate , Southern California and lived inHartsdale, New York . She learned piano and violin as a child. She received a BA in Education fromCalifornia State University at Long Beach in 1963, and her first job was as akindergarten and first grade teacher.Between 1965 and 1967, she studied voice from with
tenor Ralph Errolle inEvanston, Illinois , and began her professional singing career after winning the I. Viktor Fuchs Vocal Competition in Los Angeles in 1967, which brought her some singing engagements and airfare toVienna ; she also appeared with theLos Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra at this time. She was signed by theVienna Staatsoper soon after her arrival there despite her lack of knowledge of the German language, after impressingJosef Krips , remaining with the company for seven years. Her debut was inMozart 's "Die Zauberflöte " underJosef Krips ; she made her American debut with the same opera in 1969, with theNew York City Opera . HerMetropolitan Opera debut was as Marzelline inBeethoven 's "Fidelio ", underKarl Böhm .Given background in education, Auger was a natural vocal teacher. She taught from 1971 to 1977 at the
Goethe University inFrankfurt am Main , where she moved in 1974, and later taught at theSalzburg Mozarteum . Her debut atLa Scala was in 1975 in "L’enfant et les sortilèges". From this time, she turned to lyrical roles in opera, preferring to focus on her career as a concert singer, inearly music as well aslieder , often accompanied in the latter by pianist Irwin Gage. She performed most of the soprano parts inHelmuth Rilling 's Bachcantata cycle of the mid-1970s to mid-1980s, and at the other end of the spectrum, commissioned newsong cycle s byLibby Larsen ("Sonnets from the Portuguese") andJudith Zaimont .She performed Mozart's "
Exsultate, Jubilate " inWestminster Abbey on July 23 1986 to over 700 million TV viewers at the wedding ofPrince Andrew andSarah Ferguson ; she later recorded this work along with the "Great Mass in C minor " underLeonard Bernstein , in 1990. OnDecember 5 1991 , the bicentenary of Mozart's death, she sang his "Requiem" withCecilia Bartoli and theVienna Philharmonic conducted byGeorg Solti inSt. Stephen's Cathedral , Vienna, by this time already suffering from brain cancer. She made over two hundred recordings, including the complete sopranocantata s of Bach and the works ofSchoenberg .Auger won a
Grammy for Best Classical Vocal Performance [Grammy Award for Best Classical Vocal Performance ] in 1994 for her performances on the 1993 "The Art of Arlene Auger" (Koch International Classics 3-7248-2H1). The release was also notable for its recording debut of "Sonnets from the Portuguese" by American composerLibby Larsen . Auger also recorded forDelos International [ [http://www.delosmus.com Official website of Delos] ] . Stereophile's Jason Serinus wrote that her "exquisite album of Love Songs remains one of the finest compendiums of classical song ever issued."Music critic Tim Page wrote that she was "the sort of artist whose work not only provided pleasure for her audience but also instruction for her colleagues [...] by any standards, hers was an exemplary career [...] She sang beautifully for more than a quarter century, she sang great music, and she never bowed or pandered to public taste. She was an artist, steady and serious to the end."
She retired in February 1992, after being diagnosed with a malignant
brain tumour , a mass in the rightparietal lobe of her brain which turned out to be a giant cell glialblastoma . After three brain surgeries, she died at the age of 53 inBarneveld ,Leusden , the Netherlands] , where she had lived during her illness. A memorial service in her honor was held at the Frank E. Campbell Funeral Chapel where works by Bach, Mozart, Faure and others were performed by several well known muscians includingRenee Fleming andKaren Holvik . [ [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9F0CE3DB113CF937A1575BC0A965958260&scp=40&sq=%22Renee+Fleming%22&st=nyt New York Times] ] She was married and divorced twice, and was survived by her parents and brother.Media
* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AyntHSm_0VE Arleen Auger and Cecilia Bartoli sing "Benedictus" from Mozart's Requiem. Video.]
* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vEn-xFrXYw4&feature=related Arleen sings "Exultate, Jubilate" by Mozart at the royal marriage in London. Video.]
* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YJJT108WZ7o&feature=related Arleen sings "Et incarnatus est" from Mozart Mass in C minor. Video.]Notes
External links
*http://www.arleen-auger-memorial-fund.org/ - information, pictures, music samples
* [http://www.bach-cantatas.com/Bio/Auger-Arleen.htm Bach-cantatas.com: Arleen Auger] - pictures
*http://www.stereophile.com/news/032607haygood/ - opinion
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