Karan Armstrong

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Not to be confused with Karen Armstrong.

Karan Armstrong
Concordia College
OccupationOperatic soprano
OrganizationsDeutsche Oper Berlin
TitleKammersängerin
Spouse
​
​
(m. 1979; died 2000)​
Children1

Karan Armstrong (December 14, 1941 – September 28, 2021) was an American

Opéra du Rhin, she enjoyed a career at major opera houses, appearing in several opera recordings and films. Armstrong was for decades a leading soprano at the Deutsche Oper Berlin, where her husband Götz Friedrich was director. She appeared in world premieres, including Gottfried von Einem's Jesu Hochzeit, Luciano Berio's Un re in ascolto and York Höller's Der Meister und Margarita. She was awarded the title Kammersängerin
twice.

Biography

Armstrong was born in

San Francisco Spring Opera the following year, as Elvira in Rossini's L'italiana in Algeri.[4]

In 1966, Armstrong won the

Hänsel und Gretel (with Teresa Stratas as Gretel).[6][7] She appeared as a guest at the Santa Fe Opera as Adina in Donizetti's L'elisir d'amore in 1968.[8]

Preferable contracts emanated from the New York City Opera, and she made her first appearance with that company as the Reine de Chémakhâ in Rimsky-Korsakov's Le coq d'or (with Michael Devlin) in 1969.[9] She appeared at the theatre many times through 1977,[8] singing such roles as Conceptión in Ravel's L'heure espagnol (with Kenneth Riegel), Blonde in Mozart's Die Entführung aus dem Serail (with Patricia Brooks and later Beverly Sills as Konstanze), and the title roles in La traviata, Offenbach's La belle Hélène and Puccini's La fanciulla del West, among others.[10]

In 1974, she first appeared in Europe, as Micaëla in Bizet's

The Royal Opera House (as Berg's Lulu, which Robert Craft described as "accurately sung and perfectly enacted"[14]), Los Angeles, and at the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow.[12]

She appeared in several operatic world premieres, including

Dialogues des Carmélites (as Mother Marie of the Incarnation).[15]

In 1985, Armstrong was named a

Flanders Opera,[17] the Queen of Hearts in Unsuk Chin's Alice in Wonderland in Geneva,[17] and Cecily 'Cissy' Robson in Ronald Harwood's play Quartet in Berlin.[18] In 2015, she sang Geneviève in a concert performance of Pelléas et Mélisande in Turin, conducted by Juraj Valčuha.[19]

Personal

Armstrong was married for many years to the stage director and impresario Götz Friedrich.[15][20] Their marriage ended with Friedrich's death, in 2000.[15] The couple had one son, Johannes.[21]

Armstrong died in Marbella, Spain, on September 28, 2021, at the age of 79.[3][22][23]

Discography

Source:[8]

Videography

References

  1. ^ Francisco Salazar, Obituary: Soprano Karan Armstrong Dies at 79, Opera Wire, October 5, 2021, https://operawire.com/obituary-soprano-karan-armstrong-dies-at-79/
  2. ^ a b c d e f "Karan Armstrong (USA/Deutschland)". Lotte Lehmann Akademie, Perleberg (in German). Retrieved August 7, 2021.
  3. ^ a b Hanssen, Frederic (September 29, 2021). "Die Sopranistin Karan Armstrong ist tot". Der Tagesspiegel (in German). Retrieved September 29, 2021.
  4. ^ San Francisco Opera Archives, sfopera.com; accessed July 29, 2015.
  5. ^ "Die Frau ohne Schatten Metropolitan Opera House: 10/2/1966. (Metropolitan Opera Premiere)". Metropolitan Opera Association. October 2, 1966. Archived from the original on September 29, 2021. Retrieved September 29, 2021.
  6. ^ Profile, metoperafamily.org; accessed July 29, 2015.
  7. ^ "Karan Armstrong Performances". Metropolitan Opera Association. Retrieved September 29, 2021.
  8. ^
    ISBN 978-3-598-44088-5
    . Retrieved September 29, 2021.
  9. ^ "New 'Coq d'Or' Queen Is Karan Armstrong". The New York Times. April 7, 1969. Retrieved September 29, 2021.
  10. ^ "City Opera Presents "Fanciulla"". The New York Times. November 3, 1977. Retrieved September 30, 2021.
  11. ^ Karan Armstron (in German). Bayreuth Festival. Retrieved September 29, 2021.
  12. ^ a b "Karan Armstrong-Friedrich". Götz-Friedrich-Stiftung. Retrieved September 30, 2021.
  13. ^ a b c "Im Gedenken an Kammersängerin Karan Armstrong". Deutsche Oper Berlin (in German). 2021. Retrieved September 29, 2021.
  14. ^ An Improbable Life, by Robert Craft, Vanderbilt University Press, 2002
  15. ^ a b c Baumgartner, Edwin (September 29, 2021). "Todesfall". Bühne – Wiener Zeitung Online (in German). Retrieved September 29, 2021.
  16. ^ ""Aufstieg und Fall der Stadt Mahagonny" von Bertolt Brecht im THEATER ERFURT". Theaterkompass – Für Theaterbesucher und Theatermacher (in German). February 14, 2009. Retrieved September 30, 2021.
  17. ^ a b "Biography of Karan Armstrong (1941-VVVV)". TheBiography.us. December 14, 1941. Archived from the original on September 30, 2021. Retrieved September 30, 2021.
  18. ^ "QUARTETTO von Ronald Harwood". Theaterkompass – Für Theaterbesucher und Theatermacher (in German). June 15, 2016. Retrieved September 30, 2021.
  19. ^ "Pelléas et Mélisande – Musica". Rai Cultura (in Italian). March 11, 2019. Retrieved September 30, 2021.
  20. ^ "Armstrong Proves a Soubrette Also Rises". Los Angeles Times. October 14, 1988. Retrieved September 30, 2021.
  21. ^ "Gotz Friedrich, 70, Longtime Chief Of Prestigious Berlin Opera House". The New York Times. December 15, 2000. Retrieved March 25, 2008.
  22. ^ "Sopranistin Karan Armstrong gestorben". Berliner Morgenpost (in German). September 29, 2021. Retrieved September 29, 2021.
  23. ^ Hafner, Martina (September 29, 2021). "Opern-Diva Karan Armstrong gestorben". B.Z. Berlin (in German). Retrieved September 29, 2021.

Bibliography

External links
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