Nell Rankin

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An autographed photo of Nell Rankin.

Nell Rankin (January 3, 1924 – January 13, 2005) was an American operatic mezzo-soprano. Though a successful opera singer internationally, she spent most of her career at the Metropolitan Opera, where she worked from 1951 to 1976. She was particularly admired for her portrayals of Amneris in Verdi's Aida and the title role in Bizet's Carmen. Opera News said, "Her full, generous tone and bold phrasing, especially in the Italian repertory, were unique among American mezzos of her generation.[1]

Early life and education

Born in

Birmingham Conservatory. In order to pay for her lessons with Lorraine, Rankin rented the Huntingdon College pool and spent her summers teaching the children of Montgomery to swim. Helen Traubel visited the conservatory to perform a recital in 1943. Determined to succeed in an opera career, Rankin went backstage and persuaded Traubel's accompanist, Coenraad V. Bos, to hear her sing. On Bos's advice, she moved to New York City to continue her studies with Karin Branzell. Her sister, Ruth Rankin, a soprano with similar ambitions, moved with her.[1]

Career

Rankin made her professional recital debut at

Samson et Dalila. That same year she became the first American singer to win the first prize at the International Music Competition in Geneva, which raised Rankin's profile in the opera world; she soon received invitations to perform at many of the world's best opera houses.[2]

In 1951 she debuted at the

New York Times said of her performance, "Not only is Miss Rankin's a voice of power and range, but it is as warm as the red color of the dress she wore. Her voice is beautifully trained so that it flows purely and evenly no matter how long sustained or how quickly stated."[4]

Rankin was one of the singers honored in the Metropolitan Opera's Centennial Concert in 1983. Many veteran singers of the company were asked to sit on the stage for the second half of the performance. In a 2002 Opera News interview, Rankin said that the single most memorable musical event in her career took place in 1952. Her husband was in the Air Force in North Africa, and she was engaged to give a solo concert on the Mediterranean coast, in an open-air theater forty miles outside Tripoli. "Imagine", says Rankin, "Libya was still a kingdom then, and King Idris had a piano flown in from Egypt, while an American cruiser was stationed near the shore to illuminate the stage. The whole thing was unreal and unforgettable."[2]

Although Rankin made appearances with several major companies throughout her career, she spent most of her time in New York City performing at the Metropolitan Opera between 1951 and 1976; there she sang the role of Carmen, the Princess di Bouillon in

Don Carlo, Ulrica in Verdi's Un ballo in maschera, Brangäne in Wagner's Tristan und Isolde, Gutrune in Wagner's Götterdämmerung, Fricka in Wagner's Die Walküre and Ortrud in Wagner's Lohengrin among others. Her last performance with the company was as Laura in Ponchielli's La Gioconda on April 16, 1976.[5]

Other notable performances in Rankin's career include the starring role in

Teatro San Carlo in Naples as Adalgisa in Bellini's Norma in 1963. In 1971, she appeared as Carmen in the very first production made by the Lyric Opera Company of Long Island.[7]

She appeared at the Teatro Colón, Bellas Artes Opera in Mexico City, the Liceu in Barcelona and a score of other companies in Europe and North America. She was an admired recitalist and concert singer throughout her career. She was asked often asked by Sir Rudolf Bing to look soprano roles such as Elsa in Lohengrin. "Mr. Bing, I AM as soprano, but I am a MEZZO soprano." This is advice she would also give her students. After she retired from the Metropolitan Opera, Rankin devoted herself to teaching, first at the Academy of Vocal Arts in Philadelphia, from 1977 to 1984. Among her students were Tenor Richard Burke, Bass-Baritone Lucas Ernst, and Mezzo-Soprano Wanda Brister. She taught privately in New York City until she retired in 1991.[citation needed]

Recordings

Rankin made few commercial recordings during her career. Although she was under contract with the

radio broadcast in Vienna
, a recording of Verdi's Requiem at La Scala from that same year, and the 1960 La Scala production of Berlioz's Les Troyens.

Personal life

In 1952, Rankin married Dr. Hugh Clark Davidson, a physician. They had no children. They were married for 53 years until her death of polycythemia vera, a rare blood cancer, in 2005, aged 81, at Cabrini Medical Center in New York City.[1]

References

  1. ^ a b c d Allan Kozinn (January 19, 2005). "Nell Rankin Is Dead at 81; Mezzo-Soprano With Met". The New York Times.
  2. ^ a b c Opera News April 2003
  3. ^ Profile, USAToday.com; accessed July 10, 2015.
  4. ^ Profile, nytimes.com, January 12, 1953.
  5. ^ Profile, Metropolitan Opera Archives; accessed July 10, 2015.
  6. ^ Lyric Opera of Chicago Archives Archived 2008-09-06 at the Wayback Machine
  7. ^ Profile, New York Times, November 28, 1971.

External links

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