Clarence Eugene Whitehill (November 5, 1871 - December 19, 1932) was a leading American

bass-baritone A bass-baritone is a high-lying bass or low-lying "classical" baritone voice type which shares certain qualities with the true baritone voice. The term arose in the late 19th century to describe the particular type of voice required to sing three ...

who sang at the

Metropolitan Opera The Metropolitan Opera is an American opera company based in New York City, currently resident at the Metropolitan Opera House (Lincoln Center), Metropolitan Opera House at Lincoln Center, situated on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. Referred ...

from 1915 to 1932. He sang on both sides of the Atlantic and is remembered for his association with the music dramas of

Richard Wagner Wilhelm Richard Wagner ( ; ; 22 May 181313 February 1883) was a German composer, theatre director, essayist, and conductor who is chiefly known for his operas (or, as some of his mature works were later known, "music dramas"). Unlike most o ...

, and for his recordings of well-known music hall ballads such as "I'll take you home again, Kathleen".

Biography

He was born on November 5, 1871, in Marengo, Iowa. Whitehill studied in Chicago with L. A. Phelps, and then in Paris with Giraudet and Giovanni Sbriglia. In 1898, he made his stage debut at La Monnaie in Brussels, as Capulet in '' Roméo et Juliette''. He sang Nilakhanta at the

Opéra-Comique The Opéra-Comique () is a Paris opera company which was founded around 1714 by some of the popular Théâtre de la foire, theatres of the Parisian fairs. In 1762 the company was merged with – and for a time took the name of – its chief riva ...

the next year, becoming the first ever American singer to perform in that theatre. Whitehill travelled to

Frankfurt, Germany Frankfurt am Main () is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 773,068 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located in the foreland of the Taunus on its namesake Main, it forms a contin ...

, to study with Julius Stockhausen. He appeared on stage in several German cities, while studying the Wagnerian baritone and bass-baritone roles. In 1904, he debuted at the

Bayreuth Festival The Bayreuth Festival () is a music festival held annually in Bayreuth, Germany, at which performances of stage works by the 19th-century German composer Richard Wagner are presented. Wagner himself conceived and promoted the idea of a special ...

as Wolfram in '' Tannhäuser''. Later, he sang Amfortas and

Wotan (''The Ring of the Nibelung''), WWV 86, is a cycle of four German-language epic music dramas composed by Richard Wagner. The works are based loosely on characters from Germanic heroic legend, namely Norse legendary sagas and the . The compos ...

. Whitehill went on to appear with considerable success at the

Royal Opera House The Royal Opera House (ROH) is a theatre in Covent Garden, central London. The building is often referred to as simply Covent Garden, after a previous use of the site. The ROH is the main home of The Royal Opera, The Royal Ballet, and the Orch ...

Covent Garden Covent Garden is a district in London, on the eastern fringes of the West End, between St Martin's Lane and Drury Lane. It is associated with the former fruit-and-vegetable market in the central square, now a popular shopping and tourist sit ...

, London, in the first '' Ring Cycle'' sung in the English. He decided, however, that the time had come for him to leave Europe and return to America, and he made his

debut. on November 25, 1909. He married Isabel Rush on July 24, 1912. She was the widow of James Rervey Simpson. He would enjoy a long and praiseworthy career at the Met despite a throat ailment which periodically affected one of his vocal cords. He was especially acclaimed in such taxing Wagnerian parts as Hans Sachs in ''

Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg (; "The Master-Singers of Nuremberg"), WWV 96, is a music drama, or opera, in three acts, by Richard Wagner. It is the longest opera commonly performed, taking nearly four and a half hours, not counting two breaks between acts, and is traditio ...

'', but he also appeared in the Met premiere of the French operas '' Louise'' (in 1921) and '' Pelléas et Mélisande'' (in 1925), and in the North American premiere of

Erich Wolfgang Korngold Erich Wolfgang Korngold (; May 29, 1897 – November 29, 1957) was an Austrian composer and conductor, who fled Europe in the mid-1930s and later adopted US nationality. A child prodigy, he became one of the most important and influential comp ...

's one-act opera '' Violanta'' (on 5 November 1927). He was to remain on the Met's roster of singers until May 14, 1932, when he retired in a dispute. He died on December 19, 1932, in

Manhattan, New York City Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the smallest county by area in the U.S. state of New York. Located almost entire ...

Legacy

Whitehill was notable for the tonal beauty of his large voice, the nobility of his singing style and the dignity of his stage demeanour. His diction, phrasing and enunciation were considered to be exemplary, too, while his interpretations were said to have a poignant intensity which set them apart from those of his contemporaries. Fortunately, Whitehill made a number of

gramophone record A phonograph record (also known as a gramophone record, especially in British English) or a vinyl record (for later varieties only) is an analog sound storage medium in the form of a flat disc with an inscribed, modulated spiral groove. The g ...

s prior to

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

which display something of his greatness as a Wagnerian singer.Many of these recordings are available on CD reissues. For a discussion of their qualities, see Michael Scott's ''The Record of Singing'', Volume One (Duckworth, London, 1977).

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Whitehill, Clarence 1871 births 1932 deaths People from Marengo, Iowa Singers from Iowa American operatic bass-baritones 19th-century American male opera singers 20th-century American male opera singers Classical musicians from Iowa