Leonard Warren
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Leonard Warren (April 21, 1911 – March 4, 1960) was an American
operatic Opera is a form of History of theatre#European theatre, Western theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by Singing, singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically ...
baritone A baritone is a type of classical music, classical male singing human voice, voice whose vocal range lies between the bass (voice type), bass and the tenor voice type, voice-types. It is the most common male voice. The term originates from the ...
who was a leading artist for many years with 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 ...
in New York City. Especially noted for his portrayals of the major baritone roles in the operas of
Giuseppe Verdi Giuseppe Fortunino Francesco Verdi ( ; ; 9 or 10 October 1813 – 27 January 1901) was an Italian composer best known for List of compositions by Giuseppe Verdi, his operas. He was born near Busseto, a small town in the province of Parma ...
, he had few rival baritones in his time. His power and range were the highlights of his vocal instrument.


Biography

Born Leonard Warenoff in
the Bronx The Bronx ( ) is the northernmost of the five Boroughs of New York City, boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. It shares a land border with Westchester County, New York, West ...
to Russian Jewish immigrant parents, Warren was first employed in his father's fur business. In 1935, he joined the chorus at
Radio City Music Hall Radio City Music Hall (also known as Radio City) is an entertainment venue and Theater (structure), theater at 1260 Sixth Avenue (Manhattan), Avenue of the Americas, within Rockefeller Center, in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York C ...
. In 1938, he entered the Metropolitan Opera Auditions of the Air. The Met sent him to Italy that summer with a stipend to study. Returning to the United States, Warren made his concert debut at the Metropolitan Opera in excerpts from '' La traviata'' and ''
Pagliacci ''Pagliacci'' (; literal translation, 'Clowns') is an Italian opera in a prologue and two acts, with music and libretto by Ruggero Leoncavallo. The opera tells the tale of Canio, actor and leader of a commedia dell'arte theatrical company, who mu ...
'' during a concert in New York City in November 1938. His operatic debut took place there in January 1939, when he sang Paolo in '' Simon Boccanegra''. A recording contract with
RCA Victor RCA Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Group Corporation. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside Columbia Records (its former longtime rival), Arista Records and Epic ...
soon followed. Warren later sang in San Francisco, Chicago, Mexico City and Buenos Aires, and he appeared at
La Scala La Scala (, , ; officially , ) is a historic opera house in Milan, Milan, Italy. The theatre was inaugurated on 3 August 1778 and was originally known as (, which previously was Santa Maria della Scala, Milan, a church). The premiere performa ...
in Milan in 1953. In 1958, he made a tour of the Soviet Union, but for most of his career he remained in New York City and sang at the Met. In 1950, he converted to
Roman Catholicism The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...
, the faith of his wife Agatha, and became extremely devout. Although he sang Tonio in ''Pagliacci'', Escamillo in ''
Carmen ''Carmen'' () is an opera in four acts by the French composer Georges Bizet. The libretto was written by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy, based on the novella of the same title by Prosper Mérimée. The opera was first performed by the O ...
'', and Scarpia in ''
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 dell'Opera di Roma, Teatro Costanzi in Rome on 14 January 1900. The work, based on Victorien Sardou's 1 ...
'', he was particularly acclaimed as an interpreter of the great Verdi baritone roles, above all the title role in ''
Rigoletto ''Rigoletto'' is an opera in three acts by Giuseppe Verdi. The Italian libretto was written by Francesco Maria Piave based on the 1832 play '' Le roi s'amuse'' by Victor Hugo. Despite serious initial problems with the Austrian censors who had c ...
'', which was captured in 1950 on an RCA Victor recording with soprano Erna Berger and tenor Jan Peerce, conducted by Renato Cellini, the first opera recorded for release on LP records. In 1944, Warren also sang the role of ''Rigoletto'' in a Red Cross benefit concert held at
Madison Square Garden Madison Square Garden, colloquially known as the Garden or by its initials MSG, is a multi-purpose indoor arena in New York City. It is located in Midtown Manhattan between Seventh Avenue (Manhattan), Seventh and Eighth Avenue (Manhattan), Eig ...
featuring the final act of the opera. Jan Peerce again sang the role of the Duke and Zinka Milanov was Gilda, with the NBC Symphony Orchestra conducted by
Arturo Toscanini Arturo Toscanini (; ; March 25, 1867January 16, 1957) was an Italian conductor. He was one of the most acclaimed and influential musicians of the late 19th and early 20th century, renowned for his intensity, his perfectionism, his ear for orche ...
. This ''Rigoletto'' excerpt was later released on records and CD by RCA Victor and the entire concert was available years later on various unofficial CD releases. Warren's other published complete opera recordings include ''La traviata'' with Rosanna Carteri, Cesare Valletti, and conductor
Pierre Monteux Pierre Benjamin Monteux (; 4 April 18751 July 1964) was a French (later American) conductor. After violin and viola studies, and a decade as an orchestral player and occasional conductor, he began to receive regular conducting engagements in 1 ...
; ''Tosca'', '' Aida'', and '' Il trovatore'', each with Zinka Milanov and Jussi Björling; '' La forza del destino'' with Milanov, Giuseppe Di Stefano, Rosalind Elias and Giorgio Tozzi; a second recording of ''Il trovatore'' with his final tenor co-star, Richard Tucker, featuring a young
Leontyne Price Leontyne Price ( born Mary Violet Leontine Price February 10, 1927) is an American spinto soprano who was the first African-American soprano to receive international acclaim. From 1961 she began a long association with the Metropolitan Opera. ...
in her Met debut role of Leonora; and Verdi's ''
Macbeth ''The Tragedy of Macbeth'', often shortened to ''Macbeth'' (), is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, estimated to have been first performed in 1606. It dramatises the physically violent and damaging psychological effects of political ambiti ...
'', with Leonie Rysanek and Carlo Bergonzi. Several private and unofficial recordings exist of Warren in live performances at the Metropolitan Opera including his Simon Boccanegra and Iago in ''
Otello ''Otello'' () is an opera in four acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Arrigo Boito, based on William Shakespeare, Shakespeare's play ''Othello''. It was Verdi's penultimate opera, first performed at the La Scala, Teatro alla Scala, M ...
''. He also sang Renato in an RCA Victor album of highlights from '' Un ballo in maschera'' made with
Marian Anderson Marian Anderson (February 27, 1897April 8, 1993) was an American contralto. She performed a wide range of music, from opera to spirituals. Anderson performed with renowned orchestras in major concert and recital venues throughout the United S ...
as Ulrica on the occasion of her Met debut in 1955. In 1948, Warren sang in the first-ever live television broadcast from the Metropolitan Opera. Verdi's ''Otello'' was aired complete by ABC-TV on November 29, 1948, the opening night of the season. Ramón Vinay was Otello, Licia Albanese was Desdemona, and Warren sang the role of Iago. In 1958, Warren toured the
USSR The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...
. He was one of the few American artists invited to do so and had great success at concerts in
Leningrad Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...
and
Kyiv Kyiv, also Kiev, is the capital and most populous List of cities in Ukraine, city of Ukraine. Located in the north-central part of the country, it straddles both sides of the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2022, its population was 2, ...
. The concerts were recorded and excerpts have been released by RCA Victor on the album ''Leonard Warren: On Tour in Russia'', available on both LP and CD. In his book ''The American Opera Singer'' (1997, ISBN ), Peter G. Davis wrote of Warren:
The rich, rounded, mellow quality of arren'svoice, fairly bursting with resonant overtones, may not have been to every taste, particularly those preferring a narrower baritonal focus that "speaks" more quickly on the note. But by any standards it was a deluxe, quintessentially "Metropolitan Opera sound", one that seemed to take on a special glow and lustrousness as it opened up and spread itself generously around the big auditorium. And of course the easy top was its special glory—when relaxing with friends Warren would often tear into tenor arias like "Di quella pira" and toss off the high Cs that many tenors lacked. He could have, but never did, overindulge that applause-getting facility.


Death

Warren's last complete performance was in the title role of '' Simon Boccanegra'' on March 1, 1960, at the Met. Three days later, on March 4, during a performance of ''La forza del destino'' with Renata Tebaldi as Leonora and Thomas Schippers conducting, Warren suddenly collapsed and died on stage. Eyewitnesses including Rudolf Bing reported that Warren had completed Don Carlo's Act III aria, which begins ''Morir, tremenda cosa'' ("to die, a momentous thing"), and was supposed to open a sealed wallet, examine the contents and cry out ''"È salvo, o gioia"'' (He is safe, oh joy), before launching into the vigorous
cabaletta Cabaletta is a two-part musical form particularly favored for arias in 19th century Italian opera in the bel canto era until about the 1860s during which it was one of the era's most important elements. More properly, a cabaletta is a more animat ...
. While Bing reports that Warren simply went silent and fell face-forward to the floor, others state that he started coughing and gasping, and that he cried out "Help me, help me!" before falling to the floor, remaining motionless. Roald Reitan, singing the Surgeon, was on stage with Warren at the time of his death, and attempted to render aid. Although no autopsy was performed, Warren's death was initially thought to have been caused by a massive cerebral hemorrhage, but was later believed by the Met house physician who attended Warren after his collapse, to have been a heart attack; Warren was only forty-eight years old. His death affected the Met schedule for several years following; he had been cast in the title role for a future Met premiere of Verdi's ''
Nabucco ''Nabucco'' (; short for ''Nabucodonosor'' , i.e. "Nebuchadnezzar II, Nebuchadnezzar") is an Italian-language opera in four acts composed in 1841 by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Temistocle Solera. The libretto is based on the biblic ...
'' during the 1960–61 season. Warren is interred at Saint Mary's Cemetery in Greenwich, Connecticut. Ted Morgan, writing (as Sanche de Gramont) for the ''
New York Herald Tribune The ''New York Herald Tribune'' was a newspaper published between 1924 and 1966. It was created in 1924 when Ogden Mills Reid of the '' New York Tribune'' acquired the '' New York Herald''. It was regarded as a "writer's newspaper" and compet ...
'', won the Pulitzer Prize for Local Reporting, Edition Time in 1961 for his account of Warren's death.


References


External links


Biography on Bassocantante

Leonard Warren Papers
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Music Division
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Warren, Leonard 1911 births 1960 deaths Musicians from the Bronx American operatic baritones Musicians who died on stage Jewish classical musicians Jewish opera singers Converts to Roman Catholicism from Judaism 20th-century American male opera singers American people of Russian-Jewish descent Singers from New York City Classical musicians from New York (state) Winners of the Metropolitan Opera Auditions of the Air RCA Victor artists Burials at Putnam Cemetery