Mack Kendree Harrell, Jr. (October 8, 1909 — January 29, 1960)
was an American operatic and concert
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 ...
vocalist who was regarded as one of the greatest
American
American(s) may refer to:
* American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America"
** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America
** American ancestry, p ...
-born
lied
In the Western classical music tradition, ( , ; , ; ) is a term for setting poetry to classical music. The term is used for any kind of song in contemporary German and Dutch, but among English and French speakers, is often used interchangea ...
er singers of his generation.
Growing up
Harrell was born in
Celeste, Texas
Celeste (''Light Blue'', in Spanish) is a city in Hunt County, in the U.S. state of Texas. The population was 809 at the 2020 census.
History
Like many towns in Hunt County, Celeste , to Asbury Mack Kendree Harrell (1857–1915) and Mollie Harrell, ''(née'' Virginia Marr Kelly; 1863–1935). The youngest of two brothers and a sister, he was raised and educated in
Greenville, Texas
Greenville ( ) is the county seat of and the most populous city in Hunt County, Texas, United States, located in Northeast Texas approximately northeast of Dallas, Texas, Dallas and northwest of Canton, Texas, Canton. As of the 2020 United Stat ...
. He studied violin from the age of ten and continued for twelve years. One of his brothers, Lynn Mozart Harrell (1902–1987), had been a big band pianist with the
Jimmy Joy Orchestra while a student at
The University of Texas at Austin
The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas, United States. Founded in 1883, it is the flagship institution of the University of Texas System. With 53,082 students as of fall 2 ...
in the 1920s.
Post baccalaureate education
Harrell studied the violin at
Oklahoma City University
Oklahoma City University (OCU) is a private university historically affiliated with the United Methodist Church and located in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.
The university offers undergraduate bachelor's degrees, graduate master's degrees and docto ...
. Later, he was awarded a scholarship to attend Philadelphia's
Curtis Institute of Music
The Curtis Institute of Music is a private conservatory in Philadelphia. It offers a performance diploma, a Bachelor of Music, Master of Music in opera, and a Professional Studies Certificate in opera. All students attend on a full scholarshi ...
where he studied violin under Emanuel Zetlin. He met his wife, violinist
Marjorie Fulton, while they were both students at the Curtis Institute. It was at the Curtis Institute that the quality of his bass voice was discovered, after which he left Curtis for
The Juilliard School
The Juilliard School ( ) is a Private university, private performing arts music school, conservatory in New York City. Founded by Frank Damrosch as the Institute of Musical Art in 1905, the school later added dance and drama programs and became ...
to study singing with
Anna E. Schoen-René (1864–1942), who had been a pupil of
Pauline Viardot-Garcia and
Manuel Garcia. Harrell believed that his experience of musical studies as a violinist first made him a better singer than he might have been otherwise.
In 1939, Harrell's book, ''The Sacred Hour of Song: A Collection of Sacred Solos Suitable for Christian Science Services'', was published by
C. Fischer.
Professional career
Harrell made his concert debut at
New York City
New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
's
Town Hall
In local government, a city hall, town hall, civic centre (in the UK or Australia), guildhall, or municipal hall (in the Philippines) is the chief administrative building of a city, town, or other municipality. It usually houses the city o ...
singing a recital of
opera
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 ...
and
lieder
In the Western classical music tradition, ( , ; , ; ) is a term for setting poetry to classical music. The term is used for any kind of song in contemporary German and Dutch, but among English and French speakers, is often used interchangea ...
in 1938. That same year he won 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 ...
's ''Audition of the Air'' competition (precursor to the National Council Auditions) which led to
Edward Johnson offering him a contract with the company. Harrell made his professional opera debut at the Met on December 16, 1939, as Biterolf in
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 ...
's ''
Tannhäuser
Tannhäuser (; ), often stylized "The Tannhäuser", was a German Minnesinger and traveling poet. Historically, his biography, including the dates he lived, is obscure beyond the poetry, which suggests he lived between 1245 and 1265.
His name ...
''. He sang with the company every year through 1948, and returned for the 1949–1950, 1952–1954, and 1957–1958 seasons. Among the many roles he portrayed at the Met are Amfortas in ''
Parsifal
''Parsifal'' ( WWV 111) is a music drama in three acts by the German composer Richard Wagner and his last composition. Wagner's own libretto for the work is freely based on the 13th-century Middle High German chivalric romance ''Parzival'' of th ...
'', Baron Douphol in ''
La Traviata'', Captain Balstrode in ''
Peter Grimes
''Peter Grimes'', Op. 33, is an opera in three acts by Benjamin Britten, with a libretto by Montagu Slater based on the section "Peter Grimes", in George Crabbe's long narrative poem '' The Borough''. The "borough" of the opera is a fictional ...
'', Dancaïre 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 ...
'', Dodon in ''
Le Coq d'Or
''The Golden Cockerel'' ( ) is an opera in three acts, with a short prologue and an even shorter epilogue, composed by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, his last complete opera, before his death in 1908. Its libretto written by Vladimir Belsky, is derived ...
'', Fiorello in ''
Il Barbiere di Siviglia
''The Barber of Seville, or The Useless Precaution'' ( ) is an ''opera buffa'' (comic opera) in two acts composed by Gioachino Rossini with an Italian libretto by Cesare Sterbini. The libretto was based on Pierre Beaumarchais's French comedy '' ...
'', Frédéric in ''
Lakmé
''Lakmé'' is an opera in three acts by Léo Delibes to a French libretto by Edmond Gondinet and Philippe Gille.
The score, written from 1881 to 1882, was first performed on 14 April 1883 by the '' Opéra-Comique'' at the (second) Salle Fa ...
'', Herald in ''
Lohengrin
Lohengrin () is a character in German Arthurian literature. The son of Parzival (Percival), he is a knight of the Holy Grail sent in a boat pulled by swans to rescue a maiden who can never ask his identity. His story, which first appears in Wo ...
'', Kothner 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 ...
'', Lindorf in ''
Les Contes d'Hoffmann
''The Tales of Hoffmann'' (French: ) is an by Jacques Offenbach. The French libretto was written by Jules Barbier, based on three short stories by E. T. A. Hoffmann, who is the protagonist of the story. It was Offenbach's final work; he died in ...
'', Masetto in ''
Don Giovanni
''Don Giovanni'' (; K. 527; full title: , literally ''The Rake Punished, or Don Giovanni'') is an opera in two acts with music by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart to an Italian libretto by Lorenzo Da Ponte. Its subject is a centuries-old Spanish legen ...
'', Papageno in ''
Die Zauberflöte
''The Magic Flute'' (, ), K. 620, is an opera in two acts by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart to a German libretto by Emanuel Schikaneder. It is a ''Singspiel'', a popular form that included both singing and spoken dialogue. The work premiered on ...
'', Peter in ''
Hänsel und Gretel
"Hansel and Gretel" (; ) is a German fairy tale collected by the Brothers Grimm and published in 1812 as part of ''Grimms' Fairy Tales'' (KHM 15).
Hansel and Gretel are siblings who are abandoned in a forest and fall into the hands of a witch ...
'', Shchelkalov in ''
Boris Godunov
Boris Feodorovich Godunov (; ; ) was the ''de facto'' regent of Russia from 1585 to 1598 and then tsar from 1598 to 1605 following the death of Feodor I, the last of the Rurik dynasty. After the end of Feodor's reign, Russia descended into t ...
'', and Wolfram in ''Tannhäuser'' among others.
He notably created the role of Samson in the world premiere of
Bernard Rogers
Bernard Rogers (4 February 1893 – 24 May 1968) was an American composer. His best known work is ''The Passion'', an oratorio written in 1942.
Life and career
Rogers was born in New York City. He studied with Arthur Farwell, Ernest Bloc ...
's ''
The Warrior
A warrior is a person engaged or experienced in warfare, or a figurative term for a person who shows or has shown great vigor, courage, or aggressiveness, as in politics or athletics.
Warrior or Warriors may also refer to:
Indigenous groups
* ...
'' opposite
Regina Resnik
Regina Resnik (born Regina Resnick, August 30, 1922 – August 8, 2013) was an American opera singer who had an active international career that spanned five decades. She began her career as a soprano in 1942 and soon after began a lengthy and ...
as Delilah at the Met on January 11, 1947. He also portrayed Nick Shadow in ''
The Rake’s Progress'' for the work's US premiere at the Met in February 1953. After 1954, Harrell returned to the Met only one more time during his career to portray Jochanaan in
Richard Strauss
Richard Georg Strauss (; ; 11 June 1864 – 8 September 1949) was a German composer and conductor best known for his Tone poems (Strauss), tone poems and List of operas by Richard Strauss, operas. Considered a leading composer of the late Roman ...
's ''
Salome
Salome (; , related to , "peace"; ), also known as Salome III, was a Jews, Jewish princess, the daughter of Herod II and princess Herodias. She was granddaughter of Herod the Great and stepdaughter of Herod Antipas. She is known from the New T ...
'' in 1958. His final and 156th performance at the Met was as Jochanaan on February 17, 1958, with
Inge Borkh
Inge Borkh (born Ingeborg Simon, 26 May 1921 – 26 August 2018) was a German operatic dramatic soprano. She was first based in Switzerland, where she received international attention when she appeared in the first performance in German of Menott ...
as Salome.
While performing at the Met, Harrell also maintained an active concert career, and in 1944 he gave the world premiere of
Arnold Schoenberg
Arnold Schoenberg or Schönberg (13 September 187413 July 1951) was an Austrian and American composer, music theorist, teacher and writer. He was among the first Modernism (music), modernists who transformed the practice of harmony in 20th-centu ...
's ''Ode to Napoleon Buonaparte'' (1942) for speaker, string orchestra and piano. Harrell performed roles with a number of other opera companies as well. In 1940 he sang Alfio in ''
Cavalleria rusticana
''Cavalleria rusticana'' (; ) is an opera in one act by Pietro Mascagni to an Italian libretto by Giovanni Targioni-Tozzetti and Guido Menasci, adapted from an 1880 Cavalleria rusticana (short story), short story of the same name and subsequent ...
'' and Ford in Verdi's ''
Falstaff
Sir John Falstaff is a fictional character who appears in three plays by William Shakespeare and is eulogised in a fourth. His significance as a fully developed character is primarily formed in the plays ''Henry IV, Part 1'' and '' Part 2'', w ...
'' in Chicago. In May 1944 he made his first appearance at the
New York City Opera
The New York City Opera (NYCO) is an American opera company located in Manhattan in New York City. The company has been active from 1943 through its 2013 bankruptcy, and again since 2016 when it was revived.
The opera company, dubbed "the peopl ...
(NYCO) as Germont in ''
La Traviata'', and returned in 1948, 1951–1952, and 1959. At the NYCO he notably portrayed the role of Rabbi Azrael in the world premiere of
David Tamkin
David Tamkin (28 August 1906 – 21 June 1975) was an American composer of Jewish descent, born in Chernihiv, Russian Empire. He devoted much of his professional career as an arranger, composer ncreditedand orchestrator of film scores for Hollywoo ...
's ''
The Dybbuk
''The Dybbuk'', or ''Between Two Worlds'' (, trans. ''Mezh dvukh mirov ibuk'; , ''Tsvishn Tsvey Veltn – der Dibuk'') is a play by S. An-sky, authored between 1913 and 1916. It was originally written in Russian and later translated into Yidd ...
'' (1951) and
Pierre Cauchon
Pierre Cauchon (; 1371 – 18 December 1442) was a French Catholic prelate who served as Bishop of Beauvais from 1420 to 1432. He was a strong partisan of English interests in France during the latter years of the Hundred Years' War. He w ...
in the premiere of the one act version of
Norman Dello Joio
Norman Dello Joio (January 24, 1913July 24, 2008) was an American composer active for over half a century. Best known for his choral music, he won a Pulitzer Prize for Music in 1957.
Life
Dello Joio was born in New York City to Italian im ...
's ''
The Triumph of St. Joan
''The Triumph of St. Joan'' was originally an opera in three acts by Norman Dello Joio to an English language libretto on the subject of the martyrdom of Joan of Arc by Dello Joio and Joseph Machlis (1906–1998). It was premiered at Sarah Lawre ...
'' (1959). In September 1945 Harrell made his debut with the
San Francisco Opera
The San Francisco Opera (SFO) is an American opera company founded in 1923 by Gaetano Merola (1881–1953) based in San Francisco, California.
History
Gaetano Merola (1923–1953)
Merola's road to prominence in the Bay Area began in 1906 wh ...
portraying Escamillo in ''Carmen''. He sang several more roles with that company during the 1945–1946 season, including the Commissioner in ''
Der Rosenkavalier
(''The Knight of the Rose'' or ''The Rose-Bearer''), Op. 59, is a comic opera in three acts by Richard Strauss to an original German libretto by Hugo von Hofmannsthal. It is loosely adapted from Louvet de Couvrai's novel ''Les amours du cheva ...
'', Dapertutto in ''Les Contes d'Hoffmann'', Fernando in ''
Fidelio
''Fidelio'' (; ), originally titled ' (''Leonore, or The Triumph of Marital Love''), Opus number, Op. 72, is the sole opera by German composer Ludwig van Beethoven. The libretto was originally prepared by Joseph Sonnleithner from the French of ...
'', Germont, Marcello in ''
La bohème
''La bohème'' ( , ) is an opera in four acts,Puccini called the divisions '':wikt:quadro, quadri'', ''wikt:tableau, tableaux'' or "images", rather than ''atti'' (acts). composed by Giacomo Puccini between 1893 and 1895 to an Italian libretto b ...
'', Ramiro in ''
L'heure espagnole
''L'heure espagnole'' is a French one-act opera from 1911, described as a ''comédie musicale'', with music by Maurice Ravel to a French libretto by Franc-Nohain, based on Franc-Nohain's 1904 play ('comédie-bouffe') of the same name The opera, s ...
'', and Silvio in ''
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 ...
'' among others. In 1952 he portrayed Christopher Columbus in the United States premiere of
Darius Milhaud
Darius Milhaud (, ; 4 September 1892 – 22 June 1974) was a French composer, conductor, and teacher. He was a member of Les Six—also known as ''The Group of Six''—and one of the most prolific composers of the 20th century. His composition ...
's ''
Christophe Colomb'' at
Carnegie Hall
Carnegie Hall ( ) is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. It is at 881 Seventh Avenue (Manhattan), Seventh Avenue, occupying the east side of Seventh Avenue between 56th Street (Manhattan), 56th and 57th Street (Manhattan), 57t ...
. In 1955, he portrayed Olin Blitch in the world premiere of
Carlisle Floyd
Carlisle Sessions Floyd (June 11, 1926September 30, 2021) was an American composer primarily known for his operas. These stage works, for which he wrote not only the music but also the librettos, typically engage with themes from the American So ...
's ''
Susannah
''Susannah'' is an opera in two acts by the American composer Carlisle Floyd, who wrote the libretto and music while a member of the piano faculty at Florida State University. Floyd adapted the story from the Apocryphal tale of Susannah and the ...
'' at
Florida State University
Florida State University (FSU or Florida State) is a Public university, public research university in Tallahassee, Florida, United States. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida and a preeminent university in the s ...
opposite
Phyllis Curtin
Phyllis Curtin (née Smith; December 3, 1921 – June 5, 2016) was an American soprano and academic teacher who had an active career in operas and concerts from the early 1950s through the 1980s. She is known for her creation of roles in ope ...
in the title role. In 1956 he played the role of Saul in the United States premiere of Milhaud's ''
David
David (; , "beloved one") was a king of ancient Israel and Judah and the third king of the United Monarchy, according to the Hebrew Bible and Old Testament.
The Tel Dan stele, an Aramaic-inscribed stone erected by a king of Aram-Dam ...
'' at the
Hollywood Bowl
The Hollywood Bowl is an amphitheatre and Urban park, public park in the Hollywood Hills of Los Angeles, California. It was named one of the 10 best live music venues in the United States by ''Rolling Stone'' magazine in 2018 and was listed on ...
, opposite
Herva Nelli
Herva Nelli (January 9, 1909May 31, 1994) was an Italian and American operatic soprano.
Biography
Named after the French socialist Gustave Hervé, she was born in Florence, where she attended a convent school. At the age of ten, however, she and ...
.
In 1944 his son, the celebrated cellist
Lynn Harrell
Lynn Harrell (January 30, 1944 – April 27, 2020) was an American classical cellist. Known for the "penetrating richness" of his sound, Harrell performed internationally as a recitalist, chamber musician, and soloist with major orchestras o ...
, was born.
Mack Harrell (Baritone)
/ref> From 1945 to 1956 Harrell taught voice at The Juilliard School
The Juilliard School ( ) is a Private university, private performing arts music school, conservatory in New York City. Founded by Frank Damrosch as the Institute of Musical Art in 1905, the school later added dance and drama programs and became ...
and from 1957 to 1960 he taught at Southern Methodist University
Southern Methodist University (SMU) is a Private university, private research university in Dallas, Texas, United States, with a satellite campus in Taos County, New Mexico. SMU was founded on April 17, 1911, by the Methodist Episcopal Church, ...
, after moving to Dallas. In 1954 he succeeded Walter Paepcke
Walter Paepcke (June 29, 1896 – April 13, 1960) was an American businessman and philanthropist who was prominent in the mid-20th century. A longtime executive of the Chicago-based Container Corporation of America, Paepcke is best noted for his f ...
as the second director of the Aspen Music Festival and School
The Aspen Music Festival and School (AMFS) is a European classical music, classical music festival held annually in Aspen, Colorado.
It is noted both for its concert programming and the musical training it offers to mostly young-adult music stu ...
, a position he held until his death in 1960; Harrell had been one of the founders of Aspen. His pupils included singers William Blankenship, Michael Trimble, and Barry McDaniel
Barry McDaniel (October 18, 1930 – June 18, 2018) was an American operatic baritone who spent his career almost exclusively in Germany, including 37 years at the Deutsche Oper Berlin. He appeared internationally at major opera houses and fest ...
. Harrell died in Dallas
Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...
, aged 50.
References
General citations
Inline citations
{{DEFAULTSORT:Harrell, Mack
1909 births
1960 deaths
20th-century American male opera singers
American Christian Scientists
American operatic baritones
Aspen Music Festival and School faculty
Curtis Institute of Music alumni
Juilliard School alumni
Juilliard School faculty
Singers from Texas
Oklahoma City University alumni
People from Celeste, Texas
Southern Methodist University faculty
Classical musicians from Texas
Winners of the Metropolitan Opera Auditions of the Air