Russell Oberlin
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Russell Keys Oberlin (October 11, 1928 – November 25, 2016)Millington, Barry
"Russell Oberlin obituary"
''The Guardian'', December 5, 2016; retrieved December 15, 2016.
was an American singer and founding member of the New York Pro Musica Antiqua ensemble who became the first, and for years the only,
countertenor A countertenor (also contra tenor) is a type of classical male singing voice whose vocal range is equivalent to that of the female contralto or mezzo-soprano voice types, generally extending from around G3 to D5 or E5, although a sopranist (a ...
in the United States to attain general recognition—in ''
The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. It was founded on February 21, 1925, by Harold Ross and his wife Jane Grant, a reporter for ''The New York T ...
''s words, "America's first star countertenor." A pioneering figure in the early music revival in the 1950s and 1960s, Oberlin sang on both sides of the Atlantic, and brought a "full, warm, vibrato-rich tone" Fox, Margalit
"Russell Oberlin, 88, Dies; Led Renaissance of Countertenor in U.S."
''The New York Times'', November 29, 2016; retrieved December 4, 2016.
to his recitals, recordings, and his performances in works ranging from the thirteenth-century liturgical drama '' The Play of Daniel'' to the twentieth-century opera ''
A Midsummer Night's Dream ''A Midsummer Night's Dream'' is a Comedy (drama), comedy play written by William Shakespeare in about 1595 or 1596. The play is set in Athens, and consists of several subplots that revolve around the marriage of Theseus and Hippolyta. One s ...
''. __TOC__


Life and career

Russell Oberlin was born in 1928 in
Akron, Ohio Akron () is a city in Summit County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Ohio, fifth-most populous city in Ohio, with a population of 190,469 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. The Akron metr ...
. He sang professionally as a child, and studied at the Juilliard School of Music in New York from 1948 to 1951, beginning a career as a tenor even before his graduation. In 1952, he was a founding member of the New York Pro Musica Antiqua, with which he appeared as soloist in
medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with the fall of the West ...
and
Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) is a Periodization, period of history and a European cultural movement covering the 15th and 16th centuries. It marked the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and was characterized by an effort to revive and sur ...
repertory,"Russell Oberlin"
Bach Cantatas Website, retrieved December 4, 2016.
initially as a "high tenor" but soon taking over
alto The musical term alto, meaning "high" in Italian (Latin: '' altus''), historically refers to the contrapuntal part higher than the tenor and its associated vocal range. In four-part voice leading alto is the second-highest part, sung in ch ...
parts, as his unusual
vocal range Vocal range is the range of pitches that a human voice can phonate. A common application is within the context of singing, where it is used as a defining characteristic for classifying singing voices into voice types. It is also a topic of stud ...
came to light.Siff, Ira
"Face to Face: Russell Oberlin and David Daniels"
'' Opera News'', April 1999; retrieved December 4, 2016.
He sang regularly with the ensemble through 1959, and made later appearances as a guest soloist. Oberlin was featured in the roles of Belshazzar's Prince and the Herald Angel in Pro Musica's acclaimed restoration of the medieval liturgical drama with music ''The Play of Daniel'', first presented at
The Cloisters The Cloisters, also known as the Met Cloisters, is a museum in the Washington Heights, Manhattan, Washington Heights neighborhood of Upper Manhattan, New York City. The museum, situated in Fort Tryon Park, specializes in European medieval art ...
in January 1958, and was in the subsequent recording as well as a 1965 public television version which became an annual Christmas telecast. "Accompanied by the centuries-old instruments Noah Greenberg had assembled," as George Birnbaum recalled, "I suspect that many people—myself included—date their personal entry into this strange Gothic sound world from the moment they heard Russell Oberlin's distinctive, plangent voice singing in a range which Björling or Pavarotti could never attempt." ''The Play of Daniel'' "galvanized the early-music movement in the U.S. and made a star out of the countertenor Russell Oberlin," ''The New Yorker'' recounted. Oberlin became, as Peter G. Davis wrote, "for many years the lone practitioner of any note" of "a voice type that had never flourished in America before." Oberlin described himself as a countertenor whose "naturally high tenor voice" allowed him to sing the countertenor repertoire without using falsetto. "At a time when the term 'countertenor' suggested a 'churchy' English sound," wrote Ira Siff in '' Opera News'', "the rich, beautiful (and not vibrato-free) voice of Russell Oberlin created a welcome alternative for lovers of early and
baroque music Baroque music ( or ) refers to the period or dominant style of Classical music, Western classical music composed from about 1600 to 1750. The Baroque style followed the Renaissance music, Renaissance period, and was followed in turn by the Class ...
... Oberlin altered public perceptions and expanded possibilities for today's countertenors." Oberlin was engaged by
Leonard Bernstein Leonard Bernstein ( ; born Louis Bernstein; August 25, 1918 – October 14, 1990) was an American conductor, composer, pianist, music educator, author, and humanitarian. Considered to be one of the most important conductors of his time, he was th ...
for his 1955 recording of
Handel George Frideric (or Frederick) Handel ( ; baptised , ; 23 February 1685 – 14 April 1759) was a German-British Baroque composer well-known for his operas, oratorios, anthems, concerti grossi, and organ concerti. Born in Halle, Germany, H ...
's ''
Messiah In Abrahamic religions, a messiah or messias (; , ; , ; ) is a saviour or liberator of a group of people. The concepts of '' mashiach'', messianism, and of a Messianic Age originated in Judaism, and in the Hebrew Bible, in which a ''mashiach ...
''. He sang the role of Oberon (created by
Alfred Deller Alfred George Deller, CBE (31 May 1912 – 16 July 1979), was an English singer and one of the main figures in popularising the return of the countertenor voice in Renaissance and Baroque music during the 20th century. He is sometimes referr ...
at the
Aldeburgh Festival The Aldeburgh Festival of Music and the Arts is an English arts festival devoted mainly to classical music. It takes place each June in the town of Aldeburgh, Suffolk and is centred on Snape Maltings Concert Hall. History of the Aldeburgh Festi ...
) in the
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 ...
premiere of Britten's ''A Midsummer Night's Dream'', conducted by
Georg Solti Sir Georg Solti ( , ; born György Stern; 21 October 1912 – 5 September 1997) was a Hungarian-British orchestral and operatic conductor, known for his appearances with opera companies in Munich, Frankfurt, and London, and as a long-servi ...
, in 1961, as well as the opera's North American premiere in Vancouver, Canada, and its U.S. premiere at
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 ...
the same year. Bernstein wrote a part for him in his '' Chichester Psalms'' (1965). He recorded extensively (including albums of songs by Dowland and Purcell and arias by Handel), gave recitals and appeared as soloist with leading orchestras in the US and abroad. At the age of 36, he retired from active engagements to become a teacher, joining the faculty at
Hunter College Hunter College is a public university in New York City, United States. It is one of the constituent colleges of the City University of New York and offers studies in more than one hundred undergraduate and postgraduate fields across five schools ...
in New York as Professor of Music, where he served from 1966 to 1994. As a senior
Fulbright The Fulbright Program, including the Fulbright–Hays Program, is one of several United States cultural exchange programs with the goal of improving intercultural relations, cultural diplomacy, and intercultural competence between the people ...
research scholar, he lectured widely in the USA and England. After the CD reissue of nine of his Expériences Anonymes recordings in the Lyrichord Early Music series—seven volumes of "Music of the Middle Ages" comprising music from England, France and Spain, as well as his
Byrd Byrd commonly refers to: * William Byrd (c. 1540 – 1623), an English composer of the Renaissance * Richard E. Byrd (1888–1957), an American naval officer and explorer Byrd or Byrds may also refer to: Other people *Byrd (surname), including ...
and Dowland recitals with the In Nomine Players and lutenist Joseph Iadone, respectively—Oberlin appeared on radio programs including ''Performance Today'' and ''Millennium of Music'' in interviews about his life and work in music. ''The Penguin Guide to Compact Discs'' found that "Oberlin's voice is like a very fine wine: once tried, nothing else seems quite the same." Oberlin can be seen in a 1962 film performing
Bach Johann Sebastian Bach (German: joːhan zeˈbasti̯an baχ ( – 28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque period. He is known for his prolific output across a variety of instruments and forms, including the or ...
's Cantata No. 54, with Glenn Gould performing the
harpsichord A harpsichord is a musical instrument played by means of a musical keyboard, keyboard. Depressing a key raises its back end within the instrument, which in turn raises a mechanism with a small plectrum made from quill or plastic that plucks one ...
part on a harpsipiano. He can also be seen on Classic Arts Showcase on a 1962 '' Camera Three'' segment singing an aria from Handel's opera '' Rodelinda'', and on another 1962 segment singing an aria from Britten's ''A Midsummer Night's Dream''; these and other performances are on a DVD, ''Russell Oberlin: America's Legendary Countertenor'', bringing together two telecasts and a 2004 interview.Yohalem, John. "Recordings: Russell Oberlin: America's Legendary Countertenor," '' Opera News'', vol. 69, no. 11, May 2005. Oberlin died in New York City on November 25, 2016, aged 88.


References


External links


Russell Oberlin—a discography
*
Memorial at Saint Thomas Church, January 2017Russell Oberlin papers, 1930–2016
Music Division,
New York Public Library for the Performing Arts The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, Dorothy and Lewis B. Cullman Center, is located at 40 Lincoln Center Plaza, in the Lincoln Center complex on the Upper West Side in Manhattan, New York City. Situated between the Metropolitan O ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:Oberlin, Russell 1928 births 2016 deaths Singers from Ohio Musicians from Akron, Ohio 20th-century American male opera singers Operatic countertenors Juilliard School alumni Hunter College faculty Classical musicians from Ohio