# Singers with amazingly long careers



## adriesba (Dec 30, 2019)

What are some opera singers that sang for a particularly long time? How do singers with long careers (and who are actually listenable towards the end) keep their voice sounding good for so long?


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## Tsaraslondon (Nov 7, 2013)

Magda Olivero would be an obvious example of longevity, with a career spanning five decades. I don't know what the secret to her longevity was, but presumably it was a sound technique and a refusal to ever force the voice beyond its capabilities.

Another, perhaps less well known, is Maggie Teyte, who made her professional debut at the age of 19 in 1907. Soon after she studied the role of Mélisande with Debussy himself. She made her final performance at the Royal Festival Hall in 1956 at the age of 68. A recording of her singing Ravel's _Shéhérazade_ at the age of 60 shows her voice barely touched by the ravages of time, the top register still firm and clear as a bell. She is one of my favourite singers, especially in the French repertoire. The eminent critic John Steane says of her,



> But basically the point about Maggie Teyte is the very simple one, that her singing is so good: that is, her voice is so clear, its production so even, its intonation so faultless, its movement in big upward leaps so clean and athletic, and its excellence was so well preserved for so long.


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## annaw (May 4, 2019)

Hans Hotter had a very long career. He made his operatic debut when he was 21 (IMO he sang his first Wotan in his early 20s as well). He almost didn't retire from the stage at all. Apparently, in his 80s he sang in Schoenberg's _Gurre-Lieder_ (one performance should be on YouTube as well) and in his 90s he sang Schigolch in Berg's _Lulu_. Of course his voice was far from what it used to be and became wobbly as he aged but I think his artistic skill and vocal acting retained their appeal. Generally it seems that lower voices are more persevering and deteriorate slower. Soprano and tenor voices might be in their prime only for a relatively short time.

Many old-school singers or even not so old-school (like Windgassen or Flagstad) were simply very intelligent in how they handled their voices. Flagstad is the one who famously said that young singers should "leave Wagner alone" and started her own career singing Italian roles as well. Windgassen was very aware of how accompanying orchestra functions (I think he said that his father, who was a heldentenor, taught him that) - he would start singing quieter whenever the orchestra was playing too loud. I think such things can help singers keep their voices healthy for possibly long time. Also, singing repertoire which fits one's voice doesn't do any bad either (khm khm Di Stefano).


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## vivalagentenuova (Jun 11, 2019)

> Generally it seems that lower voices are more persevering and deteriorate slower. Soprano and tenor voices might be in their prime only for a relatively short time.


There are a number of examples of tenors and sopranos. Dorothy Kirsten, Nellie Melba, Beniamino Gigli, Rina Gigli, Lauritz Melchior, Flagstad, Lauri-Volpi... Jeritza had a 30 year career, singing everything from Thais to Turandot. Lotte Lehmann had a similar career. Many careers that would have gone on longer were ended for reasons having nothing to do with the singer's voice. Germaine Lubin, who had already had a 30 year career, was blacklisted for having German friends during WWII. Amelita Galli-Curci developed a throat tumor. Caruso had serious health problems and died. Tebaldi's mother died, which had a huge impact on her, and when she returned to singing she sought bad advice. Frida Leider had to leave Germany because of the Nazis.


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## annaw (May 4, 2019)

vivalagentenuova said:


> There are a number of examples of tenors and sopranos. Dorothy Kirsten, Nellie Melba, Beniamino Gigli, Rina Gigli, Lauritz Melchior, Flagstad, Lauri-Volpi... Jeritza had a 30 year career, singing everything from Thais to Turandot. Lotte Lehmann had a similar career. Many careers that would have gone on longer were ended for reasons having nothing to do with the singer's voice. Germaine Lubin, who had already had a 30 year career, was blacklisted for having German friends during WWII. Amelita Galli-Curci developed a throat tumor. Caruso had serious health problems and died. Tebaldi's mother died, which had a huge impact on her, and when she returned to singing she sought bad advice. Frida Leider had to leave Germany because of the Nazis.


Huge thanks for this insightful post. I agree with you. I might have described the trend using too definite terms. I was rather trying to put into words my own impression and observation.


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## Andante Cantabile (Feb 26, 2020)

vivalagentenuova said:


> Frida Leider had to leave Germany because of the Nazis.


A little correction needed here......Leider's husband fled to Switzerland, but Leider was obliged to remain with her elderly mother in Berlin throughout the Nazi years and the War. She suffered a breakdown. Though she managed to recover she reduced herself to guest-artist status at the Berlin State Opera. Recitals were her modus vivendi until performances of any kind became impossible. Her 1959 autobiography gives an account of the privations she endured during the fall of the Third Reich.


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## vivalagentenuova (Jun 11, 2019)

Augastine said:


> A little correction needed here......Leider's husband fled to Switzerland, but Leider was obliged to remain with her elderly mother in Berlin throughout the Nazi years and the War. She suffered a breakdown. Though she managed to recover she reduced herself to guest-artist status at the Berlin State Opera. Recitals were her modus vivendi until performances of any kind became impossible. Her 1959 autobiography gives an account of the privations she endured during the fall of the Third Reich.


Thank you! I misremembered the details.


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## DarkAngel (Aug 11, 2010)

adriesba said:


> What are some opera singers that sang for a particularly long time? How do singers with long careers (and who are actually listenable towards the end) keep their voice sounding good for so long?


Lauri Volpi at age 80 sings Nessun Dorma with vocal elegance and finesse, still has ring in the high note
Teacher of other famous singers like Franco Corelli.....


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## nina foresti (Mar 11, 2014)

Alfredo Kraus
Nicolai Gedda
Placido Domingo
Magda Olivero
Birgit Nilsson
Leontyne Price
Joan Sutherland
Renee Fleming


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## Revitalized Classics (Oct 31, 2018)

Some examples I have been thinking about which I don't think have been mentioned yet...

Recordings exist 60+ years after debut
Rolando Panerai, Mark Reizen, Giuseppe Taddei, Rita Gorr, Hugues Cuenod, Fedora Barbieri, Ivan Kozlovsky

Panerai in 2011, c.65 years after his debut





Reizen in 1985, c.64 years after his debut





Taddei in 1999, c. 63 years after his debut





Gorr in 2007, c.61 years after her debut





Cuenod in 1988, c. 60 years after his debut





Recordings exist 50+ years after debut
Ernestine Schumann-Heink, Giovanni Martinelli, Erna Berger, Italo Tajo, Tito Schipa, Martha Modl, Giuseppe de Luca

Recordings exist 40+ years after debut
Adelina Patti, Mattia Battistini


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## vivalagentenuova (Jun 11, 2019)

Ernestine Schumann-Heink's recording of "Weiche Wotan" at 68 years old is legendary. Should be the killing blow to any theory of singing that use of chest voice is dangerous or shortens the career.


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## Revitalized Classics (Oct 31, 2018)

I've been thinking about the original posters question about why some singers sound good for so long...I'm actually at a loss.

On the one hand there is the explanation that some voices appear to retain a youthful quality into advanced old age thanks to a carefully chosen repertoire of suitable roles
e.g. Erna Berger at 80





Nicolai Gedda at 80





However, there are likewise examples like Martinelli and Modl who sang many of the most demanding roles in their respective fachs and their careers were long even before you factor in the smaller roles they continued to sing into advanced old age. 




Obviously Martinelli's technique worked _for him_, but why he could still sing like this 50 years after his debut in Ernani, 20 years after taking on Otello and Tristan, and 32 seasons in total at the Met is a source of wonder.

Another singer who sang very strenous repertoire but lasted was Helge Roswaenge:


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## vivalagentenuova (Jun 11, 2019)

I think "suitable" is the right word, but it varies from singer to singer. Tristan was evidently a suitable role for Melchior, as he sang it over 200 times and at 70 could sing the socks off any tenor since Corelli and Del Monaco. If Melba had tried to start singing Turandot, however, I don't think she would have made it to 65 sounding like she was still 20.


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## schigolch (Jun 26, 2011)

Mariella Devia singin in 2019. She started her career back in 1973:


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## Sieglinde (Oct 25, 2009)

Mark Reizen still sang Gremin at 90, on stage. And how!






Basses can really last if they take good care of their voice.


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## Bonetan (Dec 22, 2016)

Tsaraslondon said:


> sound technique and a refusal to ever force the voice beyond its capabilities.


This, this, and more this! And for me the repertoire doesn't matter. I'm of the belief that if a singer lives by this they should be able to safely and successfully sing anything written for their voice type (of course soubrettes won't get hired for Isolde). If a singer isn't capable of that I assume their technique is flawed.


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## wkasimer (Jun 5, 2017)

Sieglinde said:


> Mark Reizen still sang Gremin at 90, on stage. And how!


That Gremin is pretty impressive, but Reizen also made some astonishingly good recording in his 70's and 80's.

Another Soviet era singer with a lengthy career was Ivan Kozlovsky, who continued to sing well into his 70's.


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## silentio (Nov 10, 2014)

vivalagentenuova said:


> Ernestine Schumann-Heink's recording of "Weiche Wotan" at 68 years old is legendary. Should be the killing blow to any theory of singing that use of chest voice is dangerous or shortens the career.


Now, this puts every single Erda on disc to shame. What a healthy gorgeous voice, and what musicality. Just compare this to the woofy, constricted singing of Ewa Podleś, who is considered the contemporary superstar. The Golden Age of Singing is no hype.


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## Bonetan (Dec 22, 2016)

vivalagentenuova said:


> Ernestine Schumann-Heink's recording of "Weiche Wotan" at 68 years old is legendary. Should be the killing blow to any theory of singing that use of chest voice is dangerous or shortens the career.


If there's a better rendition of this on record, I've yet to hear it. What a marvel she must have been in the prime of her career...

Would it be correct to say that this is the recording that best captures her voice?


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## adriesba (Dec 30, 2019)

silentio said:


> Now, this puts every single Erda on disc to shame. What a healthy gorgeous voice, and what musicality. Just compare this to the woofy, constricted singing of Ewa Podleś, who is considered the contemporary superstar. The Golden Age of Singing is no hype.





Bonetan said:


> If there's a better rendition of this on record, I've yet to hear it. What a marvel she must have been in the prime of her career...
> 
> Would it be correct to say that this is the recording that best captures her voice?


I know Ernestine Schumann-Heink is hard to beat, but even better than Jean Madeira?


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## Andante Cantabile (Feb 26, 2020)

> Magda Olivero would be an obvious example of longevity, with a career spanning five decades. I don't know what the secret to her longevity was, but presumably it was a sound technique and a refusal to ever force the voice beyond its capabilities.


Olivero is certainly a most obvious and cited example, yet let's not forget that she had a 10-year break from the operatic stage in between (1941-1950) due to marriage, two miscarriages and war exigencies. She occasionally gave recitals during this period but hardly sang in any opera. Despite life's hardships, the break allowed her voice a good rest from the strenuous demands and stress of the operatic stage and some commentators have remarked that this contributed in no small part to her longevity after she resumed her stage performances in 1951.


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## adriesba (Dec 30, 2019)

vivalagentenuova said:


> I think "suitable" is the right word, but it varies from singer to singer. Tristan was evidently a suitable role for Melchior, as he sang it over 200 times and at 70 could sing the socks off any tenor since Corelli and Del Monaco. If Melba had tried to start singing Turandot, however, I don't think she would have made it to 65 sounding like she was still 20.


Indeed Melchior sang so much Wagner it's amazing that he had any voice in his 60s or 70s.


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## Bonetan (Dec 22, 2016)

adriesba said:


> I know Ernestine Schumann-Heink is hard to beat, but even better than Jean Madeira?


For me yes, I love the clarity of Schumann-Heink's vowels, but Madeira is also outstanding in this aria.


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## adriesba (Dec 30, 2019)

Bonetan said:


> For me yes, I love the clarity of Schumann-Heink's vowels, but Madeira is also outstanding in this aria.


Indeed Schumann-Heink had very clear vowels. Singers with clear vowels like that seem few. I wish there were a recording of Schumann-Heink as Klytämnestra, a role she created. It seems that few singers can do contralto roles justice, especially in more recent times.


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## MAS (Apr 15, 2015)

We should remember that certain singers had long careers before the age of the airplane, where travel was done by trains and ships, so the stress of jet travel was avoided.

Some, however, survived *despite* constant travel - I'm looking at you, Placido. But don't want to listen to you.
Some have survived by carefully avoiding stressing the voice - I'm looking at you, Magda, who reportedly never sang a true _fortissimo_. Whatever the truth of that, she was wonderful on stage.


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## SixFootScowl (Oct 17, 2011)

Renata Scotto

Debut: 1952

Last time singing on stage: 2002

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Renata_Scotto


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## Revitalized Classics (Oct 31, 2018)

SixFootScowl said:


> Renata Scotto
> 
> Debut: 1952
> 
> ...


Mirella Freni also sang for a very long time, her debut was 1955 and she was singing 'til 2005 in The Maid of Orleans


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## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

I heard Leontyne Price give a concert at 70 and she still sounded better than most.


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## silentio (Nov 10, 2014)

This is Melba at 65!


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## Revitalized Classics (Oct 31, 2018)

MAS said:


> We should remember that certain singers had long careers before the age of the airplane, where travel was done by trains and ships, so the stress of jet travel was avoided.
> 
> Some, however, survived *despite* constant travel - I'm looking at you, Placido. But don't want to listen to you.
> Some have survived by carefully avoiding stressing the voice - I'm looking at you, Magda, who reportedly never sang a true _fortissimo_. Whatever the truth of that, she was wonderful on stage.


I was thinking about Domingo since he is one of the group still singing 60 years after his debut.

I've recently been listening to some of his recordings from 2000-2005 (i.e. 40-45 years after his debut) and even allowing for studio conditions and production his singing was very well preserved:

Extracts including Siegfried 





Enzo Grimaldo in _La Gioconda_





Tristan





What makes his transition into baritone roles rather anomalous is that there are tenor roles which have been performed by ageing singers with success e.g. Patzak, Lorenz, Vinay, Svanholm and Windgassen.

Herod (Salome)
Mime and Loge (Ring)
Aegisth (Elektra)
Idomeneo
Rienzi
Palestrina
Drum Major (Wozzeck)

Besides Eisenstein (Fledermaus) and various operetta/ zarzuela roles.

I don't know how suitable any of these roles would have been for Domingo in the last twenty years: perhaps these would have been less controversial than the baritone roles.


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## MAS (Apr 15, 2015)

vivalagentenuova said:


> I think "suitable" is the right word, but it varies from singer to singer. Tristan was evidently a suitable role for Melchior, as he sang it over 200 times and at 70 could sing the socks off any tenor since Corelli and Del Monaco. If Melba had tried to start singing Turandot, however, I don't think she would have made it to 65 sounding like she was still 20.


I think Melba might've been to old (65) in 1926 to add a new role to her repertoire? :lol: :lol:
But she reportedly tried to sing Brunhilde at one point, but found it too difficult.


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## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

This is very unexpected. Nilsson around 60 singing a very lyrical O Mio Bambino Caro, which usually isn't seen as being taxing, but for a huge Wagnerian voice to sing like a young lyric when she had been singing for 40 years is pretty amazing.


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## adriesba (Dec 30, 2019)

Seattleoperafan said:


> This is very unexpected. Nilsson around 60 singing a very lyrical O Mio Bambino Caro, which usually isn't seen as being taxing, but for a huge Wagnerian voice to sing like a young lyric when she had been singing for 40 years is pretty amazing.


I don't see a date on the video though. 

If she is indeed that old there, then that would be a nice surprise to see her singing that well. There are recordings of Nilsson later in her career (her last _Elektra _at the MET, a recital album at a couple of churches) that can be found on YouTube, but she doesn't sound as good in those.


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## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

adriesba said:


> I don't see a date on the video though.
> 
> If she is indeed that old there, then that would be a nice surprise to see her singing that well. There are recordings of Nilsson later in her career (her last _Elektra _at the MET, a recital album at a couple of churches) that can be found on YouTube, but she doesn't sound as good in those.


Perhaps I should not have posted this, but I got the impression that she was older here. Perhaps I made a mistake. Sorry if I was incorrect.'


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## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

I know for a fact that Nilsson was in her mid 60's when she did this incredible Isolde's Curse at a Met gala.


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## Barelytenor (Nov 19, 2011)

adriesba said:


> I don't see a date on the video though.
> 
> If she is indeed that old there, then that would be a nice surprise to see her singing that well. There are recordings of Nilsson later in her career (her last _Elektra _at the MET, a recital album at a couple of churches) that can be found on YouTube, but she doesn't sound as good in those.


Regardless of her age (and she doesn't look 60 here), it is so refreshing to hear her, as always, not pressing on the notes (she doesn't have to) the way so many smaller-voiced sopranos do to try to make an impression on all those A-flats, and she purposely scales down her massive instrument to an appropriate size and produces a very nice legato. I have never heard Nilsson sing this before but it's just lovely, even though still unsuited ... but then, it's such a popular encore number, and that's certainly how she is performing it here.


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## Revitalized Classics (Oct 31, 2018)

Seattleoperafan said:


> Perhaps I should not have posted this, but I got the impression that she was older here. Perhaps I made a mistake. Sorry if I was incorrect.'


You were correct, she was 61

That recital was released on LP - here:https://www.discogs.com/Birgit-Nilsson-Konsert-I-Västra-Karups-Kyrka/release/13867167

Front cover







Back cover








"Recorded live on July 10 and 12, 1979 in Värsta Karup's church in the village where Birgit Nilsson was born and where she began her singing career and where she returns to sing benefit concerts."


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## nina foresti (Mar 11, 2014)

nina foresti said:


> Alfredo Kraus
> Nicolai Gedda
> Placido Domingo
> Magda Olivero
> ...


Certainly Freni deserves to be on this list.


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## millionrainbows (Jun 23, 2012)

Singers with Amazingly Long Necks









Joan Sutherland


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## MAS (Apr 15, 2015)

Seattleoperafan said:


> I know for a fact that Nilsson was in her mid 60's when she did this incredible Isolde's Curse at a Met gala.


She was 65 in 1983


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## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

MAS said:


> She was 65 in 1983


I didn't know she was THAT old then. Amazing. No one thirty could sing like that today, although Goerke does a respectable job.


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## Barbebleu (May 17, 2015)

Harry Plunket Greene sang a very fine Hurdy Gurdy Man when he was seventy. It’s on YouTube.


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## Eramire156 (Sep 28, 2017)

I don't think anybody has mentioned _*Hugues Cuénod*_, who made his Met debut at the age of 84, and his last stage appearance at the age of 90.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hugues_Cuénod


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## Rogerx (Apr 27, 2018)

millionrainbows said:


> Singers with Amazingly Long Necks
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Wonderful picture, thank you.


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## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

Here is 69 year old Dorothy Kirsten as a last minute replacement for Verrett in Tosca. The video sound isn't great but I heard her do Butterfly from the Met in her early 60's and she sounded 30. She still has a young woman's figure onstage in the video and a wonderful jawline. I think her voice sounded young longer than anyone I've heard. Lily Pons sang an aria at a gala way up in her 70's and also still sounded ageless. I am not sure how long she sang roles, though.


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## Rogerx (Apr 27, 2018)

Edita Gruberová

The popular coloratura soprano has retired at 74.

Statement from Alexander Pereira at the Maggio Musicale:

Edita Gruberová was extremely happy to come for a singing recital at the Teatro del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino on June 14, 2020, which was then postponed to October 3 due to the health emergency. The forced pause due to Covid-19 has also significantly delayed preparations for this concert. For a singer in an advanced state of her career, it is essential to keep the voice in shape with regular performances. The situation created by the virus made it impossible to maintain a singing routine, as all sorts of events were canceled. Since August, Mrs Gruberová resumed preparing the ambitious program scheduled for the evening of 3 October 2020. Despite her extraordinary commitment, Edita Gruberová informed us today of her decision to end her career. We were extremely happy to host one of the greatest sopranos in our theatre, and we are very sorry to know that this great moment cannot take place.


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