Regina Resnik facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Regina Resnik
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Resnik in 1968
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| Born | August 30, 1922 The Bronx, New York City, US
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| Died | August 8, 2013 (aged 90) Manhattan, New York City, US
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| Occupation | Opera singer |
| Years active | 1942–1991 |
Regina Resnik (born Regina Resnick, August 30, 1922 – August 8, 2013) was a famous American opera singer. She had a long career that lasted for five decades, which is 50 years!
She started singing opera in 1942 as a soprano. A soprano is a singer with a very high voice. Soon after, she began working with the Metropolitan Opera (often called "the Met") from 1944 until 1983. This was her artistic home for many years.
In 1953, a conductor named Clemens Krauss suggested she change her voice type. She started training to sing as a mezzo-soprano. A mezzo-soprano is a singer with a voice that is lower than a soprano but higher than a contralto. By 1956, she only sang mezzo-soprano roles.
Even though the Met was her main place, Regina Resnik also sang as a guest artist. She performed with other big American opera companies. She also sang in top European opera houses. These included La Scala in Italy, the Paris Opera in France, and the Royal Opera House in London. She also performed at the San Francisco Opera and the Vienna State Opera. After the mid-1980s, she started performing in musical theater instead of just opera.
Besides singing, Resnik also directed opera shows. She worked as a stage director in Europe during the 1970s and 1980s. She often worked with her husband, Arbit Blatas, who designed the sets and costumes. She was also a very active voice teacher. She taught at several music schools, including the Juilliard School.
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Early Life and Learning
Regina Resnick was born in The Bronx, New York City, on August 30, 1922. Her parents were Ukrainian Jewish immigrants who had just arrived in New York and were not wealthy. Regina later dropped the "c" from her last name, becoming "Resnik."
When she was 10, she volunteered to sing a solo at her school concert. At 13, she started taking singing lessons from Rosalie Miller. Soon after, she won $10 by singing on a public radio show called Major Bowes Amateur Hour.
Regina was a very smart student and skipped several grades in school. She went to Herman Ridder Junior High School and then James Monroe High School in the Bronx. There, she first performed on stage. She sang lead roles in school operettas and was part of her school's glee club. Resnik said that she realized she had a voice because of the New York school system.
After finishing high school in 1938, she studied singing with Giuseppe Danise. She went to Hunter College and earned a degree in music in 1942.
Singing Career Highlights
Regina Resnik started her professional singing career at age 22. On October 27, 1942, she gave a concert of art songs at the Brooklyn Academy of Music. Just two months later, she made her first opera performance. She sang Lady Macbeth in Giuseppe Verdi's Macbeth in New York City.
In 1943, she sang in Mexico City. She performed as Leonore in Fidelio and Micaela in Carmen. In 1944, she sang for the New York City Opera. She played Frasquita and Micaela in Carmen and Santuzza in Cavalleria rusticana.
Joining the Metropolitan Opera
In April 1944, Resnik won the Metropolitan Opera Auditions of the Air. This led to a contract with the Met for the 1944/45 season. Her first performance at the Met was very exciting. On December 6, 1944, she filled in for another singer with only one day's notice. She sang Leonora in Il trovatore. The audience and critics loved her powerful voice and acting.
Over the next ten years, she sang many famous soprano roles at the Met. These included Donna Elvira and Donna Anna in Don Giovanni, Leonore in Fidelio, and Aida in Aida. She was also the first Ellen Orford in Peter Grimes at the Met. Her voice was so strong that people compared her to the famous singer Rosa Ponselle. During these years, she worked with legendary conductors like Otto Klemperer and Bruno Walter.
Changing Voice Types
In 1953, while singing in Germany, conductor Clemens Krauss suggested her voice was becoming a mezzo-soprano. Even though she was very successful as a soprano, she noticed her voice was getting darker. In 1955, she took a year to re-train her voice with her teacher, Giuseppe Danise.
Her first two mezzo-soprano roles were Amneris in Aida and Laura in La Gioconda. On February 15, 1956, she officially debuted as a mezzo-soprano at the Metropolitan Opera. She gave a brilliant performance as Marina in Boris Godunov.
In October 1957, she began a long career at the Royal Opera House in London. Her first role there was Carmen, which was a big success. She later sang other famous mezzo-soprano roles like Amneris in Aida and Ulrica in Un ballo in maschera. Her performance as Mistress Quickly in Falstaff became a famous example for that role. Carmen, Klytemnestra in Elektra, Mistress Quickly, and the Pique Dame in The Queen of Spades became her most well-known roles.
Critics praised her Carmen, saying it was "masterly" and "ideal." They described her Klytemnestra as "unforgettable" with "vocal prowess without limit." She also had happy memories of three funny operas: her Orlovsky in Die Fledermaus, the Marquise in La fille du régiment (with Joan Sutherland and Luciano Pavarotti), and her Mistress Quickly in the 1964 Falstaff.
Regina Resnik could sing fluently in six languages. She performed in many different styles, from classical to romantic, and from Wagnerian to modern operas. Over the years, she performed all over the world. She sang at La Scala, the La Fenice, the Paris Opéra, and in cities like Salzburg, Vienna, Lisbon, and Buenos Aires.
The Met remained her main base. Some of her big successes there included new productions of Elektra (with Birgit Nilsson and Leonie Rysanek) and The Queen of Spades.
She recorded many of her famous roles. These included Carmen, Klytemnestra, Mistress Quickly, and Orlovsky. She is known as the only singer in opera history to have sung both the soprano and mezzo-soprano main roles in many operas. She also performed with many regional opera companies in the United States and Canada.
From 1971 to 1981, she also worked as a stage director. She often worked with her husband, Arbit Blatas, who was a painter and sculptor. They directed operas like Carmen, Falstaff, The Queen of Spades, and Elektra in various cities around the world.
In 1987, Resnik started performing in American musical theater. She played Mrs. Schneider in Cabaret on Broadway, which earned her a Tony Award nomination. Her role as Mme. Armfeldt in A Little Night Music at Lincoln Center earned her a Drama Desk nomination in 1991.
Regina Resnik passed away at the age of 90 from a stroke in Manhattan.
Teaching and Other Work
Regina Resnik was a master class teacher at the Metropolitan Opera for ten years. She also taught at other famous music schools. These included the Mozarteum in Salzburg, the Canadian Opera Company in Toronto, and the Juilliard School. She was a Master Teacher-in-Residence in the Opera Department of the Mannes College of Music. There, she helped prepare students for operas like La bohème and The Magic Flute.
In Italy, she was a Master Teacher of Vocal Studies at the Ca' Zenobio Master Campus. She was also the musical director of Eurobottega. This was a special program for young singers from the European Union.
Her concert series, "Regina Resnik Presents," became well-known in America. Her son, Michael Philip Davis, created a three-part series about Jewish music called "Colors of the Diaspora." Regina Resnik narrated this series, which was shown on CUNY TV and released on DVD.
Awards and Honors
Regina Resnik received many awards and honors throughout her life. New York City even declared a "Regina Resnik Day" to celebrate her career.
She received the Lawrence Tibbett Award from the American Guild of Musical Artists. Lincoln Center also gave her a special tribute. The city of Venice honored her 50th anniversary in a special event. The Metropolitan Opera Guild celebrated her 60th career anniversary at Lincoln Center in New York.
Hunter College gave her an Honorary Doctorate in Humane Letters. In 2007, the New England Conservatory honored her with a Doctorate of Music. She also served on the board of the Hunter Foundation. She was a member of the jury for the Peabody Awards for Radio and Television. She was also on the Board of Directors of the Metropolitan Opera Guild and the Board of Advisors of CUNY TV.
See also
In Spanish: Regina Resnik para niños
