Lorraine Hunt Lieberson

Regarded as one of the finest American classical stars of her generation, Lorraine Hunt Lieberson was a mezzo-soprano singer known for the integrity and soul in her performances and was particularly associated with the baroque works of Handel. Raised in San Francisco by parents who were both involved in opera, she grew up playing piano and violin and was part of the Bay Area jazz scene before becoming principal viola player in the Berkley Symphony Orchestra. She returned to performing when she took part in a charity production of 'Hansel and Gretel' which played in prisons, including the notorious San Quentin, but she didn't start singing properly until she was 26-years-old when she worked with the innovative theatre director Peter Sellars on productions of 'Julius Caesar' and 'Don Giovanni'. She also sang with the classical groups Emmanuel Music and Les Arts Florissants and she met her husband director Peter Lieberson whilst starring at the Santa Fe Opera in his musical 'Ashoka's Dream' in 1997. Her debut performance at the Metropolitan Opera in 1999 as Myrtle Wilson in the 'Great Gatsby' drew huge critical acclaim, and other career defining moments included her portrayal of Dido in Berlioz's 'The Trojans' and her recordings of Bach's cantatas 'Ich Habe Genung' and 'Mein Herze Schwimmt im Blut'. Though she was a shy character who rarely gave interviews, her maverick, ethereal style came to life on stage and she could blow critics away with the controlled tone and range of emotion delivered in her huge, belting voice. In later life she also made an album of Handel's arias and performed at Carnegie Hall with the Boston Symphony Orchestra, but after suffering with breast cancer, she passed away in 2006 aged 52. She received two posthumous Grammy Awards for Best Classical Vocal Performance, for 'Rilke Songs' in 2007 and in 2008 for 'Neruda Songs'.

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