Cornell MacNeil

Cornell MacNeil (September 24, 1922 – July 15, 2011 ) was an American operatic baritone known for his exceptional voice and long career with the Metropolitan Opera, which spanned 642 performances in twenty-six roles. Opera News opined he "was a great baritone in era of great baritones — Warren, Gobbi, Merrill, Milnes — and in the contemporary press, comparisons to his colleagues were frequent. But MacNeil's performances had singular musical richness, and moral and intellectual complexity that were his alone. MacNeil may have had rivals, but he had no equals."

Life and career Cornell MacNeil was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota to a dentist and a singer.

MacNeil's voice was notable for its size and top notes. Despite some vocal decline in the late 1970s, he maintained a high standard throughout his long career. Two of his most notable roles were the title role in Rigoletto, and Iago in Otello. MacNeil was a regular at the Metropolitan Opera.

His debut was on March 21, 1959, as Rigoletto. Rigoletto was also the role he sang the most at the Met, 104 times, including the Met's first telecast of that opera in 1977, in the production by John Dexter.

MacNeil was also well known for the role of Baron Scarpia in Tosca, a role he sang 92 times at the Met between November 2, 1959, and December 5, 1987, which was his last performance with the company. He appeared at La Scala in 1959 (Ernani, with Franco Corelli) and in 1960 (Aida).

Abridged discography Menotti: The Consul (Neway, Powers; Engel, 1950) Decca Records Verdi: La traviata: excerpts (Kirsten, Hayward; Cellini, 1958) [live] VAI Puccini: La fanciulla del West (Tebaldi, del Monaco, Tozzi; Capuana, 1958) Decca Records Verdi: Aïda (Tebaldi, Simionato, Bergonzi; Karajan, 1959) Decca Records Leoncavallo: Pagliacci (Tucci, del Monaco; Molinari-Pradelli, 1959) Decca Records Mascagni: Cavalleria rusticana (Simionato, del Monaco; Serafin, 1960) Decca Records Verdi: Un ballo in maschera (Nilsson, Simionato, Bergonzi; Solti, 1960–1) Decca Records Verdi: Rigoletto (Sutherland, Cioni, Siepi; Sanzogno, 1961) Decca Records Verdi: Luisa Miller (Moffo, Verrett, Bergonzi, Tozzi, Flagello; Cleva, 1965) RCA Verdi: Rigoletto (Grist, Gedda; Molinari-Pradelli, 1967) EMI Leoncavallo: Pagliacci (Carlyle, Vickers; Bartoletti, 1968) [live] VAI Verdi: La traviata (Stratas, Domingo; Levine, 1982) Elektra

Abridged videography Puccini: Tosca (Pobbe, Raimondi; Argento, 1965) [live] Verdi: Rigoletto (Cotrubaș, Domingo, Díaz; Levine, Dexter, 1977) [live] Verdi: Otello (Scotto, Vickers; Levine, Zeffirelli/Melano, 1978) [live] Puccini: Tosca (Verrett, Pavarotti, Tajo; Conlon, Gobbi, 1978) [live] Weill: Aufstieg und Fall der Stadt Mahagonny (Stratas, Varnay, Cassilly, Plishka; Levine, Dexter, 1979) [live] Puccini: Il tabarro (Scotto; Levine, Melano, 1981) [live] Verdi: La traviata (Stratas, Domingo; Levine, Zeffirelli, 1982) Zandonai: Francesca da Rimini (Scotto, Rom, Domingo; Levine, Faggioni, 1984) [live] Puccini: Tosca (Behrens, Domingo; Sinopoli, Zeffirelli, 1985) [live]