Jean Fenn

Jean Fenn (May 10, 1928 – October 20, 2021) was an American soprano who had an active opera career in North America during the 1950s through the 1970s. Fenn was a disciplined, well-schooled singer with an excellent technique, wide range, and a highly polished sound. She was notably a regular performer at the Metropolitan Opera in New York City between 1953 and 1970. A lyric soprano, she particularly excelled in portraying roles from the operas of Giacomo Puccini, Jules Massenet, and Charles Gounod.

In spite of her obvious talent, Fenn never achieved opera stardom. At the Metropolitan Opera, she performed with many of the mid-20th century operatic greats and standing in such a crowd, she never managed to distinguish herself. In his book The Last Prima Donnas, music critic Lanfranco Rasponi included Fenn in his list of American divas "who showed so much promise (all were talented and had good basic vocal resources) only to go into limbo". Critics have suggested that Fenn's quality was perhaps too polished and that prevented her from having that star making quality. Noël Coward said of her during rehearsals for one of his productions, "She is cursed with refinement and does everything 'beautifully.' Oh dear, I long for her to pick her nose or fart and before I'm through with her, she'll do both."

Fenn's voice is preserved on the soundtrack to the film Serenade (1956) in which she sings with tenor Mario Lanza. She appears on several live recordings made during the Metropolitan Opera radio broadcasts, including many performances as Musetta in La bohème recorded between 1953 and 1969. A 1967 live recording of her performing the title role in Tosca with Richard Tucker as Cavaradossi at the Academy of Music in Philadelphia was released by Lyric Distribution ALD in 1989 and again in 2000 by House of Opera. Her sister Marie Story (née Fenn) was also a soprano who had a minor career. She attended Stephens College and after graduating moved to Los Angeles, California, to pursue further studies in opera at Los Angeles City College. While there she studied voice with Florence Holtzman and participated in the opera theatre program which was run by renowned Russian tenor Vladimir Rosing. Fenn also studied privately with Amelita Galli-Curci and her husband Homer Samuels in California. She later received vocal coaching from Sigmund Romberg and Erich Korngold.

In 1949, while still a student, Fenn sang in her first opera with the Hollywood Reading Club portraying Blonde in Mozart's The Abduction from the Seraglio and that same year appeared in productions with the Guild Opera Company of Southern California. She made her debut with the San Francisco Opera on October 10, 1952 as Musetta in Puccini's La Bohème with Bidu Sayão as Mimì, Jan Peerce as Rodolfo, Frank Valentino as Marcello, and Gaetano Merola conducting. She sang several more performances with the SFO that year, portraying Elena in Boito's Mefistofele and Nedda in Leoncavallo's Pagliacci.

After a two-year absence from the Metropolitan, Fenn returned in April 1959 to portray Rosalinde in Die Fledermaus by Johann Strauss, with Theodor Uppman as Eisenstein and Laurel Hurley as Adele. That role along with Musetta became her bread and butter at the house. Fenn's next new role at the Met was in the title role of Massenet's Manon in 1964, That same year she performed her first lead Wagner role at the house, portraying Eva in Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg, with Paul Schöffler as Hans Sachs. In 1965, she added Antonia in Offenbach's Les Contes d'Hoffmann to her performance credits. Fenn performed four more roles at the Met in 1967, the First Lady in Mozart's The Magic Flute, the title role Lady Harriet in Flotow's Martha, Mimì (although Musetta would remain her more frequently assailed role in the opera), and the title role in Puccini's Tosca. Her last new role at the Met was Micaela in Bizet's Carmen which she first sang at the house in 1968 opposite Regina Resnik in the title role. Fenn's final and 126th performance at the Met was on January 23, 1970 as the First Lady alongside Edda Moser as the Queen of the Night. for the Seattle Opera, and made her debut with the Philadelphia Grand Opera Company (PGOC) as Tosca with Richard Tucker as Cavaradossi. She later returned to that house in 1974 to portray Marguerite to Enrico Di Giuseppe's Faust. That same year she sang Mimì to Luciano Rampaso's Rodolfo in the last production presented by the Philadelphia Lyric Opera Company before it merged with the PGOC to become the Opera Company of Philadelphia. She also appeared in operas with Opera Memphis, the Opera Company of Boston, the Cincinnati Opera, the Houston Grand Opera, the Pittsburgh Opera, and the San Antonio Grand Opera Festival among others. She made her final performance in 1991, with the Bremerton Symphony.

Personal life Fenn died in Poulsbo, Washington, on October 20, 2021, at age 93.