Marilyn Cotlow

Marilyn Rose Cotlow (January 10, 1924 – October 26, 2024) was an American lyric coloratura soprano best remembered for creating the role of Lucy in Gian Carlo Menotti's The Telephone in both the original Broadway and West End productions. She sang professionally during the 1940s and 1950s in the United States and Europe, performing with such companies as the Metropolitan Opera, Theater Bremen, Theater Basel, and the Wexford Festival Opera. After 1957, Cotlow mainly retired from performance to devote time to teaching voice and being a mother; although she continued to perform periodically in recitals, on the stage, and on disc up into the 1990s. She has taught vocal music on the faculties of the Peabody Conservatory, the University of Michigan, and Catholic University of America in addition to teaching privately from her home in Northern Virginia. Several of her students have had successful careers, including Alessandra Marc and Jennifer Wilson.

Early life and education Marilyn Rose Cotlow was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on January 10, 1924, to Sander and Bernice Cotlow. She had two brothers: William and Phillip. While she was in Junior High School the Cotlow family lived in the home of Mr. Cunningham, a bass player with the Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra.

Early performance career Cotlow made her professional opera debut on June 26, 1942, with the California Opera Academy as the Queen of the Night in Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's The Magic Flute. The production was staged by Theodore Bachenheimer at the Wilshire Ebell Theatre in Los Angeles.

In March 1946 Cotlow performed as a soloist with the Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra under conductor Dimitri Mitropoulos. Her fellow cast mates included Met soprano Anne Bollinger, Met baritone Clifford Harvuot, mezzo Jane Hobson, tenor Joseph Laderoute, and bass Lorenzo Alvary. The double bill premiered on February 18, 1947, at the Heckscher Theater, and the Broadway production opened on May 1, 1947, at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre and remained for more than 7 months. She also performed the work on London's West End at the Aldwych Theatre in 1948. A financially profitable recording, it was later re-issued in 1980.

In September 1947 Cotlow performed the role of Rosina in The Barber of Seville at Philharmonic Auditorium with the American Opera Company of Los Angeles. She performed that same role on tour with the Charles L. Wagner Opera Company with baritone Andrew Gainey as Almaviva in 1948.

Metropolitan Opera and later performance career In May 1948 Cotlow and tenor Frank Guarrera were selected as the two winners of the Metropolitan Opera Auditions of the Air. She made her Met debut on December 4, 1948, under the baton of Wilfrid Pelletier as Philine in Mignon; a performance which was broadcast on the Metropolitan Opera radio broadcasts. The production was staged by Désiré Defrère with Risë Stevens in the title role. Other cast members included James Melton as Wilhelm Meister and Nicola Moscona as Lothario.

Cotlow toured to Los Angeles with the Met's production of Mignon for performances at the Shrine Auditorium in March 1949. She made an LP recording of Samuel Barber's Sleep Now and Richard Hageman's At the Well which was released by RCA Victor in 1949. In 1950 she performed a concert of opera arias and duets with tenor Walter Fredericks on WWOR-TV. In 1951 she performed the role of Blondchen in The Abduction from the Seraglio with The Little Orchestra Society at The Town Hall. That same year she starred in Oscar Straus's The Chocolate Soldier in Toronto, and as Violetta in Verdi's La traviata at the New Orleans Opera.

From 1952 to 1955 Cotlow was actively performing in operas in Europe. In 1955 she gave a concert tour in the Netherlands. In 1957 she performed a program of opera excerpts from works by Offenbach with the CSO under Julius Rudel with bass Joshua Hecht.

After the mid-1950s, Cotlow performed rarely as her time became increasingly devoted to raising her children and teaching. In 1962 she performed the role of Rosalinde in Die Fledermaus at the theatre of the Detroit Institute of Arts with the Detroit Opera Theatre. In 1979 she starred in the world premiere of Thomas Czerny-Hydzik's The Tell-Tale Heart; an opera adaptation of the 1843 short story by Edgar Allan Poe. Written specifically as a vehicle for her, the work premiered at Prince George's Publick Playhouse in Hyattsville, MD in December 1979. Earlier that year she starred in an evening opera scenes with the Prince George Civic Opera performed at the University of Virginia. She later recorded Kurt Weill's "September Song" with the Peter Robinson trio on their 1994 album Dancin' .

Teaching career, personal life and death On August 9, 1948, Cotlow married violinist Eugene Altschuler who was concertmaster of the New Orleans Symphony at the time of their marriage. They have two sons, Daniel and Remy David. Cotlow stated that her opera career was cut short in the mid-1950s because of her decision to return to the United States with her husband. Altschuler died in 2000.

In the late 1950s Cotlow took up teaching as her performance appearances became rare. She has taught voice privately out of her home in Falls Church, Virginia for many years and has also taught voice on the faculties of the University of Michigan, the Peabody Conservatory, and Catholic University of America. One of her most famous students, Alessandra Marc, became her daughter-in-law when Marc married her son Remy David. The couple has since divorced. Marc began studies with Cotlow in 1980.

Cotlow died following a fall at a nursing facility on October 26, 2024, at the age of 100. Her death was not announced until April 2025.

Opera roles

Adele, Die Fledermaus (Johann Strauss II) Adina, L'elisir d'amore (Gaetano Donizetti) Amina, La sonnambula (Vincenzo Bellini) Blondchen & Constanze, The Abduction from the Seraglio (Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart) Despina, Così fan tutte (Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart) Frau Fluth, Die Lustigen Weiber von Windsor (Otto Nicolai) Lakme, Lakme (Leo Delibes) Lucy, The Telephone (Gian Carlo Menotti)

Madame Herz, Der Schauspieldirektor (Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart) Madame Vogelsang, Der Schauspieldirektor (Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart) Martha/Lady Harriet, Martha (Friedrich von Flotow) Musetta, La Boheme (Giacomo Puccini) Olympia, The Tales of Hoffmann (Jacques Offenbach) Philine, Mignon (Ambroise Thomas) The Queen of the Night, The Magic Flute (Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart) Rosalinde, Die Fledermaus (Johann Strauss II) Violetta, La Traviata (Giuseppe Verdi)