Roberta Peters

Roberta Peters (May 4, 1930 – January 18, 2017) was an American coloratura soprano.

One of the most prominent American singers to achieve lasting fame and success in opera, Peters is noted for her 35-year association with the Metropolitan Opera Company in New York, among the longest such associations between a singer and a company in opera. She was awarded the National Medal of Arts in 1998.

Early life and career Peters was born Roberta Peterman in The Bronx, New York City, the only child of Ruth (née Hersch), a milliner, and Solomon Peterman, a shoe salesman. Her family was Jewish. Encouraged by tenor Jan Peerce, she started her music studies at age 13 with William Herman, a voice teacher known for his exacting and thorough teaching method. Under Herman's training, Peters studied the French, German and Italian languages and practiced singing scales from a clarinet method. After six years of training, Herman introduced her to impresario Sol Hurok, who arranged for an audition with Rudolf Bing, general manager of the Metropolitan Opera. Bing asked her to sing the Queen of the Night's second aria from The Magic Flute (with its four Fs above high C), several times, listening from all parts of the hall to make sure she could fill the hall with sound.

Later in her career she added operetta and musical theater to her repertoire, appearing in The Merry Widow, and The King and I. She also recorded Rodgers and Hammerstein's Carousel with Alfred Drake. Peters never officially retired and gave occasional recitals later in life.

Personal life and death Peters was briefly married to baritone Robert Merrill in 1952, later admitting she had fallen in love with the voice and not the man. The two divorced amicably, remained friends and continued to perform together in opera and recitals. She married Bertram Fields in 1955. Their marriage produced two sons. Fields died in 2010.

Peters died of Parkinson's disease on January 18, 2017, at age 86.

Discography Studio opera recordings Composer Opera (year of recording, label) Other singers Chorus, orchestra, conductor Donizetti Lucia di Lammermoor (1957, RCA Victor) Jan Peerce, Philip Maero, Giorgio Tozzi Teatro dell'Opera di Roma, Erich Leinsdorf Gluck Orfeo ed Euridice (1957, RCA Victor) Lisa Della Casa, Risë Stevens Teatro dell'Opera di Roma, Pierre Monteux Mozart Così fan tutte, sung in English (1952, Columbia) Eleanor Steber, Blanche Thebom, Richard Tucker, Guarrera, Alvary Metropolitan Opera, Fritz Stiedry Mozart The Magic Flute (1964, Deutsche Grammophon) Evelyn Lear, Fritz Wunderlich, Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, Franz Crass Berlin Philharmonic, Karl Böhm Mozart The Marriage of Figaro (1958, RCA Victor) Giorgio Tozzi, Lisa Della Casa, George London, Rosalind Elias, Fernando Corena Vienna Philharmonic, Erich Leinsdorf Rossini The Barber of Seville (1958, RCA Victor) Cesare Valletti, Robert Merrill, Fernando Corena, Giorgio Tozzi Metropolitan Opera, Erich Leinsdorf Strauss Ariadne auf Naxos (1958, RCA Victor) Leonie Rysanek, Sena Jurinac, Jan Peerce, Walter Berry Vienna Philharmonic, Erich Leinsdorf Verdi Rigoletto (1956, RCA Victor) Jussi Björling, Robert Merrill, Giorgio Tozzi Teatro dell'Opera di Roma, Jonel Perlea

Studio recital recordings Title Composers/works Label, year Conductor/accompanist Youngest Member of a Great Tradition Donizetti, Bellini RCA Victor, 1954 Cellini Famous Operatic Arias Rossini, Donizetti, Verdi, Auber, Delibes RCA Victor, 1956 Bellezza, Perlea In Recital Bach, Handel, Scarlatti, Debussy, Ravel, Schumann, Strauss RCA Victor, 1962 George Trovillo, piano Sing the Popular Music of Leonard Bernstein (with Alfred Drake) On the Town, West Side Story, Candide, Wonderful Town Pye Command, 1965 Enoch Light Singt Lieder von Richard Strauss & Claude Debussy Debussy, Strauss BASF, 1973 Leonard Hokanson, piano Raisins and Almonds Folks songs arr. by David Krivoshei Audio Fidelity, 1975 Sam Brown and John Pizzarelli, guitars

Live Metropolitan Opera broadcasts released on CD by Sony

Composer Opera (performance date) Other singers ConductorDonizetti L'elisir d'amore (March 5, 1966) Bergonzi, Guarrera, Corena Schippers. Mozart Le nozze di Figaro (January 28, 1961) Amara, Miller, Siepi, Borg Leinsdorf. Offenbach Les contes d'Hoffmann (December 3, 1955) Amara, Stevens, Tucker, Singher Monteux. Verdi Un ballo in maschera (December 10, 1955) Milanov, Anderson, Peerce, Merrill Mitropoulos. Verdi Rigoletto (February 22, 1964) Dunn, Tucker, Merrill, Giaiotti Cleva.

Videography

Composer Opera (year of recording, label) Other singers Chorus, orchestra, conductor Donizetti Lucia di Lammermoor (excerpt), in The Metropolitan Opera Centennial Gala (1983, Deutsche Grammophon) Dano Raffanti, Brian Schexnayder, Julien Robbins, Loretta Di Franco, Robert Nagy Metropolitan Opera, Richard Bonynge