• Source: Frederica von Stade

Frederica von Stade (born 1 June 1945) is a semi-retired American classical singer. Best known for her work in opera, she was also a recitalist and concert artist, and she recorded more than a hundred albums and videos. She is especially associated with operas by Mozart and Rossini, and also with music by French and American composers, most notably Jake Heggie. A Chevalier of France's Ordre des Arts et des Lettres, twice the winner of a Grand Prix du Disque and nominated nine times for a Grammy award, she is widely regarded as the pre-eminent lyric mezzo-soprano of her generation.




Early life


Frederica von Stade—always Flicka (her childhood nickname) to her family, friends and fans—was born in Somerville, New Jersey on 1 June 1945, the daughter of Sara Clucas von Stade and Charles Steele von Stade, a 1941 US Polo Champion, who had been killed by a landmine while serving with the US Army in Germany during World War II. Her early infancy was largely spent in the affluent hunt country of Somerset County, New Jersey, with a brief interlude in Greece and Italy during her mother's short-lived second marriage to a US State Department official, Horace Fuller.
She began her education at Stone Ridge School of the Sacred Heart and Holy Trinity School in Washington DC, where her mother worked as a secretary for the CIA. When her mother relocated to Oldwick, New Jersey, she transferred to Far Hills Country Day School: FHCDS saw her in the first of her many trouser roles when she appeared there as Nanki-Poo in The Mikado. During her final high school years, she boarded at the Convent of the Sacred Heart, no longer extant, in Noroton, Connecticut. Her introduction to opera came at the Salzburg Festival in 1961, when her mother took her to see Elisabeth Schwarzkopf and Christa Ludwig in Der Rosenkavalier.
With the help of a graduation gift from her grandfather, she spent a gap year studying and working in Paris before getting a job as a salesgirl in the stationery department of Tiffany's, New York City. She began her performing career acting in summer stock at the Long Wharf Theater and singing in nightclubs and in industrial musicals. In 1966 she visited New York's Mannes School of Music intending to take a part-time course in sight-reading, but was persuaded to enrol in its undergraduate music programme instead. In the second year of her course, she began studying opera under Sebastian Engelberg, who remained her teacher and most important mentor until his death in 1979.




Career


After a successful appearance as a semi-finalist in the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions in 1969, von Stade was invited to join the Metropolitan Opera Studio. A summons from the rehearsal room to a private audition with Sir Rudolf Bing resulted in her signing a three-year contract as a comprimario. She made her Met debut as the Third Boy in Die Zauberflöte on 10 January 1970, and went on to play eighteen other apprentice roles as "everybody's page or their maid—I was an operatic domestic".
In 1971, the Met allowed her to moonlight in San Francisco and in Santa Fe as Sesto and Cherubino respectively, but in 1972, hungry for more challenging roles, she decided to embark on a career as a freelance. She debuted as Cherubino in Houston and as Rosina in Washington DC in 1973. That was also the year when she first sang in Europe: she was highly acclaimed as Cherubino—her signature role—in high-profile productions by Giorgio Strehler in Paris and by Peter Hall at Glyndebourne. Soon she was singing in all of opera's most prestigious houses, appearing as Cherubino in Salzburg in 1974, as Rosina at Covent Garden in 1975, as Rosina at La Scala in 1976 and as Cherubino in Vienna in 1977. Her recording of Joseph Haydn's Harmoniemesse (taped under Leonard Bernstein in 1973) was the first item in what grew to be a large and eclectic discography, and a telecast of Le nozze di Figaro from Glyndebourne in 1973 launched her on a television career that eventually made her a familiar face on screens in America and across the world. The highlights of her performing life included singing in Washington DC for Presidents Nixon, Carter, Reagan and George H. W. Bush, starring in a gala staged in honour of the 1992 Winter Olympics and participating in a televised concert led by Leonard Slatkin to mourn those murdered in the terrorist attacks of 9/11.
With a coltish physique and a warm, soft-grained, lyric mezzo-soprano voice that extended into soprano territory, she was a celebrated exponent of travesti roles like Hänsel, Idamante, and Octavian, and—aided by her striking beauty—she was also much admired playing leading ladies like Angelina, Charlotte, Dorabella, Lucette, Mélisande, Penelope and Zerlina. In the autumn of her career, she transitioned into character parts, among them Despina, Geschwitz, Tina, the Marquise de Merteuil, Mrs De Rocher, Madeline Mitchell, Winnie Flato and Myrtle Bledsoe. Her repertoire spanned the gamut from the baroque era through the classical and Romantic periods to modern music (including jazz and pop). Her many firsts included the US premiere of Monteverdi's Il ritorno d'Ulisse in patria, the Met's first performance of Mozart's Idomeneo, the first recording of Massenet's Cendrillon and the world premieres of operas by Dominick Argento, Lembit Beecher, Ricky Ian Gordon, Jake Heggie, Thomas Pasatieri, Conrad Susa and Heitor Villa-Lobos. Her appearances in musicals by Leonard Bernstein and Stephen Sondheim reflected a love of musical theatre that had been kindled when she was a little girl listening to her mother's 78s of songs by George Gershwin and Jerome Kern.
Although she was primarily a singing actress, she was also a busy concert artist, particularly in the 1990s and 2000s. The composers whose orchestral pieces she programmed most often were Mozart, Mahler, Berlioz, Debussy, Ravel and Canteloube. These also featured prominently in her enormous recital repertoire, alongside Britten, Fauré, Handel, Offenbach, Poulenc, Schoenberg, Schubert, Schumann, Richard Strauss and the many American composers for whom she was an evangelist and, in several cases, a muse. French mélodies were particularly dear to her—a devoted Francophile, she became a fluent French speaker while still a teenager and made her home in Paris for several years during her early thirties. The pianist with whom she performed most often was Martin Katz. (Other colleagues who were especially important in her career were the composers Dominick Argento and Jake Heggie, the conductors Claudio Abbado, James Levine and Michael Tilson Thomas and the singers Kiri Te Kanawa, Marilyn Horne, Thomas Allen, Thomas Hampson, Richard Stilwell and Samuel Ramey.)
Von Stade ceased performing full time in 2010, but she continued to make occasional appearances near her East Bay home and elsewhere throughout the following decade and into the 2020s. Her activities in semi-retirement have included taking part in benefit concerts, judging singing competitions and teaching interpretation in master classes.




Personal life


Von Stade married Peter Elkus, a California-born bass-baritone and music teacher, in 1973. Their daughter Jenny (a clinical psychologist) was born in 1977, and their daughter Lisa (a technology company executive) in 1980. They divorced in 1990, and von Stade married Michael Gorman, an Alameda manufacturer and banker, shortly afterwards.
Von Stade is a practising Roman Catholic. Her extensive charitable work has involved her in a variety of programmes, most of them concerned with either education, health issues or homelessness. The main beneficiary of her philanthropy has been the Young Musicians Choral Orchestra, an East Bay organization that provides children from low income families with musical tuition, academic reinforcement and assistance in their personal development in order to help them to win a place at university.
Von Stade's many leisure activities include cooking, gardening, golf, sailing and ministering to a "West Highland terrorist" called Sadie.




Further reading


Von Stade's authorized biography, Richard Parlour's Flicka: The Life and Music of Frederica von Stade, is scheduled for publication in 2025. She has been the subject of two major film profiles: Call Me Flicka (BBC and RM Munich, 1980), produced by Herbert Chappell, and Flicka: A Love Letter (Paper Wings Films, 2023), directed by Brian Staufenbiel and produced by Nicolle Foland and Dede Wilsey. Many other von Stade videos are accessible via two YouTube playlists,"Frederica von Stade in performance". and "Frederica von Stade in conversation".




Select discography


Argento: Casa Guidi, cond. Eiji Oue
Berlioz: La damnation de Faust, cond. Georg Solti
Berlioz and Debussy: Les nuits d'été and La damoiselle élue, cond. Seiji Ozawa
Bernstein: Arias and Barcarolles, cond. Michael Tilson Thomas
Bernstein: On the Town, cond. Michael Tilson Thomas
Chris Brubeck: Convergence, cond. Sara Jobin
Chris Brubeck and Dave Brubeck: Across Your Dreams
Canteloube: Chants d'Auvergne Vol. 1, cond. Antonio de Almeida
Canteloube: Chants d'Auvergne Vol. 2 and Triptyque, cond. Antonio de Almeida
Danielpour: Elegies, cond. Roger Nierenberg
Debussy: Mélodies, acc. Dalton Baldwin
Debussy: Pelléas et Mélisande, cond. Herbert von Karajann
De Falla: The Three-Cornered Hat, cond. André Previn
Fauré: Mélodies, acc. Jean-Philippe Collard
Fauré: L'œuvre d'orchestre, cond. Michel Plasson
Gordon: A Coffin in Egypt, cond. Timothy Myers
Joseph Haydn: La fedeltà premiata, cond. Antal Doráti
Joseph Haydn: Harmoniemesse, cond. Leonard Bernstein
Joseph Haydn: Il mondo della luna, cond. Antal Doráti
Heggie: Dead Man Walking (2000), cond. Patrick Summers
Heggie: Dead Man Walking (2011), cond. Patrick Summers
Heggie: The Faces of Love - The Songs of Jake Heggie, acc. Jake Heggie
Heggie: Flesh & Stone, acc. Jake Heggie
Heggie: Passing By - Songs by Jake Heggie, acc. Jake Heggie
Heggie: Three Decembers, cond. Patrick Summers
Humperdinck: Hänsel und Gretel, cond. John Pritchard
Kern: Show Boat, cond. John McGlinn
Mahler: Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen, Rückert Lieder and other songs, cond. Andrew Davis
Mahler: Symphony No. 4, cond. Claudio Abbado
Mahler: Symphony No. 4 and Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen, cond. Yoel Levi
Massenet: Cendrillon, cond. Julius Rudel
Massenet: Chérubin, cond. Pinchas Steinberg
Massenet: Werther, cond. Colin Davis
Mendelssohn: A Midsummer Night's Dream, cond. Eugene Ormandy
Mendelssohn: A Midsummer Night's Dream, cond. Seiji Ozawa
Monteverdi: Il ritorno d'Ulisse in patria, cond. Raymond Leppard
Monteverdi and Cavalli: Frederica von Stade chante Monteverdi & Cavalli, cond. Raymond Leppard
Mozart: La clemenza di Tito, cond. Colin Davis
Mozart: Così fan tutte, cond. Alain Lombard
Mozart: Le nozze di Figaro, cond. Herbert von Karajan
Mozart: Le nozze di Figaro, cond. Georg Solti
Mozart: Waisenhausmesse, cond. Claudio Abbado
Mozart and Rossini: Mozart and Rossini Arias, cond. Edo de Waart
Offenbach: Arias and Overtures, cond. Antonio de Almeida
Porter: Anything Goes, cond. John McGlinn
Rameau: Dardanus, cond. Raymond Leppard
Ravel: Shéhérazade and other songs, cond. Seiji Ozawa
Rodgers and Hammerstein: The Sound of Music, cond. Erich Kunzel
Rodgers and Hart: My Funny Valentine, cond. John McGlinn
Rossini: Otello, cond. Jesús López-Cobos
Richard Strauss: Der Rosenkavalier, cond. Edo de Waart
Thomas: Mignon, cond. Antonio de Almeida
Wilberg: Requiem and other works, cond. Craig Jessop
Various: Angel Heart, cond. Michael Morgan
Various: Flicka: Another Side of Frederica von Stade, cond. Jeremy Lubbock
Various: Frederica von Stade: French Opera Arias, cond. John Pritchard
Various: Frederica von Stade: Italian Opera Arias, cond. Mario Bernardi
Various: Frederica von Stade: Liederabend, acc. Martin Katz
Various: Frederica von Stade Live!, acc. Martin Katz
Various: Judith Blegen and Frederica von Stade: Songs, Arias and Duets, acc. Charles Wadsworth
Various: Marilyn Horne: Divas in Song, acc. various
Various: Marilyn Horne and Frederica von Stade: Lieder and Duets, acc. Martin Katz
Various: Opera Stars in Concert, cond. Anton Guadagno
Various: Pauline Viardot and Friends, acc. David Harper
Various: Puttin' on the Ritz, cond. Erich Kunzel
Various: A Salute to American Music, cond. James Conlon
Various: Simple Gifts / A Song of Thanksgiving, cond. Joseph Silverstein
Various: Song Recital, acc. Martin Katz
Various: Voyage à Paris: Frederica von Stade, acc. Martin Katz




Select videography


Bernstein: On the Town, Barbican Centre
Dvořák: Dvořák in Prague: A Celebration, Smetana Hall
Heggie: Great Scott, Dallas Opera
Humperdinck: Hänsel und Gretel, Metropolitan Opera
Mozart: Great Mass in C Minor, Waldsassen
Mozart: Idomeneo, Metropolitan Opera
Mozart: Le nozze di Figaro, Glyndebourne
Mozart: Le nozze di Figaro, Metropolitan Opera
Mozart: Le nozze di Figaro, Paris Opera
Rossini: La Cenerentola, La Scala
Rossini: The Rossini Bicentennial Birthday Gala, David Geffen Hall
Richard Strauss: Richard Strauss Gala, Berliner Philharmonie
Various: A Carnegie Hall Christmas Concert, Carnegie Hall
Various: Christmas with Flicka, St Wolfgang im Salzkammergut
Various: Christmas with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir and Orchestra at Temple Square, Salt Lake City Conference Center
Various: Glyndebourne Festival Opera: A Gala Evening, Glyndebourne
Various: James Levine's 25th Anniversary Metropolitan Opera Gala, Metropolitan Opera
Various: The Metropolitan Opera Centennial Gala, Metropolitan Opera
Various: The Metropolitan Opera Gala 1991, Metropolitan Opera




Sources


Guthrie, Julian: Opera's thoroughbred, San Francisco Examiner, 28 Aug 1994
Jacobson, Robert: Flicka and Richard, Opera News, 24 January 1976
James, Jamie: Frederica the Great, Opera Now, June 1991
Kellow, Brian: Cherubino grows up, Opera News, 1 April 1995
Lessard, Suzannah: Flicka, The New Yorker, 7 May 1979
McLellan, Joseph: Von Stade's Cinderella story, The Washington Post, 27 Feb 1988
Michaelson, Judith: Oh, the life of the diva, Los Angeles Times, 4 May 1980
Movshon, George: Frederica von Stade, Opera, January 1980
Paolucci, Bridget: A time for soul-searching, Opera News, 30 Jan 1988
Spoto, Donald: Flicka in ¾ time, Opera News, March 2000
Swan, Annalyn: The sweetheart of American opera, Newsweek, 4 April 1983
Tassel, Janet: A real thoroughbred, Opera News, 9 April 1983

Kata Kunci Pencarian:

• Convent of the Sacred Heart (New York)
• Hubert de Givenchy
• Mezosopran
• Penghargaan Grammy ke-53
• Daftar anggota Ordre des Arts et des Lettres
• Frederica von Stade
• Von Stade
• Chants d'Auvergne, Vol. 1
• Charles von Stade
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• Nuits d'été & La damoiselle élue
• Fauré Mélodies (Frederica von Stade recording)
• Chants d'Auvergne, Vol. 2
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• Italian Opera Arias