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Lorraine Hunt Lieberson

Lorraine Hunt Lieberson (March 1, 1954 – July 3, 2006) was an American mezzo-soprano. She was noted for her performances of both Baroque era and contemporary works. Her career path to becoming a singer was unconventional – formerly a professional violist, Lieberson did not shift her full-time focus to singing until she was in her thirties.

Lorraine Hunt Lieberson

(1954-03-01)1 March 1954

3 July 2006(2006-07-03) (aged 52)

American

1985–2006

Life[edit]

One of four children,[1] Lorraine Hunt was born to parents who were both involved with opera in the San Francisco Bay Area. Her mother, Marcia, was a contralto and music teacher and her father, Randolph, taught music in high school and college. She performed as a child in Engelbert Humperdinck's Hänsel & Gretel, as a gingerbread boy. She returned to opera after taking part in a charity performance of the same work at a prison, this time taking Hänsel's role.[2] After this performance, she auditioned for the Met, at age 29.


While rehearsing in his opera Ashoka's Dream at Santa Fe in 1997, she met composer Peter Lieberson. She married him two years later, changing her name to Lorraine Hunt Lieberson.[3] Peter Lieberson's song cycles Rilke Songs and Neruda Songs, both available on CD, were composed especially for his wife.


Hunt Lieberson died from breast cancer in Santa Fe, New Mexico on July 3, 2006, at the age of 52. Only a few years previously, she had nursed her sister through her final illness with the same disease.[3] Her husband fell victim to cancer too, falling ill in 2007 and dying in April 2011.[4]

Recordings[edit]

Besides those mentioned above, her most recent recordings include two of Johann Sebastian Bach's Cantatas, BWV 82 (Ich habe genug) and BWV 199 (Mein Herze schwimmt im Blut), which made the New York Times top 10 classical albums of the year and No. 3 on the Billboard classical chart. Musical America recognized her as the 2001 Vocalist of the Year.


In the late 1980s and early 1990s, before her marriage to Peter Lieberson, Lorraine Hunt rose to prominence in the repertoire of George Frideric Handel. She performed and recorded opera and oratorios with the Göttingen International Handel Festival, under Nicholas McGegan's direction. Her recordings include Ariodante, Serse, Messiah (as a soprano), Clori, Tirsi e Fileno, Theodora, Susanna, and two CDs of Handel arias. For the oratorio Theodora, she sang the roles of both Irene and the title character; she has also recorded Henry Purcell's incidental music for The Fairy-Queen and the title role of Dido and Aeneas with McGegan.


Hunt Lieberson's 1999 debut at Wigmore Hall, a performance of lieder by Schumann (Frauen-Liebe und Leben, Op. 42) and Brahms (Op. 57) with the pianist Julius Drake, was released as a live recording.

Neruda Songs, new album on Nonesuch

at IMDb

Lorraine Hunt Lieberson

at the Wayback Machine (archived October 28, 2009)

Information about Lorraine Hunt Lieberson

1996 Terry Gross, Fresh Air interview, 14 minutes

NPR story on Hunt Lieberson, 2002

The New Yorker Profile, "The Soul Singer: A mezzo with the most potent voice since Callas." January 5, 2004 issue

Lorraine Hunt Lieberson sings Handel arias