Blegen, Judith
Blegen, Judith
Blegen, Judith, American soprano; b. Lexington, Ky, April 27, 1940. She studied violin and voice at the Curtis Inst. of Music in Philadelphia (1959–64). In 1963 she went to Italy, where she studied with Luigi Ricci; then sang at the Nuremberg Opera (1963–66). She made a successful appearance at the Santa Fe Opera on Aug. 1, 1969, in the role of Emily in Menotti’s satirical opera Help! Help! the Globolinks!, which was written especially for her. She made her Metropolitan Opera debut on Jan. 19, 1970, in N.Y. as Papagena, returning there regularly in subsequent seasons to sing such roles as Zerlina, Marzelline, Gilda, Sophie, Blondchen, Adele, Oscar, and Juliette. In 1975 she made her first appearance at London’s Covent Garden, and in 1977 at the Paris Opéra.
—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire
