Farrell, Eileen
Farrell, Eileen
Farrell, Eileen, brilliant American soprano; b. Willimantic, Conn., Feb. 13, 1920. Her parents were vaudeville singers. She received her early vocal training with Merle Alcock in N.Y., and later studied with Eleanor McLellan. In 1940 she sang on the radio. In 1947–48 she made a U.S. tour as a concert singer, and then toured South America in 1949. Her song recital in N.Y. on Oct. 24, 1950, was enthusiastically acclaimed and secured for her immediate recognition. She was soloist in Beethoven’s 9th Sym. with Toscanini and the NBC Sym. Orch. She also appeared many times with the N.Y. Phil. She made her operatic debut as Santuzza with the San Carlo Opera in Tampa, Fla., in 1956. In 1958 she joined the San Francisco Opera and in 1957 became a member of the Lyric Opera of Chicago. On Dec. 6, 1960, she made a successful debut with the Metropolitan Opera in N.Y. as Gluck’s Alcestis; she remained on its roster until 1964; then returned in 1965–66. She was a Distinguished Prof, of Music at the Ind. Univ. School of Music in Bloomington from 1971 to 1980, and then held that title at the Univ. of Maine in Orono from 1983 to 1985. With B. Kellow, she publ. the autobiography Can’t Help Singing: The Life of Eileen Farrell (1999).
—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire