Weede Robert

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Weede Robert

Weede (real name, Wiedefeld), Robert , American baritone; b. Baltimore, Feb. 11, 1903; d. Walnut Creek, Calif., June 9, 1972. After winning the National Federation of Music Clubs award (1927), he studied at the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, N.Y., and in Milan. In 1933 he became a soloist at N.Y/s Radio City Music Hall. On May 15, 1937, he made his Metropolitan Opera debut in N.Y. as Tonio, where he was on the roster until 1942, and then again in 1944-45, 1948-50, and 1952-53. He also sang Rigoletto in Chicago (1939), San Francisco (1940), and at the N.Y.C. Opera (1948). In later years he made appearances on Broadway and toured in the musicals The Most Happy Fella and Milk and Honey. During his operatic career, he sang mainly in operas by Verdi and Puccini.

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire