Phyllis Curtin

She was named Boston University's Dean Emerita, College of Fine Arts in 1991.

Phyllis Curtin studied at Wellesley College and New England Conservatory. Training under Olga Averino and Boris Goldovsky is recorded. Karol Bennett, Andrea Carroll and Ilana Davidson are recorded as having studied under Phyllis Curtin. The recorded working language is English. Employment is recorded with Yale University and Boston University.

• Name — Phyllis Curtin • Birth Name — Phyllis Smith • Born — 3 December 1921 • Birthplace — Clarksburg, West Virginia, U.S. • Died — 5 June 2016 • Place of death — Great Barrington, Massachusetts, U.S. • Education — * Wellesley College • New England Conservatory • Occupation — * Operatic soprano • Academic teacher • Organizations — * New York City Opera • Yale University • Boston University College of Fine Arts • Tanglewood Music Center • Spouse — Philip Curtin Gene Cook • Children — Claudia d’Alessandro

Phyllis Smith was born in Clarksburg, West Virginia, and studied singing with Olga Averino at Wellesley College where she earned a bachelor's degree in Political Science. She pursued graduate studies in vocal performance under Boris Goldovsky at the New England Conservatory. In 1946 she made her professional opera debut with Goldovsky's opera company, the New England Opera Theater, as Tatyana in Tchaikovsky's Eugene Onegin. She took the surname Curtin from her first husband, whom she divorced after nine years. She performed several other roles with the company over the next seven years, including Countess Almaviva in Mozart's The Marriage of Figaro (1947). In 1950, Curtin performed in the inaugural year of the Peabody Mason Concerts in Boston. In 1953 she joined the roster of principal sopranos at the New York City Opera (NYCO) at the invitation of Joseph Rosenstock. She made her debut with the company on October 22, 1953, portraying three roles (Fräulein Bürstner, Frau Grubach, and Leni) in the U.S. premiere of Einem's The Trial. She remained committed to the NYCO through 1960, where her roles included Alice Ford in Verdi's Falstaff, Antonia in Offenbach's The Tales of Hoffmann, Countess Almaviva, Cressida in Troilus and Cressida, Fiordiligi in Mozart's Così fan tutte, Frau Fluth in Nicolai's The Merry Wives of Windsor, Katharina in Vittorio Giannini's The Taming of the Shrew, Konstanze in Mozart's Die Entführung aus dem Serail, Mélisande in Debussy's Pelléas et Mélisande, Norina in Donizetti's Don Pasquale, Rosalinde in Die Fledermaus by Johann Strauss, and the title roles in Verdi's La traviata and in Salome by Richard Strauss. She sang two roles in operas by Carlisle Floyd with the NYCO that she had previously created in their world premieres: the title role in Susannah (which she sang at Florida State University for its 1955 world premiere) and Catherine Earnshaw in Wuthering Heights (which she sang at the Santa Fe Opera for its 1958 premiere). She appeared as Thérèse in the American premiere of Poulenc's Les mamelles de Tirésias at Brandeis University in 1953. She returned to Brandeis two years later to portray the title role in Milhaud's Médée. In 1956 she toured the U.S. with the NBC Opera Company as Countess Almaviva with Walter Cassel as the Count, Adelaide Bishop as Susana, and Frances Bible as Cherubino. In 1957 she appeared as Elena in Gluck's Paride ed Elena with the American Opera Society. In 1958 she portrayed Floyd's Susannah at the Brussels World's Fair. In the 1959–1960 season she sang two roles with the Philadelphia Lyric Opera Company: Rosalinde and Susannah. In 1959 she made her debut at the Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires. She also made appearances at the Aspen Music Festival, the Cincinnati Opera, the Tanglewood Music Festival, and appeared in concerts with the Boston Symphony Orchestra, the New York Philharmonic, the Philadelphia Orchestra, and The Little Orchestra Society during the 1950s.

After the close of the 1959–60 season, Curtin left the employ of the NYCO, although she would continue to perform as a guest artist with the company up through 1964; she returned for performances in 1975 and 1976. She sang Fiordiligi for the NBC Television Opera Theatre in 1960. She sang several roles at the Vienna State Opera from 1960–61, including the title role of Puccini's Madama Butterfly, Fiordiligi, Salome, and Traviata. In 1961 she made her debuts at the Oper Frankfurt, the Staatsoper Stuttgart, and the Teatro Lirico Giuseppe Verdi. She made her first appearance at the Lyric Opera of Chicago in 1965 and her debut at the Seattle Opera in 1969. In the same year she appeared as Donna Anna in Mozart's Don Giovanni at the Glyndebourne Festival. Curtin appeared at the La Scala in Milan in 1962, in Cosí fan tutte opposite Teresa Berganza. In 1966 she appeared in the world premiere of Milhaud's La mère coupable at the Grand Théâtre de Genève. In 1968 she appeared as Mimì in Puccini's La Bohème at the Philadelphia Grand Opera Company with Richard Tucker as Rodolfo and Ron Bottcher as Marcello. Other guest appearances included performances at the Scottish Opera (as Marguerite in Gounod's Faust and Ellen Orford in Britten's Peter Grimes) at La Scala. Curtin made her Metropolitan Opera (Met) debut on November 4, 1961, as Fiordiligi to the Ferrando of George Shirley, Dorabella of Rosalind Elias, Guglielmo of Theodor Uppman, Despina of Roberta Peters, and Don Alfonso of Frank Guarrera. She returned frequently as a guest artist at the Met, appearing in such roles as Alice Ford, Countess Almaviva, Donna Anna, Ellen Orford, Eva in Wagner's Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg, Rosalinde, Salome, and Violetta. Her last Met appearance was on July 6, 1973, in the title role of Puccini's Tosca with Enrico Di Giuseppe as Cavaradossi and Ignace Strasfogel conducting.

She married Philip Curtin, a history professor, in 1946. In April 1954 Life Magazine devoted three pages to pictures of her, describing her "long-limbed, lush-voiced and intense" account of the Dance of the Seven Veils in Strauss's Salome. Soon afterwards her marriage was dissolved. In 1956 she married Eugene Cook, a photographer with Life Magazine. He died in 1986. The couple had one child, Claudia Madeleine, born 1961. Curtin died at her home in Great Barrington, Massachusetts, on June 5, 2016, aged 94, having suffered from rheumatoid arthritis and circulatory ailments.

Phyllis Curtin is recorded as opera singer, music educator, university teacher and musician.