Sigma Alpha Iota

grace notes Risë Stevens, Met Carmen Star, Passes Away at Age 99 R isë Stevens, the SAI Honorary Member synonymous with the title role of Carmen at the Met for two decades, died in March. She was 99. Born Risë Steenberg in the Bronx on June 11, 1913, and raised in Queens, mezzosoprano Risë Stevens is known and respected worldwide for her vibrant career in opera. A pupil of Anna Schoen-René at the Juilliard School, Stevens turned down a contract offer from the Metropolitan Opera in the mid 1930s to develop her artistry in Europe, mostly at the opera in Prague. She returned to the United States in 1938, making her debut with the Metropolitan Opera on tour in Philadelphia as Octavian in Richard Strauss' Der Rosenkavalier. Later that same year, she made her New York Metropolitan Opera debut in the title role of Ambroise Thomas' Mignon. She virtually owned many of the great mezzo roles such as Gluck's Orpheus (Orfeo ed Euridice) and Saint-Saën's Delilah (Samson et Dalila); she boasted a repertory that also included Mozart's Cherubino (Le Nozze di Figaro), Ponchielli's Laura (La Gioconda), and Johann Strauss' Orlofsky (Die Fledermaus). Her portrayal of Bizet's Carmen was a role she performed 124 times at the Met — one in which she was described as voluptuous, earthy, and white-hot in her alternating moods of passion and anger. Millions more fell in love with Stevens through her frequent radio appearances and through the films The Chocolate Soldier (1941) with Nelson Eddy and Going My Way (1944) with Bing Crosby. She appeared often on such early television programs as The Voice of Firestone and The Ed Sullivan Show, where she sang both operatic and popular songs. She also appeared on one of the first Met telecasts singing Carmen (1952) opposite leading American tenor Richard Tucker as Don José. On June 8, 1947, she was initiated as an Honorary Member by the Zeta Chapter at Butler University. She often is credited not only for saving the day at more than one performance of the Metropolitan Opera but also for saving the company's 1961 season. After the company had canceled its entire 1961-62 schedule due to stalled labor negotiations, a persuasive telegram from Stevens convinced President Kennedy to intervene, and he ordered the Secretary of Labor to arbitrate the dispute. Just three weeks later, the entire season was reinstated on schedule. Following 353 Met performances, Stevens retired from her role as a Met performer in 1961. In 1964, she inaugurated the Music Theater of Lincoln Center as Anna in a revival of The King and I, produced by Richard Rodgers. She assumed several important roles in developing the future of opera in the United States. She was named co-director of the Met's newly created National Company (1964), which was dedicated to taking opera on tour to dozens of American cities where opera was not available and, for two seasons, provided many young singers their first chance to perform professionally on the opera stage. She also served as president of the Mannes College of Music (1975-78) and rejoined the Met as Advisor on the Young Artist Development Program and Executive Director of its National Council Auditions (1980-88). For her numerous activities "in the discovery, training, and championing of young American singers," Stevens was honored by the National Opera Institute (1982) and by the Kennedy Center (1990). She was also honored for a lifetime of work by the National Endowment of the Arts in 2011. Movie Star, WWII Volunteer Deanna Durbin Dies at Age 91 S AI Honorary Member Deanna Durbin, one of the world's biggest film stars of the 1930s, died in April at the age of 91. At age 14, she appeared ultimately in more than 20 films within 12 years and retired in 1949. Her success was established on a formula she later described as "Little Miss Fix-It Who Bursts Into Song." Her repertoire on stage and in film ranged from standards like "Embraceable You" to Mozart and Verdi. "I represented the ideal daughter millions of fathers and mothers wished they had," she said. Edna Mae Durbin was born in December 1921 in Winnipeg, Canada. After the family moved to California, her older sister Edith, encouraged Edna's singing, even paying for her private lessons with her own income as a teacher. She was signed to an MGM contract at age 14 after a talent scout saw her in a neighborhood talent show. After losing her MGM deal to fellow screen debutante Judy Garland, Durbin was signed by Universal and given the stage name Deanna. Her vast popularity, combined with that of comedy duo Abbott and Costello, was credited with saving Universal Studios from bankruptcy. The New York Times reported that, at the age of 25, Durbin was the second highest-paid woman in America behind actress Bette Davis. In 1938, she shared a special Juvenile Oscar with Mickey Rooney for "significant contribution in bringing to the screen the spirit and personification of youth." She was originally invited into SAI by the Sigma Tau Chapter in 1941, but the ceremony was delayed by the American entry in World War II. She was formally initiated in her home on behalf of the Psi Chapter in March 1942. In addition to her screen work, she was enormously popular abroad due to her volunteer efforts during the war. She worked at a Hollywood canteen co-created by Davis that served free meals for allied servicemen and women. In 1942, she joined the Hollywood Victory Committee, visiting and performing at army camps along the east coast. Durbin was so prominent a star that Anne Frank posted a magazine photo of her in her secret Amsterdam home where she wrote her diary. Winston Churchill is reported to have celebrated significant victories by screening her film One Hundred Men and a Girl. With her third husband, French director Charles David, she retired completely from show business in 1949 to live in a small French village outside of Paris. It was there she lived for the remainder of her life. sai-national.org SPRING 2013 PAN PIPES 13

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