Helen Vanni
{{Short description|American opera singer (1924–2023)}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Helen Vanni
| birth_name = Helen Spaeth
| birth_date = {{birth date|df=yes|1924|01|30}}
| birth_place = Davenport, Iowa, U.S.
| death_date = {{death date and age|df=yes|2023|03|05|1924|01|30}}
| death_place = Albuquerque, New Mexico, U.S.
| alma_mater = St. Catherine University
| occupation = Opera singer
}}
Helen Vanni ({{née}} Spaeth; January 30, 1924 – March 5, 2023) was an American opera singer who performed mezzo-soprano and soprano roles.
Early life
Helen Spaeth was born on January 30, 1924, to German parents, in Davenport, Iowa, where she studied piano and voice before attending college at St. Catherine University in Saint Paul, Minnesota.{{cite web |last1=Villecco |first1=Tony |title=Helen Vanni: The Met's Invaluable Trouper |url=https://www.csmusic.net/content/articles/helen-vanni/ |website=CS Music |access-date=24 March 2023}}{{cite web |last1=Mullowney |first1=Michelle |title=St. Kate's Alumna Forged Impressive Opera Career |url=https://www.stkate.edu/newswire/news/st-kates-alumna-forged-impressive-opera-career |website=St. Catherine University|date=23 March 2016 |access-date=24 March 2023}}
Career
Vanni made her debut at the Metropolitan Opera in 1956 in the role of the page in Rigoletto, and she appeared in over 400 performances at the Met from 1956 to 1970. She shared the stage with notable singers such as Leontyne Price, Renata Tebaldi, Maria Callas, Jussi Björling, Richard Tucker, Victoria de los Ángeles, and Licia Albanese.{{cite web|publisher=Metropolitan Opera Archives |url=http://69.18.170.204/archives/scripts/cgiip.exe/WService=BibSpeed/fullcit.w?xCID=186270|title=Madama Butterfly {408} Metropolitan Opera House: 11/19/1960|access-date=27 March 2023}}{{cite web|publisher=Metropolitan Opera Archives |url=http://69.18.170.204/archives/scripts/cgiip.exe/WService=BibSpeed/fullcit.w?xCID=187340|title=Madama Butterfly {415} Metropolitan Opera House: 03/3/1961 |access-date=27 March 2023}}{{cite web |title=La traviata |url=http://69.18.170.204/archives/scripts/cgiip.exe/WService=BibSpeed/fullcit.w?xCID=177030&limit=3000&xBranch=ALL&xsdate=&xedate=&theterm=La%20Traviata%3A%20Gastone%20%5BAnthony,%20Charles%5D&x=0&xhomepath=http://69.18.170.204/archives/&xhome=http://69.18.170.204/archives/bibpro.htm |website=Metropolitan Opera Archives}}{{cite news |last1=Strongin |first1=Theodore |title="Helen Vanni Bows in Cosi Fan Tutte" |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1965/02/27/97186869.html?pageNumber=11 |access-date=11 September 2023 |work=New York Times |date=February 27, 1965}}
In addition to supporting roles, she appeared in leading and featured roles at the Met including Suzuki in Madama Butterfly, Rosina in Il Barbiere di Siviglia, Dorabella in Cosi fan tutte (opposite Leontyne Price as Fiordiligi), Donna Elvira in Don Giovanni, and as the Marschallin in Der Rosenkavalier.{{cite web |title=Helen Vanni |url=https://oberon481.typepad.com/oberons_grove/2022/04/helen-vanni-.html |website=Oberon's Grove |access-date=11 September 2023}}{{cite news |last1=Ericson |first1=Raymond |title="Helen Vanni Sings Met's Marschallin" |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1970/03/14/archives/helen-vanni-sings-mets-marschallin.html |access-date=11 September 2023 |work=New York Times|date=14 March 1970 }}
One of Vanni’s more unusual experiences onstage at the Met was the performance of Madama Butterfly on December 5, 1961, when famed diva Galina Vishnevskaya sang one performance as Cio-Cio-San in Russian while everyone else in the cast sang in Italian.{{cite news |last1=Ericson |first1=Raymond |title="Miss Vishnevskaya in Bilingual Opera" |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1961/12/06/archives/miss-vishnevskaya-in-bilingual-opera.html |access-date=11 September 2023 |work=New York Times |date=December 6, 1961}}
Vanni performed regularly with the Santa Fe Opera from 1960 through 1977. In her debut Santa Fe Opera season she sang three leading roles: Cherubino in The Marriage of Figaro, the title role in Rossini's La Cenerentola, and Tessa in The Gondoliers.
Vanni’s appearances at the Santa Fe Opera spanned 14 seasons, from 1960 to 1976, where she sang 18 different roles in 28 productions. Her performance history there included both leading mezzo and soprano roles in Strauss’s Der Rosenkavalier (Octavian in 1961 and the Marschallin in 1968) and The Marriage of Figaro (Cherubino in 1960, 1961, 1965, and 1967 and the Countess in 1970, 1973, and 1976).{{cite news |title=High Notes: Fifty years of paradox and possibilities at the Santa Fe Opera |url=https://www.sfreporter.com/news/coverstories/2006/06/28/high-notes/ |access-date=11 September 2023 |publisher=Santa Fe Reporter |date=June 28, 2006}}{{cite web |last1=Marineau |first1=Susan |title=In Memoriam: Helen Vanni |url=https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/santafenewmexican/name/helen-vanni-obituary?id=50045688 |website=Santa Fe New Mexican (Legacy.com) |access-date=11 September 2023}} She also sang the leading soprano role of Alice Ford in Falstaff in Santa Fe in 1975.{{cite news |last1=Pincus |first1=Robert |title="'Falstaff' fault: It lacks style" |url=https://newscomwc.newspapers.com/image/53303583/ |access-date=13 September 2023 |agency=newspapers.com |publisher=San Antonio Express |date=August 11, 1975}}
Roles at the San Francisco Opera included the title role in the rarely performed Mignon by Ambroise Thomas.{{cite web |title=San Francisco Opera archive: Helen Vanni |url=http://archive.sfopera.com/qry3webcastlist.asp?psearch=Helen%20Vanni&Submit=GO |website=San Francisco Opera archive |access-date=7 April 2023}} Notably, she sang the title role in Ariadne auf Naxos in 23 performances at the Glyndebourne Festival Opera in 1971–72.{{cite web |title=The Opera Archive |url=https://www.glyndebourne.com/persons/helen-vanni/ |website=Glyndebourne |access-date=5 April 2023}} She also sang the Countess in Capriccio for the New York City Opera in 1969.{{cite news |title="Strauss 'Capriccio' Listed for Sept. 25 by the City Opera" |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1969/09/14/302043942.pdf |access-date=12 September 2023 |work=New York Times |date=September 14, 1969}}
In addition to her performing career, she taught at the Manhattan School of Music and the Cleveland Institute of Music, where she was head of the voice faculty.{{cite web |last1=Tiarks |first1=Mark |title=Former Santa Fe Opera performer remembered as 'warm, gracious' |url=https://www.santafenewmexican.com/news/local_news/former-santa-fe-opera-performer-remembered-as-warm-gracious/article_83b97da4-c1cc-11ed-90be-cf2e0a61fa5c.html |website=The Santa Fe New Mexican|date=13 March 2023 |access-date=24 March 2023}}{{cite web|last=Ericson|first=Raymond|author-link=Raymond Ericson|title=Olympics, No! Symphony, Yes!|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1973/08/19/archives/olympics-no-symphony-yes-hemidemisemiquavers-symphony-yes-new.html|website=The New York Times|date=August 19, 1973|access-date=27 March 2023}} Notable recordings include music of Arnold Schoenberg with pianist Glenn Gould; Anton Bruckner's Symphony No. 5 with the Philadelphia Orchestra conducted by Eugene Ormandy; and Mendelssohn's incidental music to A Midsummer Night's Dream with the Boston Symphony Orchestra conducted by Erich Leinsdorf.{{Discogs release|name=The Music of Arnold Schoenberg, Volume 4|id=13626409}}{{Discogs release|name=Anton Bruckner, Bruckner Symphony No. 5|id=7986618}}{{Discogs master|name=Mendelssohn, Boston Symphony Orchestra / Erich Leinsdorf, Incidental Music to A Midsummer Night's Dream|master=697828}}
Personal life and death
Helen Vanni was married to Mario Vanni, who died in 2015. They had three children. Vanni and her family lived in New Jersey until moving to Santa Fe full-time after her retirement from the stage in 1977. Vanni died on March 5, 2023, at the age of 99.{{cite web |title=Helen Vanni Obituary |url=https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/santafenewmexican/name/helen-vanni-obituary?id=50045684 |website=The Santa Fe New Mexican|access-date=23 March 2023}}
References
{{reflist|30em}}
{{Portal bar|Biography|Opera}}
{{authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Vanni, Helen}}
Category:American operatic mezzo-sopranos
Category:American operatic sopranos
Category:Metropolitan Opera people