Jean Madeira, née Jean Browning (November 14, 1918 – July 11, 1972) was an American contralto, particularly known for her work in late-romantic German repertoire such as the operas of Richard Wagner and Richard Strauss.
Biography Madeira was born in Christopher, Illinois. Her father was a half-Cherokee coal miner.
When she was a child, her family moved to East St. Louis, Illinois, where she attended high school, and she later studied with Florence Kimball at the Juilliard School in New York City. She made her debut in opera in Chatauqua as Nancy in Martha, by Flotow. In 1955, the singer and actress successfully sang the title role in Carmen with the Vienna State Opera. She sang approximately 300 times at the Metropolitan Opera in forty-one roles, between 1948 and 1971. Her last appearance there was in Elektra, opposite Birgit Nilsson and Leonie Rysanek.Erik Eriksson, Biography: Jean Madeira, All Music Guide, © 2009 Jean Madeira was a second-cousin of the composer Amy Beth Kirsten.
Madeira's television debut occurred on The Ed Sullivan Show on February 19, 1956.
She married Francis Madeira in 1947 and thereafter used her married name as her professional name. Madeira had been ill for two years when she died on July 11, 1972, at her home in Providence, Rhode Island, aged 53.
Abridged discography Bizet: Carmen as Carmen (Filacuridi; Dervaux, 1957) Pathé Britten: Peter Grimes (Jon Vickers; 1967) Immortal Performances Falla: Three Cornered Hat (Vienna Symphony) Tuxedo Music Mozart: Le nozze di Figaro as Marcellina (Siepi, Conner, Valdengo, de los Angeles; Met, Fritz Reiner, 1952) Myto Mozart: Requiem in D Minor, K.626 (NBC Symphony, Arturo Toscanini, 1950) RCA Victor Pochielli: La Gioconda as La Cieca (Milanov, Warren, Barbieri, Siepi; Met, Cleva, 1953) Gala Puccini: Madama Butterfly as Suzuki (Steber, Tucker, Valdengo; Met, Rudolf, 1949) Sony Puccini: Manon Lescaut (Kirsten, J.Björling, Valdengo; Met, Antonicelli, 1949) Myto Saint-Saëns: Samson et Delilah as Delilah (Del Monaco; Teatro di San Carlo, Molinari-Pradelli, 1959) Hardy Classic Strauss: Elektra as Clytemnestra (Borkh, Schech, Uhl, Fischer-Dieskau; Böhm, 1960) DG Strauss: Elektra, as Clytemnestra (Nilsson, Rysanek, Nagy, Stewart; Met, Bohm, 1971) Met On Demand Verdi: Aida as Amneris (Rysanek, London, Frick, Hopf; Vienna State Opera, Kubelik, 1955) Orfeo Verdi: Requiem (Vienna Symphony, Erich Kleiber 1955) Melodram Verdi: Un ballo in maschera as Ulrica (Bergonzi, Rysanek, Merrill; Santi, 1962) Living Stage Wagner: Das Rheingold as Erda (Flagstad, London; Solti, 1958) Decca Wagner: Die Walkure as Fricka (Nilsson, Rysanek, Ludwig, Hotter, Frick, Suthaus; La Scala, Karajan, 1958) Myto; IDIS Wagner: Der Ring des Nibelungen as Erda, Rossweisse & First Norn (Bayreuth, Knappertsbusch, 1956) Orfeo Wagner Parsifal (Svanholm, Varnay, London, Hotter; Met, Stiedry, 1954) Adonis
References
Other sources Elektra (27 February 1971), Metropolitan Opera Archives Madeira, Jean (Mezzo-soprano) on the MetOpera Database
External links Villecco, Tony. A Voice Like Velvet; Remembering Contralto Jean Madeira. Classical Singer Magazine Oct. 2012. (1958). (1958). Jean Madeira, 53, A Metropolitan Contralto Jean Madeira's Final Opera Performance (alongside Birgit Nilsson and Leonie Rysanek in Elektra, 27 February 1971) Francis Madeira Dies At 100