Toronto-born soprano Lois Marshall studied at the Royal Academy of Music in her native city. Her career centered on concert and recital work, due in part to lingering effects of paralysis following a childhood bout with polio, which limited her movement in staged opera. She did appear with Sarah Caldwell's company in Boston, in productions specially mounted for her.
Ms. Marshall worked with such eminent conductors as Beecham, Toscanini, and Bernstein; she made several recordings, and was a soloist with the Bach Aria Group.
The soprano gave her farewell concert in 1986, and continued teaching voice at the University of Toronto until her death in 1997 at the age of 73.
Ms. Marshall sings Dido's Lament from a 1963 televised performance. Watch and listen here.
Lois Marshall - Schumann's Am leuchtenden Sommermorgen
William Dooley (above, as Count Almaviva) is an American baritone known for his charismatic presence and unique sound. A native of Modesto, California, he studied at the Eastman School, and he served in the US Army where he was stationed in Munich. While there, he continued his vocal studies as his military commitments allowed.
Dooley made his operatic debut in 1957 as Posa in DON CARLO at Heidelberg, and later joined the ensemble at Bielefeld. In 1962, he debuted at the Deutche Oper, Berlin, where he appeared often over the ensuing years. His Iago in the Deutsche Oper's OTELLO was preserved on film from a live performance in1964, co-starring Renata Tebaldi and Hans Beirer. Watch it here.
Mr. Dooley had a notable Met career, debuting there as Eugen Onegin in 1964, opposite the Tatyana of Leontyne Price. He sang with the Company more than 180 times in New York and on tour. Among his numerous roles were the four villains in TALES OF HOFFMANN, Escamillo, Amonasro, Scarpia, Wozzeck, Wagner's Dutchman, Telramund, Amfortas, Kurvenal, Gunther, and Donner; Pizarro in FIDELIO, Strauss's Jochanaan, Mandryka, Orestes, and Music Master; Rangoni in BORIS GODUNOV, and as Poulenc's Chevalier de la Force. In 1966, he sang the Spirit Messenger in the Met premiere of Strauss's DIE FRAU OHNE SCHATTEN; I saw him in that role, as the Music Master in ARIADNE AUF NAXOS, and as Count Almaviva in NOZZE DI FIGARO.
FRAU ~ opening scene - Irene Dalis & William Dooley - Bohm cond - Met bcast 1966
After leaving the Met in 1977, Mr. Dooley joined the Vienna State Opera where he sang until 1982. Thereafter, he appeared as a guest in various theatres into the 1990s.
Dooley sang several world premieres, including Milhaud's L'ORESTE, Henze's THE BASSARIDS, and Roger Sessions' MONTEZUMA, in which he sang in Aztec. He passed away in 2019.
Mr. Dooley and Ingrid Bjoner in the Recognition Scene from ELEKTRA, from Berlin 1983. Listen here.
William Dooley is the Grand Inquisitor and Harald Stamm is Philip II in this scene from Verdi's DON CARLO, filmed at the Deutsche Oper Berlin in 1983. The staged scene is followed by a coaching session; Gerd Albrecht conducts. Watch and listen here.
William Dooley is the Telramund on Erich Leinsdorf's RCA recording of LOHENGRIN:
William Dooley as Telramund ~ LOHENGRIN
Anne Gjevang (above) was born in 1948 in Norway. She studied at the Accademia di Santa Cecilia in Rome, and at the music college in Vienna.
She made her operatic debut in 1973 in Klagenfurt, as Baba the Turk. Thereafter, she developed her repertoire at Ulm, Bremerhaven, and Karlsruhe. Her 1983 debut at Bayreuth led to major international engagements at Zurich, La Scala, and Covent Garden. Her operatic roles included Carmen, Ulrica, Maddalena in RIGOLETTO, and Isabella in ITALIANA IN ALGERI.
Ms. Gjevang made her Metropolitan Opera debut in 1987 as Erda in RHEINGOLD, and also sang the same role in SIEGFRIED at The Met:
Anne Gjevang & James Morris - SIEGFRIED - scene Act III - Levine cond - Met 1993
In 1998, Anne Gjevang sang Klytemnestra opposite Eva Marton's Elektra at the Teatro Real de Madrid. Watch and listen to part of their scene together here.
Ms. Gjevang sang concerts with such prestigious orchestras as the Berlin Philharmonic, Vienna Philharmonic, the BBC Symphony Orchestra, and the London Philharmonic Orchestra.
After retiring from the stage, Anne Gjevang was named casting director and deputy/acting Director of Opera at the Norwegian Opera & Ballet. She left that post in 2012 to work as a vocal consultant.
Anastasios Vrenios, above, posterized by his son, the artist Christos.
Mr. Vrenios was my first Fenton in FALSTAFF. The handsome young Greek-American tenor had a light, pliant voice, and a charmingly youthful stage presence. A native of California, he studied at Indiana University. He became widely known in the opera world when he appeared in a WNET film of Puccini's LA RONDINE opposite Teresa Stratas.
Anastasios Vrenios appeared with Seattle Opera as Don Ottavio opposite Dame Joan Sutherland, and at San Francisco Opera as Perdrillo in ABDUCTION FROM THE SERAGLIO and as Gounod's Romeo. In 1969, he recorded the role of Raoul de Nangis in Meyerbeer's HUGUENOTS with Ms. Sutherland.
Anastasios Vrenios as Raoul de Nangis ~ HUGUENOTS
At the age of 32, Mr. Vrenios withdrew from singing; he taught voice privately in Washington DC.
Monica Sinclair, born in Somerset in 1925, studied at the Royal Academy of Music and made her operatic debut as Suzuki in MADAMA BUTTERFLY with the Carl Rosa Company in 1948.
She debuted at Covent Garden in 1954, and she sang Verdi's Maddalena and Azucena, Mozart's Cherubino, the Page in SALOME, Margret in WOZZECK, Mrs. Sedley in PETER GRIMES, Annina in DER ROSENKAVALIER, the Old Prioress in DIALOGUES OF THE CARMELITES, and Marfa in KHOVANSHCHINA there, as well as appearing with Dame Joan Sutherland in Handel's ALCINA and Donizetti's FILLE DU REGIMENT. As Pauline in QUEEN OF SPADES, Ms. Sinclair accompanied herself on the harpsichord.
During the 1972-1973 season, Ms. Sinclair debuted at The Met as the Marquise in FILLE DU REGIMENT (with Dame Joan, above), and then went on The Met tour in that production, also appearing as Marthe in FAUST.
Monica Sinclair passed away in 2002.
Monica Sinclair as the Sorceress ~ DIDO AND AENEAS
Monica Sinclair - Vorrei vendicarmi from Handel's ALCINA