Beloved Ms. Brooks

We use the word 'unique' all the time and surely there are dancers, singers, actors and artists of whom the word may be uttered. But in all my years of going to the opera and ballet, soprano Patricia Brooks (pictured with baritone Alan Titus) is the one performer to whom the word 'unique' most thoroughly applies. There was simply no one even remotely like her. She has acquired legendary status among hard-core opera fans; only last season during the intermission of a TRAVIATA at NYC Opera a bunch of us were talking about favorite Violettas; we agreed that Patricia Brooks was not only the most moving (high praise if you had heard the other names being touted) but that her interpretation had to be set aside in any discussion of that role simply because no one else really compared.

I'm very grateful to my friend Jan for sending me the link to the news that a recital disc has finally appeared; and even though I have bits of it on an old cassette I've ordered it because even in the underground world of pirated opera recordings there is not all that much available of this soprano's work. And perhaps I should say right now that the voice - should you listen to it - may not be to your liking; it is a slender, silvery sound of a fragile nature. But ultimately so expressive.

The story of Patricia Brooks is one of the saddest; forced to retire in 1977 due to the onset of multiple sclerosis, she taught voice and devoted her time to painting (oil and watercolor). As the illness advanced, I remember reading that her husband Ted Mann (co-founder of NY's Circle in the Square Theatre) turned her room in to a magical retreat by painting the ceiling and walls as a sky with trees, flowers and birds. Patricia  Brooks died in 1993 at the age of 59. Her obituary in the New York Times gives only the faintest idea of her enthralling performances.

Waif-like and extremely graceful, Brooks trained as a classical dancer (she once performed the role of Zerbinetta in ARIADNE AUF NAXOS dancing on pointe!) and was both a deeply committed and astonishingly spontaneous actress. I saw her TRAVIATA a dozen times and no two performances were the same; she would add or embellish moves or gestures. I vividly recall one afternoon when, penning her desperate farewell letter to Alfredo, Brooks began reading aloud what she was writing: "Alfredo...al giungermi di questo foglio..." No one who saw Patricia Brooks as Violetta will ever forget  the long pause in Act I between the departure of her guests and the start of her reflective recitative. Brooks, alone after the boisterous party and thinking of Alfredo's confession of his love for her, slowly puts on her shawl and curls up before the fireplace before uttering her dreamlike "E strano!" Then there was the heartbreaking moment when the very young Placido Domingo as Alfredo lifted her into his arms and  cradled her as they sang their tenderly hopeful duet "Parigi o cara."  Her Violetta had vocal thrills as well: a high-C trill she interpolated in "Sempre libera" seemed an expression of Violetta's neurotic desperation; it drove the audience crazy. (Backstage with Brooks: my young friend Debbie Abes & the diva share a melodramatic moment. Brooks could be quite funny...one day, arriving for a performance, she turned to a knot of us waiting fans and said: "I've got have a tiger in my tank today!")

Brooks sang a huge variety of roles; everything from Nedda in PAGLIACCI to LULU (photos) and was a very accomplished Mozartean (here rehearsing DON GIOVANNI with basso Spiro Malas). She sang Gilda, Olympia, Marguerite in FAUST. Her Manon and Lucia offered scintillating contrasts to the portrayals of her colleague Beverly Sills who at that time was the reigning interpreter of those roles. For all her coloratura fluency and  glittery vocal displays, Brooks made her most profound impression on me as Melisande in the Debussy opera; I can still hear her delicate voice stealing into the darkened theatre in the tower scene, softly singing "Mes longs cheveux". My opera diaries from that era are full of pages and pages of descriptive paragraphs about Patricia's vocal and dramatic characterizations. But the memories are so potent that I really don't need to read them.

In one surprising undertaking, Brooks sang Adalgisa to the Norma of Beverly Sills in the Bellini opera. In addition to an enchanting blend of light timbres in the duets, the performance featured the interpolation of spectacular cadenzas for Brooks up to high-D and E-flat. When the conductor reportedly protested, Sills argued: "They sound great! Let her do them!" There are recordings floating around of those performances.

Among her many devoted fans, Brooks could count Matthew Epstein, now vice-president of CAMI. I remember mornings sitting on the cold pavement outside the NY State Theatre with Matteo, waiting for the box office to open so we could get our standing room tickets. He would often speak of those small, unforgettable details of Patricia's singing and acting that meant so much to him.

Well, Jan's note has really produced a flood of memories for me; while I was scanning the photos, Wei asked me if I had something in my eyes because I kept rubbing them. Yes...tears.

A few more photos : Patricia at Aspen; gowned for an Aspen performance of the DAPHNE final scene; with British soprano Pauline Tinsley; with Renata Scotto .

Comments

[Jan]

I do hope more people will have a chance to experience this incredible voice. I was so stunned when I heard the review of 1972 concert, just released on CD. I knew nothing of Patricia Brooks and once I heard her voice I was spellbound. And for the ballet fans (readers of Philip’s blog), she was also a ballerina, what a great combination: a soprano who was a ballet dancer. And, what a loss not to have more recordings of her incredible voice, because of her illness. Thank you Philip for great photographs from your archives and wonderful remembrance of Patricia Brooks.

[philip]

Hi Janusz, thanks for the message. It's odd that even though I only spoke to her a few times almost 40 years ago I can still vividly remember her speaking voice.

[David R. Richie, II]

I sang in the chorus of a Traviata with her in 1972 in Philadalphia. Her Act II scene (where Alfredo finds her writing the letter) was unique. She was, in space of about just a few seconds, surprised, worried, confused, playful, thoughtful, and finally heartbreaking. I have never since seen a Violetta convey all those complex emotions. You knew exactly what she was going through.

[philip]

Hi David, thanks for the comment. It must have been a unique experience to be on stage with her.

[judy thompson fifield]

As a young girl, Patricia Brooks and her famiy spent a summer in Santa Fe where she performed for the Santa Fe Opera. The Opera rented the house next door where she lived. She was so much fun - running through the sprinklers with us, going horseback riding, swimming at the pool at the Santa Fe Opera. Jonathan and Andrew were preschool age - adorable young children. I fondly remember watching her practice and listening to her sing. Such fond memories that I will never forget. I will definitely order her CD - to listen to her marvelous voice once again.

[Philip]

Judy, thank you so much for this personal recollection of Patricia.

[Johnny]

Thanks Judy. I was just listening to Brook's most beautiful rendition of the Queen of Sheba in Handel's Solomon (on the RCA label, which is one of her very very few studio recordings.) I didn't realize that VAI had released the 1971 recital CD until now. I've just ordered it and can't wait! She was such a wonderful artist. I loved reading your stories and seeing the snapshots!