The great contralto Lili Chookasian has passed away. I saw her many times at The Met, where she sang nearly 300 performances in the House and on tour between 1962 and 1986. She was Karajan's choice for Erda when he made his Met debut conducting DAS RHEINGOLD in 1968. Lili Chookasian sang the role of the Maharanee in Menotti's LAST SAVAGE at its Met premiere; she was the Mother in the original cast of the Met's beloved Robert O'Hearn staging of HANSEL & GRETEL, and was a frequent Cieca, 1st Norn and Auntie (PETER GRIMES). She also sang major roles like Amneris, Azucena and Dame Quickly. After retiring from the stage, she taught at Yale for many years.
In 1971, Lili sang a few performances of Ulrica in Verdi's BALLO IN MASCHERA at New York City Opera. She had sung with NYCO earlier in her career, but at City Center; she'd never performed at the State Theater. I was coming out of the stage door, having left some flowers for my beloved Gilda Cruz-Romo, when I ran into Lili coming down the steps with a large purse and a small suitcase. She smiled at me. "Could I help you with that?" I asked her. "That would be lovely," she replied, handing me the suitcase. We stopped at the security check-in; the guard was on the phone so he waved her by. "I've never been here before, do you know how to get to the dressing rooms?" she asked me. I did, having visited Bubbles, Brooks and Niska there many times. I signaled to the guard: 'I'll take her upstairs' and he gave me thumbs up. I saw her settled in the dressing room and said: "Have a great performance!" And she did.