Previously this blog discussed the importance of musical lineage and the art of carrying on operatic traditions. This transfer occurs with the passing of experience from conductors and composers on to singers through working relationships. But perhaps the most intimate form of sharing comes directly from a voice teacher. Throughout history singers have traditionally worked with teachers who had a good career themselves on the opera stage. The many upsides to such a relationship include a direct connection to the previous generation's style and musical
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| Pauline Viardot-García |
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| Natalia Iretskaya |
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| Lydia Lipkowska |
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knowledge that often times could be linked directly to a composer. A current example of this linked artistry begins over 100 years ago with a leading nineteenth-century French mezzo-soprano, pedagogue, and composer of Spanish descent named Pauline Viardot-García. After a long career on stage, she began teaching young singers. One of those pupils was the Russian soprano Natalia Iretskaya, who would in turn passed her vocal pedagogy down to a fellow country woman named Lydia Lipkowska. This Russian soprano had a career that spanned several decades beginning at the Mariinsky Theatre and eventually crossing the ocean to perform quite often in the United States (Boston, Chicago, New York). At the end of her career she began to teach voice lessons in Romania. It was here that she convinced a young singer named Virginia Zeani that she was not a mezzo-soprano, but rather a soprano. Madame Lipkowska coached her in the roles of Violetta, Mimi, Marguerite and Massenet’s Manon. Romanian dramatic-soprano
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| Virginia Zeani |
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| Marilyn Mims |
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| Virginia Mims |
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Virginia Zeani is legendary for a career rivaling Maria Callas and is still connected to the spotlight thanks to a close friendship with current diva Angela Gheorghiu. But it was her engagement at Indiana University's music school in 1980 that allowed her to pass on her talents to another generation of sopranos including Sylvia McNair, Angela Brown, Elizabeth Futral, and Ailyn Pérez. One particular student stands out in the history of her teaching: Marilyn Mims. As fifth generation in this line of skilled singing technique, Ms. Mims went on to win the 1986 Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions. Soon after she made her professional opera debut and began a career filled with roles in La Traviata, Robert le Diable, Die Fledermaus, Die Entführung aus dem Serail, Don Giovanni, Così fan tutte, Rigoletto, Lucia di Lammermoor, Pagliacci and more. Her singing career was cut short after being diagnosed with endometriosis in 1995. She now teaches on the voice faculty at Palm Beach Atlantic University in Florida. And now the world will soon have another soprano to sing the "Viardot-García technique": Virginia Mims. Yes, daughter to Marilyn, this young lady is emerging as a strong talent in several singing competitions. She will be carrying an artistic torch that is steeped in excellence. With more than a century's worth of technique and musical knowledge being passed down from one stupendous soprano after another, this 18-year old is inheritor to a true treasure. Read about all these extraordinary divas, as well as sample audio and video clips, after the jump.
