Carol Louise Smith (February 20, 1926 – June 6, 2021) was an American contralto who made an international career in opera and concert, and was an academic teacher at the Musikhochschule Zürich and at the Indiana University Bloomington.
[2] Her roles there included Geneviève in Debussy's Pelléas et Mélisande, Santuzza in Mascagni's Cavalleria rusticana, Czipra in Der Zigeunerbaron by Johann Strauss, Giulietta in Offenbach's Les Contes d'Hoffmann, the Countess in Tchaikovsky's Pique Dame, Ortrud in Wagner's Lohengrin, Brangäne in his Tristan und Isolde, and Maria in Gershwin's Porgy and Bess.
She sang Verdi's leading roles Eboli in Don Carlos, Amneris in Aida, and Azucena in Il trovatore, and also Maddalena in Rigoletto, Ulrica in Un ballo in maschera and Mrs. Quickly in Falstaff.
[4][5][6] Smith was a soloist in a recording of Debussy's cantata La Damoiselle élue alongside Victoria de los Ángeles, conducted by Charles Munch in 1955.
[1] She appeared as Mrs. Quickly in Falstaff, a performance in German at the Bavarian State Opera in 1974, conducted by Wolfgang Sawallisch and alongside Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau in the title role, which was recorded.