Dorothy Warenskjold
Dorothy Lorayne Warenskjold (May 11, 1921 in San Leandro, California – December 27, 2010 in Lenexa, Kansas[1][2]) was an American lyric soprano who had an active career in opera, concerts, radio, television, and recitals from the mid-1940s through the early 1970s.
[3] In addition to critical acclaim for her impeccable operatic performances, she achieved several decades of wide affection from cultured listeners across non-Metropolitan North America, for her combination of radiotelevison and touring recitals.
[5] Her paternal grandfather Axel Warenskjold had immigrated from Norway[6] alone at age 15 (leaving behind 19 siblings),[7][8] and became an inventor, industrialist, and arts patron, knighted by Norwegian King Haakon VII.
Planning to be an attorney, she pursued pre-legal training at Mills College in Oakland and at UC Berkeley, until her junior year, when Mabel Riegelman began giving her vocal lessons.
Her debut ended up being accelerated, on short notice, related to a potential casting emergency at the opera—and in the musically more difficult (though less exposed) Nannetta, compared with the originally announced Micaela in Carmen.
[25] A notable event occurred in Turandot, on October 11, 1953, when Warenskjold disciplined herself to perform the slave girl Liù the day after her father's sudden death from a heart attack.
The synergy of the tragic Liù role—struggling under torture to save her men—with the soprano's emotional situation (by then known throughout the War Memorial Opera House) produced a result that left a stunned audience[26] and drew mention by over 50 newspapers, including on the East Coast.
[27][28] A house transcription recording was made, which was also distributed by Armed Forces Radio Network; Liù's grim final aria Tu, che di gel sei cinta from this performance appears on the Cambria CD "A Treasury of Operatic Heroines" (see Discography below).
San Francisco Chronicle reviewer Alfred Frankenstein had previously written, "Miss Warenskjold is one of the most heart-breaking interpreters of Sophie's music that it has been my privilege to hear.
"[30] Warenskjold later stated that she left the SF Opera due to new SFO General Director Kurt Herbert Adler proving to be much harder to work with than founder Gaetano Merola.
She left on polite terms, and was later to collaborate repeatedly with him in adjudicating major opera auditions,[32][33] as well as being invited by him to sing at the 50th anniversary celebration of the SFO and announced as one of the honored guests at Adler's own 25th/50th Jubilee gala in 1978.
Longtime operatic scholar and reviewer James Forrest, referencing Rosenkavalier, later wrote of "... the beloved California soprano Dorothy Warenskjold, my first Sophie (1955) whose SFO career inexplicably ended that year only a performance or two after I heard her in Los Angeles.
[36][7][37] San Francisco Chronicle reviewer Clifford Gessler wrote: "Bjorling was in splendid voice...one of his finest seasons...but in no way did he outshine Miss Warenskjold.
She stated that her emphasis was on traditional stagecraft, using a repertoire of practiced moves applied with an intelligent awareness of the character;[7] she taught a popular class on Stage Presentation in her later years at UCLA (see "Post Retirement" below).
While not thought of as a singing actress, her dramatic range was non-trivial, ranging from comical or novelty numbers such as Leo Blech's Telefonische Bestellung ("Telephone Order") to a Depuis Le Jour which led haunted listeners to request repeat performances of it on The Standard Hour radio program, to an "ingenious touch of hysteria" upon the Act 4 death of Valentin in her Marguerite with Jussi Bjorling, which according to critic Alexander Fried provided a needed counterbalance to her earlier vocal "limpid purity and taste" in a role with significant tragedy.
[37] Her development of complete characters included her unusual Micaela in Carmen, strong and emphatic arising from the depths of love (which drew demand from multiple Opera companies).
Mostly under the Community Concerts program of Columbia Artists Management (CAMI), she maintained a level of 35-40 touring recitals a year for many seasons, with ticket sales aided by audiences having heard her on the radio.
[46] A "first in her career" occurred in the Pacific coast village of Port Townsend, Washington, in 1953, when she shattered the eyeglasses of a 12 year old boy in the audience during a high note; the soprano said she had never succeeded when deliberately trying at home.
[50] This, combined with the cancellation of the classical radio and television shows, with Warenskjold no longer having an opera house base, and with the underlying prejudice in favor of European singers at the time,[3] led to a very significant shrinkage of her career.
[7] In August 1972, the soprano was invited to sing at the 50th anniversary celebration of the San Francisco Opera, held outdoors at the Stern Grove redwood park.
Her signature Faust Jewel Song received multiple critical acclaim, with comments including "stunning" and "she continues to put many season regulars to shame".
Some while after retiring from singing in 1972, she joined the voice faculty of the UCLA School of the Arts and Architecture where she taught for many years as an adjunct full professor, having declined the chairmanship of the vocal department.
Warenskjold's intra-career releases totalled three—one as sidekick to Hollywood and Broadway star Gordon MacRae (who had been her leading man on the The Railroad Hour radio show), and two in her own right: Used availability of these Capitol discs is uneven.
Warenskjold also sings The Star Spangled Banner in the opening track of "Hail America", LP, RCA Custom Records (RR3S-1430), Carmen Dragon conductor and arranger.
