Martha Lipton (April 6, 1913 – November 28, 2006) was an American operatic mezzo-soprano and music educator who is best known for her career performing at the Metropolitan Opera ("The Met") from 1944-1961.
In 1941 Lipton performed the role of the Lady-in-Waiting in the United States premiere of Giuseppe Verdi's Macbeth at Broadway's 44th Street Theatre.
She notably appeared as Mrs. Sedley in the Met's first staging of Benjamin Britten's Peter Grimes in 1948, and performed the role of Mother Goose in the United States premiere of Igor Stravinsky's The Rake's Progress in 1953.
On the international stage, Lipton made appearances as a guest artist in opera houses in Mexico, Brazil, Holland, and the United Kingdom.
She created roles in the world premieres of two operas by Douglas Moore: Augusta Tabor in The Ballad of Baby Doe (1956) and Aunt Maud in The Wings of the Dove (1961).
[5] On December 15, 1933 she made her debut at Carnegie Hall as a member of the New York Light Opera Guild, performing as a soloist in a concert of operetta music by Reginald De Koven.
[18] In addition to the cash prize,[18] the competition win led to a her performing as a soloist in a concert broadcast on national radio with her singing with a 70 piece orchestra under conductor Alfred Wallenstein.
[19][20] The NFMC competition win significantly raised her profile as a singer, and helped her earn professional contracts nationally at the beginning of her career.
[28] In February 1940 she appeared at the 92nd Street Y as a soloist in Sergei Rachmaninoff's Springtide and Saint-Saëns's Le Déluge with the Jewish Choral Society of New York and conductor Abraham Binder,[29] and that same month performed a series of vocal duets by Johannes Brahms at The Town Hall with soprano Mabel Berryman.
[30] In April 1940 she was a soloist in Giuseppe Verdi's Requiem with soprano Zinka Milanov, conductor Fritz Reiner, and the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra.
[33] In November 1942 she returned to that theatre to perform in a concert of vocal quartets by Joseph Haydn with her fellow soloists including soprano Margaret Daum, tenor Earl Rogers, and bass Edward Constantin.
[35] Later that season she performed two more roles at the same theatre with the NOC;[35] Pauline in Tchaikovsky's The Queen of Spades[35] and the Lady-in-Waiting[35] in the United States premiere of Verdi's Macbeth.
[40] In 1943 Lipton was made a national honorary member of the professional music fraternity Delta Omicron,[41] and sang in concert with the Memphis Symphony.
[49] On March 26, 1944 she appeared with the Handel and Haydn Society and the Boston Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Julius Theodorowicz at Jordan Hall, New England Conservatory as a soloist in Johann Sebastian Bach's St Matthew Passion.
[53] Lipton made her debut at the Metropolitan Opera ("The Met") on November 28, 1944 as Siebel in Charles Gounod's Faust with Ezio Pinza as Méphistophélès, Licia Albanese as Margherite, and Raoul Jobin in the title role.
[56] Other roles in her Met repertoire included Amneris in Aida,[2] Countess Waldner in Arabella,[59] both Floßhilde and Fricka in Das Rheingold,[60][61] a Genii in The Magic Flute,[62] Hansel in Hansel and Gretel,[63] La Cieca in La Gioconda,[64] Lola in Cavalleria rusticana,[65] Maddalena in Rigoletto,[2] Mercedes in Carmen,[2] and the Nurse in Boris Godunov.
[70] In May 1946 she toured with the Met to the Kiel Opera House in St. Louise where she starred in a production of Rigoletto with Patrice Munsel and Ezio Pinza.
[72] In the summer of 1946 she was committed to the Theatro Municipal in Rio de Janeiro where she starred as Octavian in Der Rosenkavalier with Mimi Benzell as Sophie,[73][74] and as Preziosilla in La forza del destino with Zinka Milanov as Leonora, Kurt Baum as Don Alvaro, Glno Bech as Don Carlo, Giacomo Vaghi as the Marchese di Calatrava, and Tino Cremagnani conducting.
[80] In the summer of 1945 she performed in concert with conductor Rudolph Ringwall and the Cleveland Pops Orchestra in a program that included duets with tenor Robert Marshall.
9 with soprano Rosa Canario, tenor William Hain, bass Nicola Moscona, conductor Fritz Reiner, and the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra.
[86] On October 27, 1949 she made her debut with the New York Philharmonic (NYP) at Carnegie Hall,[87] performing Arnold Schoenberg's "Song of the Wood Dove" ("Lied der Waltaube") from Gurre-Lieder under conductor Leopold Stokowski.
[90] In 1951 Lipton was the soloist in Charles Martin Loeffler's Canticle of the Sun in a concert conducted by Richard Korn at the City College of New York.
[2] Her recordings with Columbia included Mahler's Third Symphony, featuring Leonard Bernstein leading the New York Philharmonic and Bruckner's Te Deum led by Bruno Walter.
Most notably, Lipton played the role of Amneris from Giuseppe Verdi's opera Aida in IU's outdoor stage production at Memorial Stadium in July and August 1963.