Farrell, Eileen

▪ 2003

      American singer (b. Feb. 13, 1920, Willimantic, Conn.—d. March 23, 2002, Park Ridge, N.J.), was considered one of the world's most outstanding dramatic sopranos. Refusing to confine herself to any particular category, she gained success in popular music, jazz, blues, and opera. Farrell received her first voice training from her parents, who were vaudeville singers, and later studied in New York City. By the time she was 20, she was performing a wide range of musical selections on her own weekly radio program on CBS, Eileen Farrell Presents, and through that show she became one of the best-known singers in the U.S. Farrell's concert career began in 1947, and in 1949 she made her first of dozens of appearances as a soloist with the New York Philharmonic Orchestra. She also provided Eleanor Parker's singing voice for the role of opera star Marjorie Lawrence in the motion picture Interrupted Melody (1955). Farrell's debut on the opera stage came in Tampa, Fla., in 1956, in the role of Santuzza in Cavalleria rusticana, and later that year she performed the role of Leonora in the San Francisco Opera's Il trovatore. It was not until December 1960 that she first appeared on the stage of New York City's Metropolitan Opera—in the title role of Alceste—and in her five seasons with that company she sang only six roles, reportedly as a result of differences with the Met's general manager, Rudolf Bing. Farrell's career and popularity flourished, however. In addition to her stage and concert performances, she made numerous appearances on television variety shows and released recordings ranging from opera to what was considered the first successful crossover album, I've Got a Right to Sing the Blues (1960). While she continued making concert appearances, from 1971 to 1980 Farrell also taught classical and popular voice at Indiana University. In 1999 her autobiography, Can't Help Singing (co-written with Brian Kellow), was published.

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▪ American singer

born February 13, 1920, Willimantic, Connecticut, U.S.

died March 23, 2002, Park Ridge, New Jersey

      American soprano who achieved success in both operatic and popular music.

      Farrell's parents were former vaudevillians. She traveled to New York City in 1939 to study singing and in 1940 earned a position with the studio choral and ensemble groups on the CBS radio network. The next year she began her own program, Eileen Farrell Sings, on which for seven years she performed a variety of vocal works. In 1947 she began making regular concert tours, receiving wide acclaim for her consistently brilliant performances.

      In the early 1950s Farrell performed concerts with the New York Philharmonic Orchestra, and in 1953 she became a regular performer with the Bach Aria Group. In 1956 she made her opera debut in Tampa, Florida, as Santuzza in Pietro Mascagni (Mascagni, Pietro)'s Cavalleria rusticana. That same year she debuted with the San Francisco Opera in Giuseppe Verdi's Il trovatore. Her mastery of a wide variety of soprano roles garnered much praise from critics and earned her many roles, and in December 1960 she made her debut with the Metropolitan Opera Company in New York City in Christoph Gluck (Gluck, Christoph Willibald)'s Alceste. She was firmly established thereafter as one of the best American dramatic sopranos.

      Farrell was one of the few opera singers to be successful with popular songs. She recorded I Gotta Right to Sing the Blues, her first crossover album, in 1960, and her album Songs (1962) won a Grammy Award. In the mid-1970s she taught both classical and popular voice at Indiana University. Although she retired from performing, she continued to record the songs of composers such as Harold Arlen (Arlen, Harold), Rodgers (Rodgers, Richard) and Hart (Hart, Lorenz), Alec Wilder, and Johnny Mercer (Mercer, Johnny). Her autobiography, Can't Help Singing (cowritten with Brian Kellow), was published in 1999.

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