Philadelphia-born contralto Marian Anderson, famously lauded by Arturo Toscanini as having “a voice such as one hears once in a hundred years,” made her belated Metropolitan Opera debut on this date 60 years ago – January 7, 1955.
She was the first African American to be so permitted. Why anyone would keep so talented an individual from singing on any stage anywhere on account of her skin color defies comprehension. What were people thinking?
It’s great that she sang Ulrica and all, and I’m sure she was marvelous, if getting on in years (she was a month shy of her 58th birthday), but there’s always something about the stills that make me a little uncomfortable, as if they were trying to portray her as some sort of voodoo priestess, like she was Screamin’ Jay Hawkins or something.
Here’s a sample of Anderson as Ulrica: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oTUfEcTRzIY
Give that woman a drink from the Ezio Pinza fountain!