I Never Walked Alone , livre ebook

I N ever W a lk e d Al one
I  NEVER WALKED ALONE
The Autobiography of an American Singer

Shirley Verrett
with
Christopher Brooks

John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
This book is printed on acid-free paper.
Copyright © 2003 by Shirley Verrett and Christopher Brooks. All rights reserved.
Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken, New Jersey Published simultaneously in Canada
Photo credits: pp. 132 (top), 133 (both), 134 (top right), 144 (bottom), 146 (both), 147 (top and bottom), and 148 (bottom) courtesy of Shirley Verrett; p. 132 (bottom) courtesy of John H. McCoy, Jr.; pp. 134 (bottom) and 147 (middle) courtesy of Henry Grossman; p. 134 (top left) photograph by Impact Photo Inc., courtesy of Shirley Verrett; pp. 135 (top), 137 (top), 138 (both), and 140 (top) courtesy of the Metropolitan Opera Archives; p. 135 (bottom) photograph by Isaac Berez, courtesy of Shirley Verrett; p. 136 (top) courtesy of United Press International Photo; p. 136 (bottom) photograph by Stephanie Rancou, courtesy of Shirley Verrett; p. 137 (bottom) photograph by Louis Melancon, courtesy of the Metropolitan Opera Archives; p. 139 photograph by Foto Piccagliani, courtesy of Shirley Verrett; p. 140 (bottom) from the Donald Southern Collection, courtesy of the Royal Opera House Archives; pp. 141, 142 (top), and 143 (both) photographs by Milton I. Feinberg; p. 142 (bottom) courtesy of Louis LoMonaco; p. 144 (top) photograph by J. Hefferman, courtesy of the Metropolitan Opera Archives; p. 145 photograph by Winnie Klotz, courtesy of the Metropolitan Opera Archives; p. 148 (top) photograph by Lattelle Solomon.
Lyrics from “You’ll Never Walk Alone.” Copyright © 1945 by Williamson Music. Copyright renewed. International copyright secured. All rights reserved. Used by permission.
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data:
Verrett, Shirley.
I never walked alone : the autobiography of an American singer / Shirley Verrett with Christopher Brooks.
p.  cm.
Includes index.
Discography: p.
ISBN 0-471-20991-0 (cloth : alk. paper)
1. Verrett, Shirley.     2. Mezzo-sopranos—United States—Biography.    I. Brooks, C. W.   II. Title.
ML420.V3515A3 2003
782.1’092—dc21 2003002601
Printed in the United States of America
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To the memory of my parents
Leon Solomon Verrett, Sr.
(1908–1988)
and
Elvira Augustine Harris Verrett
(1906–2001)
C ontents
Foreword by Luciano Pavarotti
Foreword by Plácido Domingo
Preface
P A R T   O N E
1.  My Mother’s Voice
2.  My Father’s Dream
3.  Mrs. James Carter
4.  City of Dreams
P A R T   T W O
5.  Hurry Slowly
6.  Turning Points
7.  From Covent Garden to La Scala to the Met
8.  Transfigurations
9.  And Baby Makes Three
P A R T   T H R E E
10.  “Troy Meets Shirl”
11.  An Actor’s Life
12.  Somewhere In Between
13.  Commandeur des Arts et des Lettres
P A R T   F O U R
14.  My Greatest Fan
15.  An End and a Beginning
Opera Synopses
Discography
Acknowledgments
Index
F oreword
by Luciano Pavarotti
I   F I R S T met Shirley Verrett at the Marina alla Scala in 1967. It was a small hotel across the street from the La Scala theater where young singers often stayed. We were there to sing a UNESCO benefit performance of Verdi’s Messa de Requiem , with Maestro Herbert von Karajan conducting. She was such a striking woman, and I will never forget the first time that I heard her glorious voice in rehearsal. We became friends from that time on.
Over the next twenty-five years, Shirley and I sang in operas, made joint orchestral appearances, and, of course, recorded together. I have so many special memories of her and her supreme artistry, but a few occasions do stand out. One was a 1975 San Francisco Opera performance of Il Trovatore , starring Joan Sutherland and me. The scheduled Azucena became ill, and Shirley flew in at the eleventh hour to replace her. Her portrayal of the tormented gypsy was so strong that she received a standing ovation at the end of the opera! As beautifully as she sang throughout the performance, I especially remember how well we blended in the duet “Ai nostri monti,” in the last act. Her voice was so tender, it was as if she were singing a lullaby.
By the late 1980s, we had sung together in several other operas, including Un Ballo in Maschera at La Scala and La Favorita and Tosca at the Met. In 1988, I made my debut as a stage director with La Fenice (Venice Opera). I chose Donizetti’s La Favorita because I knew the opera well and I was able to persuade Shirley to sing Leonora in the production. I will always appreciate her generosity because some divas of her caliber would not have sung with such a young cast. Around the same time she rescued a recording of Rigoletto that I was in, by agreeing to sing Maddalena as a personal favor to me. This is a role that she had never even considered doing onstage. She has been that kind of colleague.
Throughout my career I have performed with many great artists, but I continue to hold a special place in my heart for Shirley Verrett. Reading her autobiography has given me, and the world, the opportunity to gain an even greater insight into this special colleague, artist, charming lady, and, most especially, dear friend. She is surely one of the great artists of our time.
F oreword
by Plácido Domingo
B E T W E E N 1968, when we first did a concert performance of Carmen in Saratoga, New York, and 1990, when we last sang Samson et Dalila at the Met together, Shirley Verrett and I have sung nearly one hundred performances. When I think back on those performances, I see before me an artist of rare vocal beauty, of physical and histrionic endowment, and a consummate musician.
My first impression of Shirley, even before I heard her sing a note, was of her preparation. When she arrived at a rehearsal or in the recording studio, there was no question that she was ready to work. Nowhere was her professionalism more apparent to me than when we recorded Don Carlo with Carlo Maria Giulini, which to this day remains one of my favorite recordings.
Although the Carmen in Saratoga was our first performance together, our first fully staged opera came in the 1972 revival of Meyerbeer’s L’Africaine . This production marked the return of the opera after a ninety-year absence in this country. Shirley looked stunning as Princess Selika and sang beautifully. Sixteen years later we appeared in the same production, and again she delivered a wonderful performance.
Shirley was totally believable in her portrayals not only to the audience but also to her colleagues. This is especially important to the tenor, who so often must show love or jealousy for his operatic partner. How much easier it is to feel love or jealousy when singing opposite a woman with such beauty of voice and physical allure. And the fact that she is not just a voice and a beauty but a true musician and a charming human being makes her a treasure in the world of opera.
P reface
The important thing is this: To be ready to sacrifice what you are for what you could become .
— CHARLES DUBOIS
P E O P L E  A L W A Y S think I’m joking when I say this, but it’s true:I was bored selling real estate. Unhappily married and already twenty-four years old, I sat in my Southern California office, thinking, “This career is ridiculous. I’m really a singer, and I’m ready to sing.”
And that’s how I made up my mind to study. I found a teacher, switched from that teacher to another one, and, not long afterward, arrived in New York to appear on a hugely popular, nationally televised talent show. I won, and for the next few years, as a student at Juilliard, it was almost as if I could do no wrong. The people I listened to were the right people to listen to. I knew what would be good for me and at what moment. I knew what I was ready for and what I wasn’t.
The whole truth is another matter, more complicated than this version of the story. I’ve skipped over my