Jean Fenn
Encyclopedia
Jean Fenn is an American soprano
who had an active opera
career in North America
during the 1950s through the 1970s. An attractive blond with a statuesque figure, Fenn was a disciplined, well-schooled singer with an excellent technique, wide range
, and a highly polished sound. She was notably a regular performer at the Metropolitan Opera
in New York City between 1953 and 1970. A lyric soprano
, she particularly excelled in portraying roles from the operas of Giacomo Puccini
, Jules Massenet
, and Charles Gounod
.
In spite of her talent, Fenn never achieved star level status; a fact which prevented her from making any commercial audio recordings with the exception of one film soundtrack. At the Met she performed with many of the giants of the opera world, and standing in such a crowd she never managed to distinguish herself. In his book The Last Prima Donnas, music critic Lanfranco Rasponi included Fenn in his list of American divas "who showed so much promise (all were talented and had good basic vocal resources) only to go into limbo". Critics have suggested that it was Fenn's too polished quality that prevented her from having that star making quality. Noël Coward
said of her during rehearsals for one of his productions, "She is cursed with refinement and does everything ‘beautifully.’ Oh dear, I long for her to pick her nose or fart and before I’m through with her, she’ll do both."
, Fenn was the daughter of Swedish
and English
parents. Her sister Marie Story (née Fenn) was also a soprano who had a minor career. She attended Stephens College
and after graduating moved to Los Angeles
, California
to pursue further studies in opera at Los Angeles City College
. While there she studied voice with Florence Holtzman and participated in the opera theatre program which was run by renowned Russian tenor Vladimir Rosing
. Fenn also studied privately with Amelita Galli-Curci
and her husband Homer Samuels in California
. She later received vocal coaching from Sigmund Romberg
and Erich Korngold.
In 1949, while still a student, Fenn sang in her first opera with the Hollywood Reading Club portraying Blondchen in The Abduction from the Seraglio and that same year appeared in productions with the Guild Opera Company of Southern California. In 1950 she made her official opera debut with the Kansas City Opera. She made her debut with the San Francisco Opera
on October 10, 1952 as Musetta in Giacomo Puccini
's La Bohème
with Bidu Sayão
as Mimì, Jan Peerce
as Rodolfo, Frank Valentino
as Marcello, and Gaetano Merola
conducting. She sang several more performances with the SFO that year, portraying Elena in Boito's Mefistofele
and Nedda in Pagliacci
.
Fenn made her first opera appearance in New York with the New York City Opera
on March 28, 1953 as Musetta. The production also notably marked Norman Treigle
's first performance with the company in the role of Colline. She later returned to that house in 1955 to sing two roles with the company, Oxana in Tchaikovsky
's Cherevichki
(performed under the title The Golden Slipper) and Violetta in Giuseppe Verdi
's La traviata
. She also sang the role of Nedda with the company during the late 1950s.
Rodolfo of Eugene Conley
, and Marcello of Robert Merrill
. That same cast was later aired on the radio for the December 19, 1953 Met broadcast. She performed at the Met regularly over the next seventeen years, being absent from the house only from 1957–1958 and 1960-1962. After appearing as one of the flower maidens in Parsifal
, she sang her only Violetta with the Met in 1954, replacing an ailing Licia Albanese
who was in turn supposed to be replacing an ailing Dorothy Kirsten
. In 1955 she added two roles to her Met repertoire: Marguerite in Charles Gounod
's Faust
with Thomas Hayward
in the title role and Zdenka in Arabella
with Eleanor Steber
in the title role.
After a two year absence from the Met, Fenn returned in April 1959 to portray Rosalinde in Die Fledermaus
with Theodor Uppman
as Eisenstein and Laurel Hurley as Adele. That role along with Mussetta became her bread and butter at the house. Fenn's next new role at the Met was in the title role of Jules Massenet
's Manon
in 1964 with Richard Verreau
as Des Grieux and Gabriel Bacquier
as Lescaut. That same year she made her first foray into Wagner
at the house, portraying Eva in Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg
with Paul Schöffler
as Hans Sachs. In 1965 she added Antonia in Les Contes d'Hoffmann
to her performance credits. Fenn added four more roles to her Met repertoire in 1967, the First Lady in the The Magic Flute
, Lady Harriet in Martha
, Mimì (although Mussetta would remain her more frequently assailed role in the opera), and the title role in Tosca
. Her last new role at the Met was Micaela in Bizet's Carmen
which she first sang at the house in 1968 opposite Regina Resnik
in the title role. Fenn's final and 126th performance at the Met was on January 23, 1970 as the First Lady with Edda Moser
as the Queen of the Night.
Fenn was featured in a number of Met broadcasts, including Faust on April 9, 1966 (with Nicolai Gedda
in the title role, William Walker
as Valentine, Cesare Siepi
as Mefistofeles, and Georges Pretre
conducting), Die Meistersinger on January 14, 1967 (with Giorgio Tozzi
, Sandor Konya
, Ezio Flagello
, Murray Dickie
, Karl Doench, Mildred Miller
, and Joseph Rosenstock
conducting), and Martha on February 3, 1968 (with Rosiland Elias, John Alexander, Donald Gramm
, Lorenzo Alvary, and Franz Allers
conducting to name just a few.
(LALCO) during the 1950s and 1960s, and a personal close friend of that company's director, Edwin Lester
. In 1954 she made her debut with the New Orleans Opera
in the title role of Massenet's Thaïs
with Mack Harrell
as Athanael. She returned to that company several more times, including portraying the title role in Puccini's Manon Lescaut
in 1969 and Tosca in 1970.
In 1956 she appeared in the film Serenade
with Mario Lanza
and that same year appeared as Rosalinde in Producers' Showcase
s production of Die Fledermaus. In 1967 she made her debut with the Philadelphia Grand Opera Company
(PGOC) as Tosca with Richard Tucker
as Mario Cavaradossi. She later returned to that house in 1974 to portray Marguerite to Enrico di Giuseppe
's Faust. That same year she sang Mimì to Luciano Rampaso's Rodolfo in the very last production presented by the Philadelphia Lyric Opera Company
before it merged with the PGOC to become the Opera Company of Philadelphia
. She also appeared in operas with Opera Memphis
, the Opera Company of Boston
, the Cincinnati Opera
, the Houston Grand Opera
, the Pittsburgh Opera
, and the San Antonio Opera among others.
Fenn also almost made it onto Broadway twice. She notably starred as Verity Craig in the original production of Noel Coward
's Sail Away
when it opened in Boston in 1961 before its New York run. However, Coward significantly revamped the show in the midst of further previews in Philadelphia, merging Fenn's role with that of Elaine Stritch
's part. In 1969 she portrayed Queen Isabella in the world premiere of Meredith Willson
's musical 1491
at the LALCO with Chita Rivera
as Beatriz and John Cullum
as Christopher Columbus. Although slated for Broadway, the production never made it out of Los Angeles.
Soprano
A soprano is a voice type with a vocal range from approximately middle C to "high A" in choral music, or to "soprano C" or higher in operatic music. In four-part chorale style harmony, the soprano takes the highest part, which usually encompasses the melody...
who had an active opera
Opera
Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...
career in North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
during the 1950s through the 1970s. An attractive blond with a statuesque figure, Fenn was a disciplined, well-schooled singer with an excellent technique, wide range
Vocal range
Vocal range is the measure of the breadth of pitches that a human voice can phonate. Although the study of vocal range has little practical application in terms of speech, it is a topic of study within linguistics, phonetics, and speech and language pathology, particularly in relation to the study...
, and a highly polished sound. She was notably a regular performer at the Metropolitan Opera
Metropolitan Opera
The Metropolitan Opera is an opera company, located in New York City. Originally founded in 1880, the company gave its first performance on October 22, 1883. The company is operated by the non-profit Metropolitan Opera Association, with Peter Gelb as general manager...
in New York City between 1953 and 1970. A lyric soprano
Lyric soprano
A lyric soprano is a type of operatic soprano that has a warm quality with a bright, full timbre which can be heard over an orchestra. The lyric soprano voice generally has a higher tessitura than a soubrette and usually plays ingenues and other sympathetic characters in opera. Lyric sopranos have...
, she particularly excelled in portraying roles from the operas of Giacomo Puccini
Giacomo Puccini
Giacomo Antonio Domenico Michele Secondo Maria Puccini was an Italian composer whose operas, including La bohème, Tosca, Madama Butterfly, and Turandot, are among the most frequently performed in the standard repertoire...
, Jules Massenet
Jules Massenet
Jules Émile Frédéric Massenet was a French composer best known for his operas. His compositions were very popular in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and he ranks as one of the greatest melodists of his era. Soon after his death, Massenet's style went out of fashion, and many of his operas...
, and Charles Gounod
Charles Gounod
Charles-François Gounod was a French composer, known for his Ave Maria as well as his operas Faust and Roméo et Juliette.-Biography:...
.
In spite of her talent, Fenn never achieved star level status; a fact which prevented her from making any commercial audio recordings with the exception of one film soundtrack. At the Met she performed with many of the giants of the opera world, and standing in such a crowd she never managed to distinguish herself. In his book The Last Prima Donnas, music critic Lanfranco Rasponi included Fenn in his list of American divas "who showed so much promise (all were talented and had good basic vocal resources) only to go into limbo". Critics have suggested that it was Fenn's too polished quality that prevented her from having that star making quality. Noël Coward
Noël Coward
Sir Noël Peirce Coward was an English playwright, composer, director, actor and singer, known for his wit, flamboyance, and what Time magazine called "a sense of personal style, a combination of cheek and chic, pose and poise".Born in Teddington, a suburb of London, Coward attended a dance academy...
said of her during rehearsals for one of his productions, "She is cursed with refinement and does everything ‘beautifully.’ Oh dear, I long for her to pick her nose or fart and before I’m through with her, she’ll do both."
Early life and career
Born in Riverside, IllinoisRiverside, Illinois
Riverside is an affluent suburban village in Cook County, Illinois. A significant portion of the village is in the Riverside Landscape Architecture District, designated a National Historic Landmark in 1970. The population was 8,895 at the 2000 census...
, Fenn was the daughter of Swedish
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
and English
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
parents. Her sister Marie Story (née Fenn) was also a soprano who had a minor career. She attended Stephens College
Stephens College
Stephens College is a women's college located in Columbia, Missouri. It is the second oldest female educational establishment that is still a women's college in the United States. It was founded on August 24, 1833 as the Columbia Female Academy. In 1856, David H. Hickman turned it into a college,...
and after graduating moved to Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
to pursue further studies in opera at Los Angeles City College
Los Angeles City College
Los Angeles City College, known as LACC, is a public community college in the East Hollywood section of Los Angeles, California. A part of the Los Angeles Community College District, it is located on Vermont Avenue south of Santa Monica Boulevard...
. While there she studied voice with Florence Holtzman and participated in the opera theatre program which was run by renowned Russian tenor Vladimir Rosing
Vladimir Rosing
Vladimir Sergeyevich Rosing , aka Val Rosing, was a Russian-born operatic tenor and stage director who spent most of his professional career in England and the United States...
. Fenn also studied privately with Amelita Galli-Curci
Amelita Galli-Curci
Amelita Galli-Curci was an Italian operatic soprano. She was one of the best-known coloratura singers of the early 20th century with her gramophone records selling in large numbers.-Early life:...
and her husband Homer Samuels in California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
. She later received vocal coaching from Sigmund Romberg
Sigmund Romberg
Sigmund Romberg was a Hungarian-born American composer, best known for his operettas.-Biography:Romberg was born as Siegmund Rosenberg to a Jewish family in Gross-Kanizsa during the Austro-Hungarian kaiserlich und königlich monarchy period...
and Erich Korngold.
In 1949, while still a student, Fenn sang in her first opera with the Hollywood Reading Club portraying Blondchen in The Abduction from the Seraglio and that same year appeared in productions with the Guild Opera Company of Southern California. In 1950 she made her official opera debut with the Kansas City Opera. She made her debut with the San Francisco Opera
San Francisco Opera
San Francisco Opera is an American opera company, based in San Francisco, California.It was founded in 1923 by Gaetano Merola and is the second largest opera company in North America...
on October 10, 1952 as Musetta in Giacomo Puccini
Giacomo Puccini
Giacomo Antonio Domenico Michele Secondo Maria Puccini was an Italian composer whose operas, including La bohème, Tosca, Madama Butterfly, and Turandot, are among the most frequently performed in the standard repertoire...
's La Bohème
La bohème
La bohème is an opera in four acts,Puccini called the divisions quadro, a tableau or "image", rather than atto . by Giacomo Puccini to an Italian libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa, based on Scènes de la vie de bohème by Henri Murger...
with Bidu Sayão
Bidu Sayão
Bidú Sayão was a Brazilian opera soprano. One of Brazil's most famous musicians, Sayão was a leading artist of the Metropolitan Opera in New York City from 1937 to 1952.-Life and career:...
as Mimì, Jan Peerce
Jan Peerce
Jan Peerce was an American operatic tenor. Peerce was an accomplished performer on the operatic and Broadway concert stages, in solo recitals, and as a recording artist. He is the father of film director Larry Peerce....
as Rodolfo, Frank Valentino
Frank Valentino
right|thumb|Valentino, ca. 1940sFrancesco Valentino was an American operatic baritone. He is perhaps best remembered for his performances under Arturo Toscanini.-Life and career:...
as Marcello, and Gaetano Merola
Gaetano Merola
Gaetano Merola was an Italian conductor and founder of the San Francisco Opera.-Biography:Merola was born in Naples, the son of a Neapolitan court violinist and studied piano and conducting at the Naples conservatory...
conducting. She sang several more performances with the SFO that year, portraying Elena in Boito's Mefistofele
Mefistofele
Mefistofele is an opera in a prologue, four acts and an epilogue, the only completed opera by the Italian composer-librettist Arrigo Boito.-Composition history:...
and Nedda in Pagliacci
Pagliacci
Pagliacci , sometimes incorrectly rendered with a definite article as I Pagliacci, is an opera consisting of a prologue and two acts written and composed by Ruggero Leoncavallo. It recounts the tragedy of a jealous husband in a commedia dell'arte troupe...
.
Fenn made her first opera appearance in New York with the New York City Opera
New York City Opera
The New York City Opera is an American opera company located in New York City.The company, called "the people's opera" by New York Mayor Fiorello La Guardia, was founded in 1943 with the aim of making opera financially accessible to a wide audience, producing an innovative choice of repertory, and...
on March 28, 1953 as Musetta. The production also notably marked Norman Treigle
Norman Treigle
Norman Treigle was an American operatic bass-baritone, who was acclaimed for his great abilities as a singing-actor, and specialized in roles that evoked villainy and terror....
's first performance with the company in the role of Colline. She later returned to that house in 1955 to sing two roles with the company, Oxana in Tchaikovsky
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (Russian: Пётр Ильи́ч Чайко́вский ; often "Peter Ilich Tchaikovsky" in English. His names are also transliterated "Piotr" or "Petr"; "Ilitsch", "Il'ich" or "Illyich"; and "Tschaikowski", "Tschaikowsky", "Chajkovskij"...
's Cherevichki
Cherevichki
Cherevichki [alternative renderings are The Little Shoes, The Tsarina's Slippers, Les caprices d'Oxane, and Gli stivaletti] is a comic-fantastic opera in 4 acts, 8 scenes, by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky. It was composed in 1885 in Maidanovo, Russia...
(performed under the title The Golden Slipper) and Violetta in Giuseppe Verdi
Giuseppe Verdi
Giuseppe Fortunino Francesco Verdi was an Italian Romantic composer, mainly of opera. He was one of the most influential composers of the 19th century...
's La traviata
La traviata
La traviata is an opera in three acts by Giuseppe Verdi set to an Italian libretto by Francesco Maria Piave. It is based on La dame aux Camélias , a play adapted from the novel by Alexandre Dumas, fils. The title La traviata means literally The Fallen Woman, or perhaps more figuratively, The Woman...
. She also sang the role of Nedda with the company during the late 1950s.
Working at the Metropolitan Opera
Fenn joined the roster of principal sopranos at the Metropolitan Opera in 1953, making her debut with the company on November 11 of that year as Musetta to the Mimì of Hilde Güden,Rodolfo of Eugene Conley
Eugene Conley
Eugene Conley was a celebrated American operatic tenor.Born in Lynn, Massachusetts, Conley studied under Ettore Verna, and made his official debut as the Duke of Mantua in Rigoletto, at the Brooklyn Academy of Music in 1940...
, and Marcello of Robert Merrill
Robert Merrill
Robert Merrill was an American operatic baritone.-Early life:Merrill was born Moishe Miller, later known as Morris Miller, in the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn, New York, to tailor Abraham Miller, originally Milstein, and his wife Lillian, née Balaban, immigrants from Warsaw, Poland.His mother...
. That same cast was later aired on the radio for the December 19, 1953 Met broadcast. She performed at the Met regularly over the next seventeen years, being absent from the house only from 1957–1958 and 1960-1962. After appearing as one of the flower maidens in Parsifal
Parsifal
Parsifal is an opera in three acts by Richard Wagner. It is loosely based on Wolfram von Eschenbach's Parzival, the 13th century epic poem of the Arthurian knight Parzival and his quest for the Holy Grail, and on Chrétien de Troyes' Perceval, the Story of the Grail.Wagner first conceived the work...
, she sang her only Violetta with the Met in 1954, replacing an ailing Licia Albanese
Licia Albanese
Licia Albanese is an Italian-born American operatic soprano. Noted especially for her portrayals of the lyric heroines of Verdi and Puccini, Albanese was a leading artist with the Metropolitan Opera of New York from 1940 to 1966...
who was in turn supposed to be replacing an ailing Dorothy Kirsten
Dorothy Kirsten
Dorothy Kirsten was an American operatic soprano.-Biography:...
. In 1955 she added two roles to her Met repertoire: Marguerite in Charles Gounod
Charles Gounod
Charles-François Gounod was a French composer, known for his Ave Maria as well as his operas Faust and Roméo et Juliette.-Biography:...
's Faust
Faust (opera)
Faust is a drame lyrique in five acts by Charles Gounod to a French libretto by Jules Barbier and Michel Carré from Carré's play Faust et Marguerite, in turn loosely based on Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's Faust, Part 1...
with Thomas Hayward
Thomas Hayward (tenor)
Thomas Hayward was an American operatic tenor of note. He was the cousin of Lawrence Tibbett....
in the title role and Zdenka in Arabella
Arabella
Arabella is a lyric comedy or opera in 3 acts by Richard Strauss to a German libretto by Hugo von Hofmannsthal, their sixth and last operatic collaboration. It was first performed on 1 July 1933, at the Dresden Sächsisches Staatstheater....
with Eleanor Steber
Eleanor Steber
Eleanor Steber was an American operatic soprano. Steber is noted as one of the first major opera stars to have achieved the highest success with training and a career based in the United States.-Biography:...
in the title role.
After a two year absence from the Met, Fenn returned in April 1959 to portray Rosalinde in Die Fledermaus
Die Fledermaus
Die Fledermaus is an operetta composed by Johann Strauss II to a German libretto by Karl Haffner and Richard Genée.- Literary sources :...
with Theodor Uppman
Theodor Uppman
Theodor Uppman was an American operatic baritone. He is best known for his creation of the title role in Benjamin Britten's opera Billy Budd....
as Eisenstein and Laurel Hurley as Adele. That role along with Mussetta became her bread and butter at the house. Fenn's next new role at the Met was in the title role of Jules Massenet
Jules Massenet
Jules Émile Frédéric Massenet was a French composer best known for his operas. His compositions were very popular in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and he ranks as one of the greatest melodists of his era. Soon after his death, Massenet's style went out of fashion, and many of his operas...
's Manon
Manon
Manon is an opéra comique in five acts by Jules Massenet to a French libretto by Henri Meilhac and Philippe Gille, based on the 1731 novel L’histoire du chevalier des Grieux et de Manon Lescaut by the Abbé Prévost...
in 1964 with Richard Verreau
Richard Verreau
Richard Verreau, was a French-Canadian operatic tenor, particularly associated to the French and Italian repertories.-Biography:...
as Des Grieux and Gabriel Bacquier
Gabriel Bacquier
Gabriel Bacquier is a French operatic baritone. One of the leading baritones of the 20th century and particularly associated with the French and Italian repertories, he is considered a fine singing-actor equally at home in dramatic or comic roles.-Life and career:Gabriel Bacquier was born in...
as Lescaut. That same year she made her first foray into Wagner
Richard Wagner
Wilhelm Richard Wagner was a German composer, conductor, theatre director, philosopher, music theorist, poet, essayist and writer primarily known for his operas...
at the house, portraying Eva in Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg
Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg
Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg is an opera in three acts, written and composed by Richard Wagner. It is among the longest operas still commonly performed today, usually taking around four and a half hours. It was first performed at the Königliches Hof- und National-Theater in Munich, on June 21,...
with Paul Schöffler
Paul Schöffler
Paul Schöffler was a German operatic baritone, particularly associated with Mozart, Wagner, Strauss roles....
as Hans Sachs. In 1965 she added Antonia in Les Contes d'Hoffmann
Les contes d'Hoffmann
Les contes d'Hoffmann is an opéra by Jacques Offenbach. The French libretto was written by Jules Barbier, based on short stories by E. T. A...
to her performance credits. Fenn added four more roles to her Met repertoire in 1967, the First Lady in the The Magic Flute
The Magic Flute
The Magic Flute is an opera in two acts composed in 1791 by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart to a German libretto by Emanuel Schikaneder. The work is in the form of a Singspiel, a popular form that included both singing and spoken dialogue....
, Lady Harriet in Martha
Martha (opera)
Martha, oder Der Markt zu Richmond is a 'romantic comic' opera in four acts by Friedrich von Flotow, set to a German libretto by Friedrich Wilhelm Riese and based on a story by Jules-Henri Vernoy de Saint-Georges....
, Mimì (although Mussetta would remain her more frequently assailed role in the opera), and the title role in Tosca
Tosca
Tosca is an opera in three acts by Giacomo Puccini to an Italian libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa. It premiered at the Teatro Costanzi in Rome on 14 January 1900...
. Her last new role at the Met was Micaela in Bizet's Carmen
Carmen
Carmen is a French opéra comique by Georges Bizet. The libretto is by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy, based on the novella of the same title by Prosper Mérimée, first published in 1845, itself possibly influenced by the narrative poem The Gypsies by Alexander Pushkin...
which she first sang at the house in 1968 opposite Regina Resnik
Regina Resnik
Regina Resnik is an American operatic singer.Regina Resnik, the American mezzo-soprano, started a dramatic career ten months after earning her B.A. in Music at Hunter College. The role was Lady Macbeth under Fritz Busch in December, 1942 with the New Opera Company. A few months later, she sang...
in the title role. Fenn's final and 126th performance at the Met was on January 23, 1970 as the First Lady with Edda Moser
Edda Moser
Edda Moser is a German soprano. She was particularly well-known for her interpretations of music by Mozart. Her 1973 recital LP "Virtuoso Arias by W. A...
as the Queen of the Night.
Fenn was featured in a number of Met broadcasts, including Faust on April 9, 1966 (with Nicolai Gedda
Nicolai Gedda
Nicolai Gedda is a Swedish operatic tenor. Having made some two hundred recordings, Gedda is said to be the most widely recorded tenor in history...
in the title role, William Walker
William Walker (baritone)
William Sterling Walker was a baritone with the Metropolitan Opera whose singing career included performances at the White House, at Carnegie Hall and other concert venues across North America and Europe, and some 60 appearances on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson...
as Valentine, Cesare Siepi
Cesare Siepi
Cesare Siepi was an Italian opera singer, generally considered to have been one of the finest basses of the post-war period. His voice was characterised by a deep, warm timbre, and a ringing, vibrant upper register. On stage, his tall, striking presence and elegance of phrasing made him a natural...
as Mefistofeles, and Georges Pretre
Georges Prêtre
- Biography :He was born in Waziers , and attended the Douai Conservatory and then studied harmony under Maurice Duruflé and conducting under André Cluytens among others at the Conservatoire de Paris. Amongst his early musical interests were jazz and trumpet. After graduating, he conducted in a...
conducting), Die Meistersinger on January 14, 1967 (with Giorgio Tozzi
Giorgio Tozzi
Giorgio Tozzi was for many years a leading bass with the Metropolitan Opera, as well as playing lead roles in nearly every major opera house worldwide.-Career:Tozzi was born George John Tozzi in Chicago, Illinois...
, Sandor Konya
Sándor Kónya
Sándor Kónya was an Hungarian tenor, particularly associated with German and Italianroles, especially Lohengrin and Calaf.- Biography :...
, Ezio Flagello
Ezio Flagello
Ezio Flagello was an Italian-American bass, particularly associated with the Italian repertory. He sang at the Metropolitan Opera from 1957 to 1984.- Career :...
, Murray Dickie
Murray Dickie
Murray Dickie was a Scottish tenor opera singer and director, who established his career in England, Austria and Italy during the 1950s. In addition to his extensive stage work he was a prolific recording artist.- Early career 1947-1955 :Dickie had his first vocal training in Glasgow...
, Karl Doench, Mildred Miller
Mildred Miller
Mildred Miller is an American classical mezzo-soprano who had a major career performing in operas, concerts, and recitals during the mid twentieth century. She was notably a principal artist at the Metropolitan Opera from 1951 through 1974...
, and Joseph Rosenstock
Joseph Rosenstock
Joseph Rosenstock was a Polish Jewish conductor.-Early years:He worked at the State Opera in Wiesbaden before being brought into the Metropolitan Opera in New York to replace Artur Bodanzky in 1928...
conducting), and Martha on February 3, 1968 (with Rosiland Elias, John Alexander, Donald Gramm
Donald Gramm
Donald Gramm was an American bass-baritone whose career was divided between opera and concert performances. His appearances were primarily limited to the United States, which at the time was unusual for an American singer...
, Lorenzo Alvary, and Franz Allers
Franz Allers
Franz Allers was a European-American conductor of ballet, opera, Broadway musicals, film scores, and symphony orchestras...
conducting to name just a few.
Performances throughout North America
While singing at the Met, Fenn also appeared with other opera companies throughout North America. She was a regular performer with the Los Angeles Civic Light OperaLos Angeles Civic Light Opera
The Los Angeles Civic Light Opera was an American theatre/opera company in Los Angeles, California. Founded under the motto "Light Opera in the Grand Opera manner" in 1938 by impresario Edwin Lester, the organization presented fifty seasons of theatre before closing due to financial reasons in...
(LALCO) during the 1950s and 1960s, and a personal close friend of that company's director, Edwin Lester
Edwin Lester
Edwin Lester was an American theatre director, impresario, and producer. He was the longtime general director of the Los Angeles Civic Light Opera, which he founded in 1938. He also co-founded the LACLO's affiliate organization, the San Francisco Civic Light Opera, with Homer Curran in 1939...
. In 1954 she made her debut with the New Orleans Opera
New Orleans Opera
Opera has long been part of the musical culture of New Orleans, Louisiana. Operas have regularly been performed in the city since the 1790s, and for the majority of the city's history since the early 19th century, New Orleans has had a resident company regularly performing opera in addition to...
in the title role of Massenet's Thaïs
Thaïs (opera)
Thaïs is an opera in three acts by Jules Massenet to a French libretto by Louis Gallet based on the novel Thaïs by Anatole France. It was first performed at the Opéra Garnier in Paris on 16 March 1894, starring the American soprano Sybil Sanderson, for whom Massenet had written the title role...
with Mack Harrell
Mack Harrell
Mack Harrell was an American baritone who was regarded as one of the greatest concert singers of his generation....
as Athanael. She returned to that company several more times, including portraying the title role in Puccini's Manon Lescaut
Manon Lescaut
Manon Lescaut is a short novel by French author Abbé Prévost. Published in 1731, it is the seventh and final volume of Mémoires et aventures d'un homme de qualité . It was controversial in its time and was banned in France upon publication...
in 1969 and Tosca in 1970.
In 1956 she appeared in the film Serenade
Serenade (film)
Serenade, a 1956 Warner Bros. release, was tenor Mario Lanza's fifth film, and his first on-screen appearance in four years. Directed by Anthony Mann and based on the 1937 novel of the same name by James M...
with Mario Lanza
Mario Lanza
right|thumb|[[MGM]] still, circa 1949Mario Lanza was an American tenor and Hollywood movie star of the late 1940s and the 1950s. The son of Italian emigrants, he began studying to be a professional singer at the age of 16....
and that same year appeared as Rosalinde in Producers' Showcase
Producers' Showcase
Producers' Showcase is an American anthology television series that was telecast live during the 1950s in compatible color by NBC. With top talent, the 90-minute episodes, covering a wide variety of genres, aired under the title every fourth Monday at 8 p.m. ET for three seasons, beginning October...
s production of Die Fledermaus. In 1967 she made her debut with the Philadelphia Grand Opera Company
Philadelphia Grand Opera Company
The Philadelphia Grand Opera Company was the name of four different American opera companies active at the Academy of Music in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania during the twentieth century. The last and most well known of the four was founded in November 1954 with the merger of the Philadelphia Civic...
(PGOC) as Tosca with Richard Tucker
Richard Tucker
Richard Tucker was an American operatic tenor.-Early life:Tucker was born Rivn Ticker in Brooklyn, New York, into a family of Romanian immigrants from Bessarabia. His father, Shmul Ticker, and mother Fanya-Tsipa Ticker had already adopted the surname "Tucker" by the time their son entered first...
as Mario Cavaradossi. She later returned to that house in 1974 to portray Marguerite to Enrico di Giuseppe
Enrico Di Giuseppe
Enrico Di Giuseppe was a celebrated Italian-American operatic tenor who had an active performance career from the late 1950s through the 1990s. He spent most of his career performing in New York City, juggling concurrent performance contracts with both the New York City Opera and the Metropolitan...
's Faust. That same year she sang Mimì to Luciano Rampaso's Rodolfo in the very last production presented by the Philadelphia Lyric Opera Company
Philadelphia Lyric Opera Company
The Philadelphia Lyric Opera Company was an American opera company located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania that was active between 1958 and 1974. The company was led by a number of Artistic Directors during its history, beginning with Aurelio Fabiani. Other notable Artistic Directors include Julius...
before it merged with the PGOC to become the Opera Company of Philadelphia
Opera Company of Philadelphia
The Opera Company of Philadelphia is an American opera company in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and is the city's only company producing grand opera. The organization produces four fully staged opera productions annually, encompassing works from the seventeenth through the 21st century...
. She also appeared in operas with Opera Memphis
Opera Memphis
Opera Memphis is a non-profit arts organization in Memphis, Tennessee. It was established in 1956 in conjunction with the founding of WKNO-FM, the local public radio affiliate....
, the Opera Company of Boston
Opera Company of Boston
The Opera Company of Boston was an American opera company located in Boston, Massachusetts that was active during the late 1950s through the early 1990s. The company was founded by American conductor Sarah Caldwell in 1958 under the name Boston Opera Group. At one time, the touring arm of the...
, the Cincinnati Opera
Cincinnati Opera
Cincinnati Opera is an American opera company based in Cincinnati, Ohio and the second oldest opera company in the United States .-History:...
, the Houston Grand Opera
Houston Grand Opera
Houston Grand Opera Houston Grand Opera was founded in 1955 through the joint efforts of Maestro Walter Herbert and cultural leaders Mrs. Louis G. Lobit, Edward Bing and Charles Cockrell...
, the Pittsburgh Opera
Pittsburgh Opera
Pittsburgh Opera is an American opera company based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It is one of two opera companies in the city, the other being Opera Theatre of Pittsburgh. Pittsburgh Opera gives performances in several venues, primarily at the Benedum Center, with other performances at the...
, and the San Antonio Opera among others.
Fenn also almost made it onto Broadway twice. She notably starred as Verity Craig in the original production of Noel Coward
Noël Coward
Sir Noël Peirce Coward was an English playwright, composer, director, actor and singer, known for his wit, flamboyance, and what Time magazine called "a sense of personal style, a combination of cheek and chic, pose and poise".Born in Teddington, a suburb of London, Coward attended a dance academy...
's Sail Away
Sail Away (musical)
Sail Away is a musical with a book, music and lyrics by Noël Coward. The show was the last musical for which Coward wrote both the book and music, although he wrote the music for one last "book" musical in 1963. The story centers around brash, bold American divorcee Mimi Paragon, working as a...
when it opened in Boston in 1961 before its New York run. However, Coward significantly revamped the show in the midst of further previews in Philadelphia, merging Fenn's role with that of Elaine Stritch
Elaine Stritch
Elaine Stritch is an American actress and vocalist. She has appeared in numerous stage plays and musicals, feature films, and many television programs...
's part. In 1969 she portrayed Queen Isabella in the world premiere of Meredith Willson
Meredith Willson
Robert Meredith Willson was an American composer, songwriter, conductor and playwright, best known for writing the book, music and lyrics for the hit Broadway musical The Music Man...
's musical 1491
1491 (musical)
1491 is a musical with music and lyrics by Meredith Willson. It was Willson's final musical. The book was by Willson and Richard Morris with additional material by Ira Barmak and was based on an idea by Ed Ainsworth.-Creation:...
at the LALCO with Chita Rivera
Chita Rivera
Chita Rivera is an American actress, dancer, and singer best known for her roles in musical theater. She is the first Hispanic woman to receive a Kennedy Center Honors award...
as Beatriz and John Cullum
John Cullum
John Cullum is an American actor and singer. He has appeared in many stage musicals and dramas, including On the Twentieth Century and Shenandoah , winning the Tony Awards for Best Leading Actor in a Musical for each...
as Christopher Columbus. Although slated for Broadway, the production never made it out of Los Angeles.