Grace Bumbry – one of the greatest black opera stars of all time – has died, aged 86.
She died in Vienna on Sunday.
She broke through internationally in 1960 as Amneris in Verdi’s “Aida” at the Paris Opera. She was the first black singer at the Paris Opera.
Bumbry’s success paved the way for a generation of black opera and concert singers. The American mastered both the role of mezzo-soprano and soprano.
The Metropolitan Opera House in New York writes in a memorial that Bumbry was one of the most brilliant singing stars of the last century.
– Her rich, powerful and sensual voice crossed the traditional categories of mezzo-soprano and soprano. In all her 15 roles at the Met, she was an intense and moving artist, writes the opera house.
Among other things, Bumbry performed in Oslo at the peace concert in 1994. Then she performed the song “Time for peace” together with 200 Israeli, Palestinian and Norwegian children.
As recently as 2013, at the age of 76, she sang the Countess in Tchaikovsky’s “Spardame” at the Vienna State Opera to rave reviews.
2023-05-09 06:04:36
#Historic #opera #star #died
