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Krannert Center for the Performing Arts »
Address: 500 S. Goodwin Ave. Urbana, IL 61801
Phone: (217) 333-6700
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On Feb. 11, Urbana’s Krannert Center for the Performing Arts will host a concert from one of the legendary mezzo-sopranos of the last four decades, Frederica von Stade. Krannert is a stop on her farewell tour and a final opportunity to experience one of our native-born operatic legends.

Von Stade, a singer with the ultimate Teutonic-sounding name, is actually a native of Somerville, New Jersey. She attended Catholic schools and grew up loving music. She sang in choral groups but had no ambitions to become a professional singer. She attributes her love of French music to a high school teacher who told her to listen to the music of the language to help her understand it better.

No college, some isolated dance lessons and a secretarial job in New York City could make for a dull life, so she took singing lessons after work as a filler.

”I began taking voice lessons, but, like my dance classes, these were more along the lines of a hobby than born of any ambition to become a professional musician,” said von Stade.

Her voice teacher Horation Alger recognized her extraordinary talent and convinced her to enter the Metropolitan Opera tryouts.

In 1970, at age 25, she made her debut at the Metropolitan Opera and the following year with the Santa Fe Opera Company. She dazzled audiences with one of her signatures roles as Cherubino in Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro.

There were the obvious classical song cycles, like Mahler’s “Songs of a Wayfarer” and Canteloube’s “Chants d’Auvergne,” which demonstrated her mastery of classical song, but her journeys into cross-over repertoire included recordings of The Sound of Music, Show Boat, A Carnegie Hall Christmas Concert and Songs of the Cat with Garrison Keillor.

Years of acclaim and recognition have not been the whole story. Despite her reputation as an unassuming and public-friendly star, her life has had its share of tragedy and drama.

Her father died fighting the German army in Europe before she was born. Her divorce from Peter Elkus in 1991 was a messy drawn-out bout of legalisms over what contributes materially to a career and earning power. The court case, Elkus vs. Elkus, is studied by many law school property classes as a classic case. Now, in her 60s, as her great voice slowly fades, she is making her farewell tour.

She made more than 60 recordings that appear on close to 100 CDs. Her career also has been beautifully preserved on just over a dozen DVDs.

Now CU has the opportunity to hear one of the last live performances of an American-born legend from the world of classical music.

For further information contact: http://www.krannertcenter .com or call the Krannert box office at 333-6280.