Marilyn Horne (b.1934,) fully Marilyn Bernice Horne, is an American mezzo-soprano. She is celebrated for the seamless quality and outstanding range and flexibility of her voice, especially in coloratura roles by Gioacchino Rossini and George Frideric Handel.
Born in Bradford, Pennsylvania, Horne studied voice at the University of Southern California with William Vennard and the Music Academy of the West, Santa Barbara, California. She made her début in Los Angeles in Czech composer Bedrich Smetana’s The Bartered Bride (1954,) at Covent Garden, London, as Marie in Wozzeck (1964) and at the New York Metropolitan as Adalgisa in Norma (1970.)
Horne is also a noted recitalist, particularly associated with the music of Handel and Rossini. She was also influential in revitalizing interest in their lesser-known operas.
Horne retired in 1998. Her memoirs are Marilyn Horne: My Life (1983; with Jane Scovell.)
More: Wikipedia • READ: Works by Marilyn Horne
You have to know exactly what you want out of your career. If you want to be a star, you don’t bother with other things.
—Marilyn Horne
Topics: Fame, Career
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