Martha Lipton (April 6, 1913 – November 28, 2006) was an American operatic mezzo-soprano and music educator who is best known for her career performing at the Metropolitan Opera ("The Met") from 1944-1961.[1][2] A native of New York City, she began her training as a vocalist with her mother who had a brief career as a concert soprano under the name Estelle Laiken. She later studied both privately and at the School of Musicianship for Singers, Inc and the Juilliard School. She made her professional concert debut while still a student in 1933 at Carnegie Hall, performing in a concert of light opera excerpts with the New York Light Opera Guild. In 1936 she began working as a church vocalist at both Riverside Church and Temple Emanu-El of New York.
In 1941 Lipton performed the role of the Lady-in-Waiting in the United States premiere of Giuseppe Verdi's Macbeth at Broadway's 44th Street Theatre. In 1944 she performed in the New York City Opera's first season as Nancy in Friedrich von Flotow's Martha. That same year she made her debut at The Met as Siebel in Charles Gounod's Faust. She went on to sing in seventeen seasons at the Met, giving more than 400 performances with the company and portraying a total of 36 different characters. She notably appeared as Mrs. Sedley in the Met's first staging of Benjamin Britten's Peter Grimes in 1948, and performed the role of Mother Goose in the United States premiere of Igor Stravinsky's The Rake's Progress in 1953. Her most frequently performed roles at the Met were Annina in Richard Strauss's Der Rosenkavalier and Emilia in Verdi's Otello. She mainly retired from performance after completing the 1960-1961 season at the Met.
The daughter of Leon Lipton and Estelle Lipton (née Laiken),[3] Martha Lipton was born in New York City on April 6, 1913.[2] Her mother had a short career as a concert soprano under the name Estelle Laiken.[4] Her first voice lessons were taught to her by her mother.[2]
Lipton trained further in New York under Anna E. Ziegler at the School of Musicianship for Singers, Inc in the early 1930s.[5] On December 15, 1933 she made her debut at Carnegie Hall as a member of the New York Light Opera Guild, performing as a soloist in a concert of operetta music by Reginald De Koven.[6] After this she studied privately in New York in the studio of Melanie Guttman-Rice in 1936-1937.[7][8][9] In 1936 she was engaged as a resident soloist at both Riverside Church and Temple Emanu-El of New York,[10] and in 1937 she made her radio debut on NBC Radio's "Magic Keys" program after being selected to perform by Walter Damrosch.[11]
Lipton won a scholarship to the graduate school of the Juilliard School in November 1937.[12] There she studied singing with tenor Paul Reimers.[2] She performed in a Juilliard concert of opera excerpts directed by Alberto Bimboni on April 22, 1938.[13] In early January 1939 she won the singing competition of the MacDowell Club of New York.[14] This led to her New York City recital debut at the concert hall of the MacDowell Club on January 26, 1939.[15] In April 1939 she performed the role of the Sorceress in Juilliard's production of Henry Purcell's Dido and Aeneas with Margaret Harshaw as Dido and Albert Stoessel as the music director.[16] After graduating from Juilliard, she continued to study singing in New York with Ettore Verna.[17]
In May 1939 Lipton won first prize in the national level of the singing competition of the National Federation of Music Clubs (NFMC).[18] In addition to the cash prize,[18] the competition win led to a her performing as a soloist in a concert broadcast on national radio with her singing with a 70 piece orchestra under conductor Alfred Wallenstein.[19][20] The NFMC competition win significantly raised her profile as a singer, and helped her earn professional contracts nationally at the beginning of her career.[21]
Early career
While studying at Juilliard, Lipton began her opera career at Radio City Music Hall as a contract member of that theatre's resident opera company.[22] She made several appearances in operas with conductor Ernö Rapée and the symphony orchestra of Radio City Music Hall (RCMH) which were recorded for live broadcast on the NBC Blue Network radio program "Radio City Music Hall of the Air";[23][24] a radio program that aired lived shows from the RCMH stage on Sunday afternoons with an audience also in the theatre.[25] These included performing the roles of Alisa in Lucia di Lammermoor (November 6, 1938),[24] Lucia in Cavalleria rusticana (November 13, 1938),[23] and Maddalena in Rigoletto (November 20, 1938).[26] On October 8, 1939, she performed the role of Queen Isabella in the world premiere of Eugene Zador's opera Christopher Columbus at the Center Theatre which was presented in a concert version by the RCMH Opera Company and also broadcast on the "Radio City Music Hall of the Air".[27]
In March 1941 Lipton gave a recital at The Town Hall.[33] In November 1942 she returned to that theatre to perform in a concert of vocal quartets by Joseph Haydn with her fellow soloists including soprano Margaret Daum, tenor Earl Rogers, and bass Edward Constantin.[34] She joined the roster of principal arts of the New Opera Company (NOC) in Manhattan, making her debut with the company on October 18, 1941 as Dorabella in Mozart's Così fan tutte at Broadway's 44th Street Theatre.[35] Later that season she performed two more roles at the same theatre with the NOC;[35] Pauline in Tchaikovsky's The Queen of Spades[35] and the Lady-in-Waiting[35] in the United States premiere of Verdi's Macbeth.[36][37] On May 3, 1942 she performed in concert with soprano Grace Moore and the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra on the campus of Purdue University with that school's choir.[38] Later that year she performed in concerts at military bases in New York state to entertain troops serving during World War II,[39] and continued to perform in concerts organized by the United Service Organizations in 1943.[40]
Lipton made her debut at the Metropolitan Opera ("The Met") on November 28, 1944 as Siebel in Charles Gounod's Faust with Ezio Pinza as Méphistophélès, Licia Albanese as Margherite, and Raoul Jobin in the title role.[54] It was also the first performance given during the Met's 1944-1945 season.[1] She toured with the company the following month to perform the same opera at the Academy of Music in Philadelphia.[55] By the time she ended her singing career at the Met in 1961 she had performed a total of 401 times with the company[56] across seventeen seasons[1] in a total of 36 different characters.[2] She later returned for a final 402nd appearance on the Met stage on October 22, 1983 at a Centennial Gala at which she was an honoree.[57]
In addition to her work on the stage of the Met, Lipton also made radio appearances and sang in concerts associated with the Met in other locations. On December 26, 1944 she sang a program of music with Met tenor Richard Manning on the radio program "Metropolitan Opera, USA" on WQXR; a radio program organized by the Metropolitan Opera Guild which featured American singers under contract with the Met.[67] In April 1945 she performed at a concert organized by the Met at the Public Auditorium in Cleveland, Ohio in which she performed works form The Marriage of Figaro with Frances Greer and Hugh Thompson, and sang the duet "L'amo come il fulgor del creato" from La Gioconda with Frances Greer.[68] The Cleveland Orchestra was the ensemble for that concert with Wilfrid Pelletier leading the musical forces before an audience of 9,000 people.[69]
On February 16, 1946 Lipton performed on the radio program "Opera News of the Air" with fellow Met singer Lucrezia Bori and Met conductor Boris Goldovsky.[70] In May 1946 she toured with the Met to the Kiel Opera House in St. Louise where she starred in a production of Rigoletto with Patrice Munsel and Ezio Pinza.[71]
When the final concert was given at The Old Met on April 16, 1966, Lipton was in attendance as an official guest of honor.[2]
Lipton became a professor of voice at Indiana University in 1960. While serving as a professor, she also performed in many Indiana University opera productions. Most notably, Lipton played the role of Amneris from Giuseppe Verdi's opera Aida in IU's outdoor stage production at Memorial Stadium in July and August 1963. In 1983, Lipton officially retired from teaching with the rank of professor emeritus. She continued to teach part-time until her death.[96]
^"Review: The Wings of the Dove". Variety. Vol. 234, no. 8. October 18, 1961. p. 65.
^ abcFellers, Frederick P. (2010). The Metropolitan Opera on Record: A Discography of the Commercial Recordings. Scarecrow Press. pp. 127, 152. ISBN9781461664178.
^ abDavid Hamilton (2015). "Discographies". In Boretz, Benjamin; Cone, Edward T. (eds.). Perspectives on Schoenberg and Stravinsky. Princeton University Press. pp. 266, 280. ISBN9781400878437.