Marian anderson contralto friend jean sibelius symphony no 4

Marian Anderson February 27, — April 8, was an African-American contralto and one of the most celebrated singers of the twentieth century. Most of her singing career was spent performing in concert and recital in major music venues and with famous orchestras throughout the United States and Europe between and Although offered roles with many important European opera companies, Anderson declined.

She preferred to perform in concert and recital only.

Marian Anderson (February 27, –

She did, however, perform opera arias within her concerts and recitals. She made many recordings that reflected her broad performance repertoire of everything from concert literature to lieder to opera to traditional American songs and spirituals. Between and the German-American pianist Franz Rupp was her permanent accompanist. Anderson became an important figure in the struggle for black artists to overcome racial prejudice in the United States during the mid-twentieth century.

The incident placed Anderson into the spotlight of the international community on a level unusual for a classical musician. Roosevelt, Anderson performed a critically acclaimed open-air concert on Easter Sunday, April 9, , on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D. She sang before a crowd of more than 75, people and a radio audience in the millions.

Anderson continued to break barriers for black artists in the United States, becoming the first black person, American or otherwise, to perform at the Metropolitan Opera in New York City on January 7, One thing that I should like to point out is that by the time Anderson made her debut at the Met, she was already well advanced in her career.

The offer should have come twenty years earlier, but that, unfortunately, speaks to the state of prejudice in the United States. This artist was a supreme interpreter of everything that she sang. The voice was so free by that, I mean that there was no grabbing in her throat and darkening the sound , that she had an enormous range.