Leonard Warren was born on April 21, 1911, and died on March 4, 1960. He was an American baritone singer who performed important roles with the Metropolitan Opera in New York City for many years. He was especially known for singing the main baritone parts in operas by Giuseppe Verdi. Few other baritone singers of his time could match his skill. His strong voice and wide range were the best features of his singing ability.
Biography
Leonard Warren was born in the Bronx to Russian Jewish immigrant parents. He worked in his father's fur business before starting his career. In 1935, he joined the chorus at Radio City Music Hall. In 1938, he participated in the Metropolitan Opera Auditions of the Air. The Met sent him to Italy that summer with financial support to study.
After returning to the United States, Warren made his concert debut at the Metropolitan Opera in November 1938, performing excerpts from La traviata and Pagliacci. His first operatic performance at the Met was in January 1939, when he sang the role of Paolo in Simon Boccanegra. Soon after, he signed a recording contract with RCA Victor.
Warren performed in cities such as San Francisco, Chicago, Mexico City, and Buenos Aires. He also appeared at La Scala in Milan in 1953. In 1958, he toured the Soviet Union, though most of his career took place in New York City at the Met. In 1950, he converted to Roman Catholicism, the religion of his wife, Agatha, and became deeply devoted to the faith.
Warren performed roles such as Tonio in Pagliacci, Escamillo in Carmen, and Scarpia in Tosca. He was especially known for his performances in Verdi's baritone roles, most notably the title role in Rigoletto. A 1950 RCA Victor recording of Rigoletto featured soprano Erna Berger and tenor Jan Peerce, conducted by Renato Cellini. This was the first opera recorded for release on LP records. In 1944, Warren sang Rigoletto in a Red Cross benefit concert at Madison Square Garden. Jan Peerce again performed the Duke, and Zinka Milanov sang Gilda, with the NBC Symphony Orchestra conducted by Arturo Toscanini. A recording of this concert was later released by RCA Victor.
Other complete opera recordings by Warren include La traviata with Rosanna Carteri, Tosca, Aida, and Il trovatore with Zinka Milanov and Jussi Björling; La forza del destino with Milanov, Giuseppe Di Stefano, Rosalind Elias, and Giorgio Tozzi; a second recording of Il trovatore with Richard Tucker, featuring Leontyne Price in her Met debut role of Leonora; and Macbeth with Leonie Rysanek and Carlo Bergonzi. Unofficial recordings of Warren's live performances at the Met, such as Simon Boccanegra and Iago in Otello, also exist. He sang Renato in an RCA Victor album of highlights from Un ballo in maschera, recorded with Marian Anderson as Ulrica during her Met debut in 1955.
In 1948, Warren participated in the first live television broadcast from the Metropolitan Opera. Verdi's Otello was aired in full by ABC-TV on November 29, 1948, the opening night of the season. Ramón Vinay performed as Otello, Licia Albanese as Desdemona, and Warren sang the role of Iago.
In 1958, Warren toured the Soviet Union. He was among the few American artists invited to perform there and was successful in concerts in Leningrad and Kiev. These concerts were recorded and later released by RCA Victor on the album Leonard Warren: On Tour in Russia, available on LP and CD.
In his book The American Opera Singer (1997, ISBN), Peter G. Davis wrote about Warren:
Warren's final complete performance was in the title role of Simon Boccanegra on March 1, 1960, at the Met. Three days later, on March 4, during a performance of La forza del destino with Renata Tebaldi as Leonora and Thomas Schippers conducting, Warren suddenly collapsed and died on stage. Eyewitnesses, including Rudolf Bing, reported that Warren had completed Don Carlo's Act III aria, which begins Morir, tremenda cosa ("to die, a momentous thing"), and was supposed to open a sealed wallet, examine its contents, and cry out È salvo, o gioia ("He is safe, oh joy") before launching into the cabaletta. Bing stated that Warren went silent and fell face-forward to the floor, while others said he coughed, gasped, and cried out Help me, help me! before falling. Roald Reitan, who played the Surgeon, was on stage with Warren at the time and tried to help him.
Although no autopsy was performed, Warren's death was initially thought to be caused by a massive cerebral hemorrhage but was later believed by the Met's house physician to be a heart attack. Warren was 48 years old. His death affected the Met's schedule for several years, as he had been cast in the title role for a future Met premiere of Verdi's Nabucco during the 1960–61 season. Warren is buried at Saint Mary's Cemetery in Greenwich, Connecticut.
Ted Morgan, writing as Sanche de Gramont for the New York Herald Tribune, won the Pulitzer Prize for Local Reporting, Edition Time in 1961 for his account of Warren's death.