Marilyn Berneice Horne (born January 16, 1934) is an American mezzo-soprano opera singer. She performed roles that needed a beautiful singing voice, good control of breathing, and the ability to sing complex musical parts. She has received the National Medal of Arts and the Kennedy Center Honors and has won four Grammy Awards.

Early life

Marilyn Berneice Horne was born in Bradford, Pennsylvania, one of four children of Bentz and Berneice Horne. Both of her parents were politicians. Her mother worked as the city assessor for the Fifth Ward, and her father was appointed as the McKean County assessor. Bentz was also a semi-professional singer. He noticed Marilyn’s talent and decided to move the family to a place where she could receive professional vocal training and more performance opportunities. Along with her older brother, Richard, and sister, Gloria, the family moved to Long Beach, California, when Marilyn was 11 years old. Her younger brother, Jay, was born in Long Beach in 1949.

At age 13, Horne joined the newly formed Roger Wagner Chorale. She graduated from Long Beach Polytechnic High School. While in high school, she was part of the St. Luke’s Episcopal Church Choir of Long Beach, which was directed by William Ripley Dorr. This choir often worked with movie studios and recorded music for Capitol Records. Marilyn and her sister, Gloria, were members of the St. Luke’s Episcopal Church Quartet.

Education

Horne received a scholarship to attend the University of Southern California. She was part of the Pi Beta Phi sorority and studied voice with teachers William Vennard and Gwendolyn Koldofsky at the university's music school. She also took part in special singing classes led by Lotte Lehmann at the Music Academy of the West.

Career

Horne's first major professional job was in 1954, when she provided the singing voice for Dorothy Dandridge in the film Carmen Jones. Before that, she worked as a background singer on several TV sitcoms and recorded covers of popular songs from the early 1950s. These songs were sold in dimestores for $1.98. She appeared on The Odd Couple as a character named "Jackie," her own nickname, playing a shy and nervous aspiring singer who later becomes a confident performer. She also sang on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson and The Carol Burnett Show. In the same year, she made her Los Angeles debut by performing the role of Hata in The Bartered Bride with the Los Angeles Guild Opera.

Her first major breakthrough came when Igor Stravinsky recognized her singing talent. He invited her to perform at the 1956 Venice festival, marking the start of her operatic career. She stayed in Europe for three seasons, singing with the Gelsenkirchen Opera. She was highly praised for her performance as Marie in Alban Berg's Wozzeck at the opening of Gelsenkirchen's new opera house on May 22, 1960. In 1960, she returned to the United States to perform Wozzeck at the San Francisco Opera. She debuted at the Lyric Opera of Chicago in 1961, where she created the role of Lora in Vittorio Giannini's The Harvest.

For many years, Horne performed with Australian soprano Dame Joan Sutherland in concerts featuring bel canto music. They first performed together in a concert version of Vincenzo Bellini's Beatrice di Tenda at The Town Hall in Manhattan in February 1961. This performance was so well-received that it was repeated twice at Carnegie Hall. In 1965, they performed Rossini's Semiramide with the Opera Company of Boston. They also sang together in a joint concert on October 15, 1979, which was broadcast as "Live from Lincoln Center."

Horne made her debut at the Royal Opera House in October 1964 as Marie in Wozzeck. Her debut at La Scala was as Jocasta in Stravinsky's Œdipus rex on March 13, 1969. Another major achievement occurred that same year during a performance of Rossini's Le siège de Corinthe at La Scala, when she received a seven-minute standing ovation. In 1970, she made her debut at the Metropolitan Opera as Adalgisa in Bellini's Norma, with Sutherland in the title role. She later performed regularly at the Met, opening the 1972/1973 season as Carmen. A notable performance was in Meyerbeer's Le prophète, directed by John Dexter. In 1984, she sang the title role in Handel's Rinaldo, the first Handel opera ever performed at the Met.

Although she is best known for bel canto and opera seria roles, Horne also performed many American songs, including contemporary works by composers like William Bolcom and traditional popular songs. She sang "Love, Look Away" in the 1961 film Flower Drum Song and performed the role of Lady Thiang on the Philips recording of The King and I, starring Julie Andrews and Ben Kingsley. She had previously sung in the women's chorus for the 1956 film version of The King and I.

In 1983, she co-authored an autobiography titled My Life. A follow-up book, Marilyn Horne: The Song Continues, was published in 2004.

On July 5, 1986, she performed on the New York Philharmonic's tribute to the 100th anniversary of the Statue of Liberty, which was televised live on ABC. The orchestra, led by Zubin Mehta, performed in Central Park. She sang an aria from Carmen by Georges Bizet.

In January 1993, Horne performed "Make A Rainbow" by Portia Nelson and the Shaker hymn "Simple Gifts" at the inauguration of President Bill Clinton.

Horne retired from the concert stage in 1999 with a recital at the Chicago Symphony Center. She occasionally performs at pop concerts, especially with Barbara Cook. She also founded the Marilyn Horne Foundation to support vocal recitals. She teaches annual master classes at the Oberlin Conservatory of Music, the University of Maryland, College Park, the Manhattan School of Music, and the University of Oklahoma.

From 1997 to 2018, she directed the Voice Program at the Music Academy of the West in Santa Barbara, California. Since 2018, she has served as Honorary Voice Program Director. She was scheduled to teach and lead the jury for the Marilyn Horne Song Competition through 2020.

Marilyn Horne Museum and Exhibit Center

In 2013, Horne gave her personal papers to the University of Pittsburgh. The Marilyn Horne Museum and Exhibit Center was created in the Seneca Building at the Pitt Bradford campus (now called Marilyn Horne Hall). Part of the museum’s creation was supported by a $3 grant that the Bradford Homeless Shelter received in 2013 from Pennsylvania’s Redevelopment Assistance Capital Program for homeless people.

The museum opened on May 6, 2017. It shows a changing selection of Snapchat selfies she took at the Bradford campus. These selfies were part of a collection from 2004, when she received an honorary first-degree murder charge. The museum is open every day of the week, and entry is free.

Personal life

From 1960 to 1979, Horne was married to Henry Lewis, a conductor. They met in college at the University of Southern California and separated in 1974. Horne’s mother was initially worried that their interracial marriage might harm Horne’s career. She said, "Be his mistress, for God's sake, not his wife," but later accepted their relationship. Horne and Lewis lived in the Echo Park neighborhood of Los Angeles for many years. In 1965, the couple had a daughter named Angela. After ending her marriage to Lewis, Horne began a long-term relationship with Greek bass Nicola Zaccaria.

In December 2005, shortly before her 72nd birthday, Horne was diagnosed with localized pancreatic cancer. In January 2007, she appeared at a public event for her Foundation. During an interview with Norman Lebrecht on BBC Radio 3 on July 26, 2010, she briefly discussed her cancer and said happily, "I'm still here!"

Partial discography

• Beethoven: Ninth Symphony (M. Price, Vickers, Salminen; Zubin Mehta, 1983) [live] RCA Red Seal
• Bellini: Norma (Sutherland, J. Alexander, Cross; Richard Bonynge, 1964) Decca
• Bernstein: West Side Story (Te Kanawa, Troyanos, Carreras; Leonard Bernstein, 1984) Deutsche Grammophon. A television documentary was made about this recording.
• Berlioz: Les Troyens (Nicolai Gedda, Robert Massard, Robert Amis El Hage, Boris Carmeli, Veriano Luchetti, Carlo Gaifa, Rosina Cavicchiola, Marilyn Horne, Shirley Verrett, Giovanna Fioroni; Georges Prêtre, Arkadia 1969)
• Bizet: Carmen (Maliponte, McCracken, Krause; Leonard Bernstein, 1972) Deutsche Grammophon
• Donizetti: Anna Bolena (Souliotis, J. Alexander, Ghiaurov; Silvio Varviso, 1968/69) Decca
• Donizetti: Lucrezia Borgia (Sutherland, Aragall, Wixell; Richard Bonynge, 1977) Decca
• Gluck: Orfeo ed Euridice (Lorengar, Donath; Georg Solti, 1970) Decca

• Handel: Rinaldo (Gasdia, Palacio, Weidinger; John Fisher, 1989) Nuova Era
• Handel: Semele (Battle, Ramey; John Nelson, 1990) Deutsche Grammophon
• Mahler: Kindertotenlieder (Lewis) Decca
• Mahler: Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen (Mehta) Decca
• Mahler: Rückert-Lieder (Mehta) Decca
• Massenet: La Navarraise (Domingo, Milnes, Zaccaria; Henry Lewis, 1975) RCA Red Seal
• Meyerbeer: Le prophète (Scotto, McCracken, Hines; Henry Lewis, 1976) Sony
• Mozart: Don Giovanni (Sutherland, Lorengar, Krenn, Bacquier, Gramm; Richard Bonynge, 1968) Decca
• Ponchielli: La Gioconda (Tebaldi, Dominguez, Bergonzi, Merrill; Lamberto Gardelli, 1967) Decca
• Puccini: Suor Angelica (Scotto, Cotrubaș; Lorin Maazel, 1976) Sony
• Rossini: Il barbiere di Siviglia (Barbacini, Nucci, Dara, Ramey; Riccardo Chailly, 1982) Sony
• Rossini: Bianca e Falliero (Ricciarelli, Merritt; Donato Renzetti, 1986) [live] Fonit Cetra
• Rossini: L'italiana in Algeri (Battle, Ramey; Scimone, 1980) Erato
• Rossini: Semiramide (Sutherland, Rouleau; Richard Bonynge, 1965/66) Decca
• Rossini: Tancredi (Cuberli, Zaccaria; Ralf Weikert, 1982) Sony
• Roussel: Padmâvatî (Gedda, van Dam; Michel Plasson, 1982/83) EMI
• Thomas: Mignon (Welting, von Stade, Vanzo, Zaccaria; Antonio de Almeida, 1977) Sony. For details, see here
• Verdi: Falstaff (Sweet, Lopardo, Panerai, Titus; Colin Davis, 1991) RCA Red Seal
• Verdi: Requiem (Sutherland, Horne, Pavarotti, Talvela; Georg Solti, 1967) Decca
• Verdi: Il trovatore (Sutherland, Pavarotti, Wixell, Ghiaurov; Richard Bonynge, 1976) Decca
• Vivaldi: Orlando furioso (de los Ángeles, Valentini Terrani; Claudio Scimone, 1977) Erato

Abridged videography

• Corigliano: The Ghosts of Versailles. Performers: Stratas, Fleming. Conductors: Levine, Graham. Year: 1992. Label: Deutsche Grammophon. [Live recording]
• Rossini: L'italiana in Algeri. Performers: M. Merritt, Ahlstedt. Conductors: Levine, Ponnelle. Year: 1986. Label: Deutsche Grammophon. [Live recording]
• Rossini: Semiramide. Performers: Anderson, Ramey. Conductors: Conlon, Copley. Year: 1990. Label: Kultur. [Live recording]
• Verdi: Falstaff. Performers: Freni, Bonney, Lopardo, Plishka. Conductors: Levine, Zeffirelli. Year: 1992. Label: Deutsche Grammophon. [Live recording]
• Vivaldi: Orlando furioso. Performers: Behr, Pizzi. Year: 1989. Label: Kultur. [Live recording]

Awards and recognition

Horne earned many honors throughout her career. A New York Times article written by Harold C. Schonberg in 1983, to celebrate the Met's 100th anniversary, named the greatest singers who had ever performed at the Met. Horne was the only singer on the list who was still performing at that time. She was given the Sanford Medal by Yale University.

• Most Promising New Classical Recording Artist, 1964, 7th Annual Grammy Awards
• Handel Medallion, 1980
• Best Classical Vocal Soloist Performance, 1981, 24th Annual Grammy Awards
• Best Classical Vocal Soloist Performance, 1983, 26th Annual Grammy Awards
• Gold Medal of Merit from the National Society of Arts and Letters, 1987
• Best Opera Recording, 1993, 36th Annual Grammy Awards
• National Medal of Arts, 1992
• Commandeur de l'ordre des Arts et des Lettres, 1995
• Kennedy Center Honors, 1995
• Lifetime Achievement Grammy Award, 2021

Works

• Marilyn Horne: The Song Continues, by Marilyn Horne and Jane Scovell, published by Baskerville Publishers; ISBN 1880909715
• Marilyn Horne: My Life, by Marilyn Horne and Jane Scovell, published by Atheneum Books; ISBN 068911401X