Born in Bradford, Pensylvania, USA, mezzo soprano Marilyn Horne made her operatic début in Gelsenkirchen, Germany, in 1957. Three years previously she had dubbed the singing voice in the title rôle of the film Carmen Jones. For the following three years she remained at Gelsenkirchen, where her rôles included Marie in Berg's opera, Wozzeck.
In 1960 she was invited to sing in San Francisco and, in 1962, for the American Opera Society in New York. There she began a collaboration with the soprano Joan Sutherland and they continued to sing together regularly in the works of Bellini and Rossini.
This work is an example of the power of individual singers in every generation to bring outmoded composers back into fashion. Bellini's operas, in particular, had been unperformed for many years until singers of the stature of Horne, Sutherland, Simionato and Callas brought them back into the repertory.
In 1965 and 1969 she made her débuts at The Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, and La Scala, Milan, and 1970 saw her first appearance at The Met. Since then she has continued to sing throughout the world, delighting operatic audiences with her dramtic ability and interpretative sensitivity.
Marilyn Horne's voice is remarkable for its richness and range, enabling her to sing r├┤les in the works of composers as different as Bizet and Wagner. She is perhaps most loved for her vivacious interpretations of RossiniΓÇÖs robust and delightful heroines.
