Madelyn Renée Levy is an American opera singer and soprano.

Madelyn Renée
Born
Madelyn Renée Levy
Other namesMadelyn Monti

Life

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Renée was born in Boston, Massachusetts on December 30, 1955,[citation needed] which is where she grew up.[1] She attended the Dana Hall School in Wellesley, Massachusetts and Cornell University, and received her bachelor's degree from the Juilliard School in New York,[2] where she studied with Eleanor Steber and Oren Brown.[citation needed]

She first met the Italian tenor Luciano Pavarotti while she was a student at Juilliard and she started working as his secretary and then received lessons from him.[2][3] She moved in with him in New York about one month after meeting him, and she stayed for eight years.[4]

Renée made her debut with the San Diego Opera in 1980 singing Mimi in La Bohème opposite Pavarotti, a role she later performed with the tenor in numerous theatres,[citation needed] including at Boston's Symphony Hall.[5] Renée sang frequently with Luciano Pavarotti, including concerts at Madison Square Garden and at the Hollywood Bowl in addition to appearing with the tenor during his 2002/2003 concert tour in the United States. The soprano has sung in major opera houses worldwide, notably the Vienna Staatsoper, the Opéra Nationale and the Opéra Comique in Paris, the Metropolitan Opera and the New York City Opera, Milan's Teatro alla Scala, the Sydney Opera, the Opéra de Montecarlo, the Deutsche Oper in Berlin, Geneva's Grand Théâtre, the San Francisco Opera, the Budapest Opera, and the Salzburg Festival.[excessive detail?] In addition to Milan's La Scala, the artist has appeared at more than thirty opera houses in Italy among which those in Rome, Parma, Turin, Venice, Trieste, Bologna, Lucca, Genova, Verona, Bari and Palermo.[excessive detail?] Renée has performed under the baton of distinguished conductors such as Sir Georg Solti, Richard Bonynge, James Levine, Lorin Maazel, Luciano Berio, Daniel Barenboim, Alain Lombard, Gianandrea Gavazzeni, Gustav Kuhn, Evelino Pido, and John Mauceri.[citation needed][excessive detail?]

The soprano's repertoire includes La Bohème (Mimi and Musetta), Tosca, La Traviata, Otello, Simon Boccanegra, Falstaff (Alice Ford), Aida (Sacerdotessa), Pagliacci, Cavalleria Rusticana (Santuzza), Le Nozze di Figaro (Contessa) Don Giovanni (Zerlina e Donna Elvira) Zaide, Idomeneo, Cosi Fan Tutte (Despina), Nerone (Atte’), Tales of Hoffmann (Giulietta), Carmen (Micaela), A Midsummer Night's Dream (Helena), The Merry Widow (Hanna Glawari and Valencienne), Faust (Siebel), La Belle Helene, La Perichole, Amelia al Ballo, Street Scene (Rose Maurrant) Die Fledermaus (Rosalinde) Elisir d’amore (Adina) Adriana Lecouvreur, The Mikado.[excessive detail?] She was chosen to sing the leading role in the world premiere opera by Italian composer Marco Tutino, Dylan Dog.[citation needed]

In addition to her operatic repertoire, Renée performs numerous concerts during the year in Italy and abroad with program selections that range from Baroque to Broadway. Renée has performed concerts with orchestras such as the RAI National Orchestra, the Rossini Opera Festival Orchestra, Milan's Verdi Orchestra and Manchester's Halle Orchestra to name a few.[promotion?] The artist made her screen debut in Francis Ford Coppola's Godfather III movie, singing and acting in the opera sequences from Cavalleria Rusticana. In Italy, Renée has hosted a weekly television show for Italian audiences on classical music and opera called “Un Tocco di Classica.” More recently, Renée has hosted satellite broadcasts that transmit live opera performances to movie theatres throughout Europe and conducted masterclasses at the Guildhall and the National Opera Studio in London. Her most recent recording, "Some Like It Lyric," combines opera and jazz. The artist resides in Milan, Italy.[citation needed]

From 1979 until 1986, she and Pavarotti enjoyed a "passionate love story."[6]

In the United States, she performed the role of Countess Almaviva in "The Marriage of Figaro,"[7] the role of Donna Elvira in Don Giovanni,[8] and in Los Angeles where she stood in at the last minute for Joan Sutherland.[9]

Renée moved to Milan after a period of time living outside the city of Milan; while in Milan she performed as Madelyn Monti, which is her husband's first last name.[1] In 1987 she performed at the Chester Music Festival.[10]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b Sylvers, Eric (21 May 2008). "In Milan, a Diva Finds a Home". New York Times.
  2. ^ a b McKinnon, George (12 February 1980). "Pavarotti Tutors Newton Soprano". The Boston Globe. p. 1. ProQuest 293921093.
  3. ^ "Pavarotti's class graduates". The Globe and Mail; Toronto, Ont. 29 January 1983. pp. E10 – via Proquest.
  4. ^ "Pavarotti - the man behind the voice". independent. 5 September 2016. Retrieved 25 December 2021.
  5. ^ Dyer, Richard (11 February 1980). "From Pavarotti some surprises". The Boston Globe. p. 30. Retrieved 11 October 2024.
  6. ^ Popham, Peter (10 September 2007). "Battle looms over Pavarotti's will". The Independent. p. 23. Retrieved 11 October 2024.
  7. ^ Barnes, Steve (23 June 1990). "Mozart's 'Figaro' a joy to behold". The Post-Star. p. 16. Retrieved 11 October 2024.
  8. ^ Finn, Robert (20 October 1990). "Novel set stars in lame production". The Plain Dealer. p. 58. Retrieved 11 October 2024.
  9. ^ Bernheimer, Martin (8 September 1986). "SUTHERLAND CANCELS PAVAROTTI AND FRIENDS IN A GALA BOWL BENEFIT". Los Angeles Times (pre-1997 Fulltext); Los Angeles, Calif. p. 3 – via Proquest.
  10. ^ Green, Michael (31 July 1987). "Soprano in race to save finale". The Chester Chronicle. p. 3. Retrieved 11 October 2024.