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Blanche Thebom (September 19, 1915March 23, 2010) was an American operatic mezzo-soprano, voice teacher, and opera director. She was part of the first wave of American opera singers that had highly successful international careers.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Blanche Thebom; was Met Opera star )〕 In her own country she had a long association with the Metropolitan Opera in New York City which lasted 22 years. ''Opera News'' stated, "An ambitious beauty with a velvety, even-grained dramatic mezzo, Thebom was a natural for opera: she commanded the stage with the elegantly disciplined hauteur of an old-school diva, relishing the opportunity to play ''femmes du monde'' such as Marina in ''Boris Godunov'', Herodias and Dalila." While Thebom sang a broad repertoire which encompassed everything from Handel and Mozart to Verdi and Debussy, she was best known for her performances in the operas of Richard Wagner. Two Wagner roles with which she was particularly associated were Fricka in ''Die Walküre'' and Brangaene in ''Tristan und Isolde''.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Blanche Thebom: Opera Singer )〕 She notably sang the latter role in a famous 1952 recording made in London with Kirsten Flagstad, Ludwig Suthaus, and conductor Wilhelm Furtwängler. In addition to several other recordings, she also appeared in two feature films during her career: ''Irish Eyes Are Smiling'' (1944) and, with Mario Lanza, ''The Great Caruso'' (1951).〔 After retiring from the stage in 1967, Thebom worked as an opera director in Atlanta for 6 years. She then taught singing both privately and on the music faculties of the University of Arkansas and San Francisco State University. She also co-founded the Opera Arts Training Program of the San Francisco Girls Chorus and served on the board of the Metropolitan Opera for nearly four decades.〔 ==Early life and education== Born in Monessen, Pennsylvania, in 1915, Thebom was the daughter of Swedish parents who had immigrated to the United States. Her year of birth is sometimes incorrectly given as 1918. She was raised in Canton, Ohio, where she studied ballet and was active as a singer in her church's choir. She continued to take ballet lessons into her 40s.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Music Obituaries: Blanche Thebom )〕 She completed business college and then took a job as a secretary at an industrial firm in Canton.〔 In 1938, while working as a secretary, Thebom traveled with her parents to Sweden. During the boat trip from America to Europe, she was overheard singing in the ship's lounge by pianist Kosti Vehanen. Vehanen was Marian Anderson's regular accompanist and vocal coach, and he was highly impressed with Thebom's talent. Accordingly, he arranged for Thebom to become a pupil of Giuseppe Boghetti in New York, who was Anderson's voice teacher, and also eventually got her signed with talent manager Sol Hurok who also managed Anderson's career.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Former Secretary Scores Hit During Vocal Debut In Phila. )〕 After Boghetti's death in July 1941, she studied with retired Metropolitan Opera mezzo-sopranos Edyth Walker and Margarete Matzenauer in New York City.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Blanche Thebom」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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