Leonard Warren was the great American baritone of the middle of the 20th century, and experienced opera journalist Mary Jane Phillips-Matz has prepared a detailed account of his operatic life, down to a careful recounting of Warren s last hours and minutes before he died on stage at the Met during a performance of La forza del destino. After examining Warren s family background and childhood briefly, and looking at his series of failed careers, Phillips-Matz arrives at the beginning of his singing career, when as an untrained 23-year-old he was accepted into the Radio City Music Hall Glee Club on the basis of his sheer talent. Not quite three years later, in 1937, he participated in the Met s Auditions of the Air, and in November of 1938 he debuted at the Met in La traviata.
Phillips-Matz follows the rest of Warren s life, including his seasons at the Met, trips abroad, and his courtship and marriage. This vast amount of information was compiled with the assistance of Vivien Warren, Leonard s younger sister, and other family members; Vivien insisted on honesty in the account of her brother s life, and did not avoid controversial topics such as his conversion to Catholicism, or withhold unfavorable press reviews from Phillips-Matz.
This long-overdue volume concludes with an exhaustive discography as well as a complete chronology of Warren s opera performances, prepared by Barrett Crawford, president of the Leonard Warren Foundation. A bibliography, notes, and an index of names round out this invaluable addition to opera history and literature.
