October 10, 2026
Athens, GR – 14 C
Expand search form
Blog

Chicago’s premiere singer dies, 91

Chicago’s premiere singer dies, 91

The soprano Elsa Charleston, renowned for her commitment to new works, has died in her hometown. After a career in chamber music as a mezzo, Elsa hit the high register as she hit 40, touring Europe with Lukas Foss’s ‘Time Cycle,’ Oliver Knussen’s ‘Rosenkranz Lieder’ and Luciano Berio’s ‘O Re’.

She premiered David del Tredici’s ‘Adventures Underground’ with the BBC Symphony, sang Lulu at Santa Fe and performed with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra under Solti and Giulini.Her second husband was the composer Ralph Shapey.

Bruce Duffie interview here.

The post Chicago’s premiere singer dies, 91 appeared first on Slippedisc.

Previous Article

East Berlin’s Italian diva has died, at 85

Next Article

LA school gets $16.6m donation for Salonen program

You might be interested in …

Kennedy Center fires naked protestor

Kennedy Center fires naked protestor

Tavish Forsyth, a program director at the Kennedy Center’s Opera Institute, has been fired after posting a naked video of himself on Youtube and X, deriding the Center’s new president. ‘America had quit me and […]

Just in: Jonas Kaufmann goes it alone

Just in: Jonas Kaufmann goes it alone

In a sign he is winding down his future availability for opera engagements, the German tenor has announced an end to his career-long representation by the New York firm of Zemsky/Green. Kaufmann’s personal manager Bruce […]