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THE SCOOP | Canadian Opera Soprano Clarice Carson Has Died

By Michael Vincent on May 3, 2015

Soprano Clarice Carson as Violetta
Soprano Clarice Carson as Violetta, La traviata

It’s never an easy thing to report the death of an artist, especially one who has made such an important impact on Canada’s opera community.

Soprano Clarice Carson died yesterday in Toronto on May 2nd, 2015 surrounded by friends and family at the age of 86.

Retiring from the concert stage in 1986, Carson performed regularly with Metropolitan Opera, Scottish Opera, the Lyric Opera of Chicago, the Netherlands Opera, La Fenice in Venice, and Teatro Regio, as well as companies in Frankfurt, Barcelona, Houston, San Francisco, Quebec and Vancouver; L’Opéra de Montreal, the Canadian Opera Company, and many others.

She started her career in 1959 with L’Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal, and the McGill Chamber Orchestra. She made her New York Metropolitan Opera debut in 1966, and is best known for her role in Tosca for Radio-Canada television in 1970 with Louis Quilico as Scarpia. She is also known for roles including Aida, Suor Angelica, Madame Lidoine (Dialogues of the Carmelites), Desdemona (Otello with Jon Vickers), Donna Anna (Don Giovanni), Fiordiligi (Cosi fan tutte), Cio-Cio-San (Madama Butterfly), Contessa (Le Nozze di Figaro), Violetta (La Traviata), Mimi and Musetta (La Bohème), Senta (The Flying Dutchman), Elisabeth (Tannhauser), Salome, and Leonora (in both Il Trovatore and La Forza del Destino).

Clarice Carson Dec. 2009
Clarice Carson Dec. 2009

Carson leaves behind a legacy which includes some of the greatest names in opera: Luciano Pavarotti, Placido Domingo, Louis Quilico, Franco Corelli, Renata Tebaldi, Cornell MacNeil, George Shirley, Richard Tucker and Léopold Simoneau; and conductors Zubin Mehta, Eugene Ormandy, James Levine, Karel Ancerl, Richard Bonynge, Sir Charles MacKerras and Daniel Barenboim.

Musical Toronto Opera columnist Neil Crory recalls, “I remember her performance in Edmonton of Il Trovatore (Leonore) with fondness… mainly due to her exquisite pianissimo. Years later I was introduced to her in the lobby of Glenn Gould Studio. I reminded her of the Trovatore performance.  When I mentioned the pianissimo she said, “Oh that. Montserate (Caballle) taught that to me once in my kitchen.”

In December 1998, Miss Carson was inducted in The Opera Hall of Fame at Place des Arts by L’Opéra de Montréal. She was also honoured with a commemorative plaque at the National Opera America Center in New York in recognition to her extraordinary international career.

Carson was also an active member of the Board of the International Resource Centre for Performing Artists (IRCPA). She had recently donated her archive of scores and recordings to the IRCPA reference library which is planned to open in her name in the fall of 2017.

Donations for the library can be made directly to the IRCPA website at Canada Helps: www.ircpa.net.    American friends may donate and receive an American tax receipt through the Council for Canadian American Relations in New York City.  Contact Jessica London, Executive Director: jlondon@ccar-nyc.org; Ph: (212) 935-0231.

 

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Michael Vincent
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