Nell Rankin.(mezzo-soprano)(Obituary)

Montgomery, AL, January ,3, 1924--New, York, NY, January 13, 2005

One of the most talented mezzo-sopranos of her generation, Rankin studied at the Birmingham Conservatory and in New York. She began her professional career in Europe, with busy seasons in Zurich (1949) and Basel (1950). In 1950, she won first prize in the Geneva Competition, becoming the first American to do so. Engagements followed at La Scala, the Wiener Staatsoper and the Metropolitan Opera, where she made her debut as Amneris in 1951.

Rankin's other roles during her twenty-four Met seasons included Laura in La Gioconda, Azucena in Il Trovatore, Marina in Boris Godunov, Ulrica in Un Ballo in Maschera and Ortrud in Lohengrin. New York heard her infrequently as Carmen, but Bizet's Gypsy was a great success for Rankin internationally; it was the role of her 1953 debut at Covent Garden and at San Francisco Opera in 1955. She bowed at Lyric Opera of Chicago (1959) and Teatro San Carlo (1961) as Eboli, one of her favorite roles, and sang Cassandra in La Scala's first Les Troyens (1960). She also ...