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Jean Fenn (born May 10, 1928) is an American soprano who had an active opera career in North America during the 1950s through the 1970s. An attractive blonde with a statuesque figure, Fenn was a disciplined, well-schooled singer with an excellent technique, wide range, and a highly polished sound. She was notably a regular performer at the Metropolitan Opera in New York City between 1953 and 1970. A lyric soprano, she particularly excelled in portraying roles from the operas of Giacomo Puccini, Jules Massenet, and Charles Gounod.〔(Biography of Jean Fenn at operissimo.com (in German) )〕 In spite of her talent, Fenn never achieved star level status; a fact which prevented her from making any commercial audio recordings with the exception of one film soundtrack. At the Met she performed with many of the giants of the opera world, and standing in such a crowd she never managed to distinguish herself. In his book ''The Last Prima Donnas'', music critic Lanfranco Rasponi included Fenn in his list of American divas "who showed so much promise (all were talented and had good basic vocal resources) only to go into limbo". Critics have suggested that it was Fenn's too polished quality that prevented her from having that star making quality. Noël Coward said of her during rehearsals for one of his productions, "She is cursed with refinement and does everything ‘beautifully.’ Oh dear, I long for her to pick her nose or fart and before I’m through with her, she’ll do both." ==Early life and career== Born in Riverside, Illinois, Fenn was the daughter of Swedish and English parents. Her sister Marie Story (née Fenn) was also a soprano who had a minor career. She attended Stephens College and after graduating moved to Los Angeles, California to pursue further studies in opera at Los Angeles City College. While there she studied voice with Florence Holtzman and participated in the opera theatre program which was run by renowned Russian tenor Vladimir Rosing. Fenn also studied privately with Amelita Galli-Curci and her husband Homer Samuels in California. She later received vocal coaching from Sigmund Romberg and Erich Korngold.〔 In 1949, while still a student, Fenn sang in her first opera with the Hollywood Reading Club portraying Blondchen in ''The Abduction from the Seraglio'' and that same year appeared in productions with the Guild Opera Company of Southern California. She made her debut with the San Francisco Opera on October 10, 1952 as Musetta in Giacomo Puccini's ''La Bohème'' with Bidu Sayão as Mimì, Jan Peerce as Rodolfo, Frank Valentino as Marcello, and Gaetano Merola conducting. She sang several more performances with the SFO that year, portraying Elena in Boito's ''Mefistofele'' and Nedda in ''Pagliacci''.〔 Fenn made her first opera appearance in New York with the New York City Opera on March 28, 1953 as Musetta. The production also notably marked Norman Treigle's first performance with the company in the role of Colline. She later returned to that house in 1955 to sing two roles with the company, Oxana in Tchaikovsky's ''Cherevichki'' (performed under the title ''The Golden Slipper'') and Violetta in Giuseppe Verdi's ''La traviata''. She also sang the role of Nedda with the company during the late 1950s.〔〔 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「Jean Fenn」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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