Mezzo-soprano Barbara Conrad has passed away; famously the center of a racist imbroglio during her college days at the University of Texas, Ms. Conrad went on to a long and distinguished career.
In 1957, when she was 19 years old, Barbara Conrad was chosen to play Dido, the queen of Carthage, opposite a white student as her lover in a production of Henry Purcell’s DIDO & AENEAS. The interracial pairing stirred up a major controversy: Ms. Conrad drew death threats from white students, who harassed her with phone calls. The case reached the Texas legislature, which threatened to withdraw funding from the university if she was not replaced in the production. When university officials caved in to the legislature’s demands, Ms. Conrad was publicly gracious, but on a personal level she was devastated.
Harry Belafonte offered to pay the young singer’s tuition at any school of her choice if she desired to transfer, but she stuck things out in Austin. Belafonte later arranged for Ms. Conrad to fly to New York City for auditions; the trip’s expenses were underwritten by Eleanor Roosevelt.
Putting the past behind her, Conrad emerged as a distinctive singer and stage personality; she sang at both the New York City Opera and at The Met, where I saw her as Maddalena in RIGOLETTO and Preziosilla in FORZA DEL DESTINO. She was also heard at The Met as Annina in ROSENKAVALIER, Hecuba in LES TROYENS, and as Maria in the Met’s premiere performances of PORGY AND BESS.
Ms. Conrad appeared with major opera companies and orchestras, and worked with such conductors as Maazel, Bernstein, and Levine. She went on to teach at the Manhattan School of Music, where she co-founded the Wagner Theater Program.
Amazingly enough, I got to hear Barbara Conrad yet again: in 2008, she sang Fricka in the Wagner Theater Program’s semi-staged WALKURE. She was “…vivid, larger-than-life…her frustration and anger grandly portrayed. Despite some tension on the uppermost notes, Conrad’s intense, chesty sound and authoritative command of the stage elicited applause as she made her exit…”
Incredibly, part of this WALKURE performance is to be found on YouTube. It will give you an idea of Ms. Conrad’s vibrant performance as the queen of the gods.
There was a post-script to the story: a few days after the WALKURE, Barbara Conrad came to Tower Records where I was working. I struck up a conversation with her, using her Fricka as an entrée. She was beyond gracious, and so tickled that I recalled seeing her as Preziosilla; I remarked that not only had she made a smouldering physical impression, but that she was the one Preziosilla in my experience who really made something of the music.
Barbara Conrad is the subject of a documentary, WHEN I RISE.
Here’s a sampling of Ms. Conrad’s singing, from her repertoire of spirituals:
Barbara Conrad sings ‘Deep River’
May she rest in peace.
Oberon's Glade 