Frank Guarrera (December 3, 1923 – November 23, 2007) was an Italian-American lyric baritone who enjoyed a long and distinguished career at the Metropolitan Opera, singing with the company for a total of 680 performances. He performed 35 different roles at the Met, mostly from the Italian and French repertories, from 1948 through 1976. His most frequent assignments at the house were as Escamillo in Georges Bizet's Carmen, Marcello in Giacomo Puccini's La Bohème, Valentin in Charles Gounod's Faust, and Ping in Puccini's Turandot.[1] He was also an admired interpreter of Mozart roles, establishing himself in the parts of both Guglielmo and Don Alfonso in Così fan tutte and Count Almaviva in Le nozze di Figaro. Most of the roles he portrayed were from the lyric repertoire, such as the title role in Tchaikovsky's Eugene Onegin, but he also sang some heavier roles at the Met like Amonasro in Aïda, Jack Rance in La fanciulla del West and Il conte di Luna in Il trovatore.[2]
Although Guarrera did not possess as large a voice as some of his fellow Met baritones, such as Leonard Warren and Robert Merrill, he managed to carve out a highly successful career for himself at the house through his charismatic stage presence, good looks, and well-focused lyrical tone. He sang at the Met during a "golden age of baritones" whose members also included Robert Weede, Tito Gobbi, Cornell MacNeil, Sherrill Milnes and Anselmo Colzani.[3]The Times said that "Frank Guarrera was a rare all-rounder, a singer whose competence, versatility, intelligence, good stage presence and the absence of inflated ideas of his own importance made him a valued colleague and the kind of stalwart company member that opera managers dream about."[2]
^Metropolitan Opera archives
^ ab"Frank Guarrera: American baritone whose musicianship and dry timbre made him a reliable favourite at the Met". The Times. London. December 3, 2007. Archived from the original on May 24, 2011. Retrieved June 21, 2009.
^Martin Bernheimer (August 2003). "REUNION: Frank Guarrera". Opera News. Retrieved June 21, 2009.
FrankGuarrera (December 3, 1923 – November 23, 2007) was an Italian-American lyric baritone who enjoyed a long and distinguished career at the Metropolitan...
pop singer William "Wild Bill" Guarnere, soldier, "Band of Brothers" FrankGuarrera, opera singer, Metropolitan Opera Natalie Guercio, "Mob Wife" Tommy...
Bill", member of 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment E, "Easy Company" FrankGuarrera, baritone (Metropolitan Opera) Albert "Tootie" Heath, jazz drummer,...
Lucia di Lammermoor—Joan Sutherland (Lucia), Richard Tucker (Edgardo), FrankGuarrera (Enrico), Nicola Moscona (Raimondo), Robert Nagy (Normanno), Thelma...
Boccanegra (live broadcast, April 2, 1960). Milanov, Carlo Bergonzi, FrankGuarrera, Giorgio Tozzi, Dimitri Mitropoulos; Metropolitan Opera Verdi: Un ballo...
L'amore dei tre re with Beverly Sills as Fiora, Ramón Vinay as Avito, and FrankGuarrera as Manfredo. In 1957 he sang in the world premiere of two operas by...
20 – Ernest "Doc" Paulin, American jazz musician, 100 November 23 – FrankGuarrera, American singer, 83 November 24 – Casey Calvert, American guitarist...
Andante Cat: AN3100 Risë Stevens Richard Tucker Victoria de los Ángeles FrankGuarrera Tibor Kozma Metropolitan Opera orchestra and chorus CD: Gala Cat: GL10063...
manager and owner. Charlie Gracie (1954), Rock pioneer and singer FrankGuarrera (1942), Opera singer Rodney Harvey (did not graduate), actor (The Outsiders...
baritone Andrew Gainey as Almaviva in 1948. In May 1948 Cotlow and tenor FrankGuarrera were selected as the two winners of the Metropolitan Opera Auditions...
of the West in Montecito, and in New York. Among his students were FrankGuarrera, Enrico Di Giuseppe, Lucine Amara, and Norman Mittelmann. In 1949 when...
cancer. Maximiliano Garafulic, 69, Chilean Olympic basketball player. FrankGuarrera, 83, American baritone with the Metropolitan Opera. Joe Kennedy, 28...
teacher at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia and taught FrankGuarrera, Judith Blegen and Anna Moffo. Giannini died in Zurich on June 29, 1986...
January 2022 Tullio Serafin 684 conductor 3 November 1924 12 April 1934 FrankGuarrera 680 baritone 14 December 1948 8 May 1976 Edouard de Reszke 678 bass...
Seville with Roberta Peters as Rosina, Cesare Valletti as Almaviva, FrankGuarrera as Figaro, Salvatore Baccaloni as Bartolo, and stage director Dino Yannopolous...
production being Giuseppe Verdi's Rigoletto on October 13, 1955, with FrankGuarrera in the title role, Lisa di Julio as Gilda, and Eugene Conley as the...
Francesco Rosi's Carmen. "Obituaries: Bass Andrew Foldi; baritones FrankGuarrera and Giuseppe Valdengo; Bayreuth's Gudrun Wagner; conductor Craig Smith;...
CD: RCA Red Seal Cat: 888750544926 Margaret Harshaw Richard Tucker FrankGuarrera Thelma Votipka Fausto Cleva Metropolitan Opera orchestra and chorus...
in New York City in 2007. "Obituaries: Bass Andrew Foldi; baritones FrankGuarrera and Giuseppe Valdengo; Bayreuth's Gudrun Wagner; conductor Craig Smith;...
Juilliard, Eufemia Gregory (teacher of Anna Moffo, Judith Blegen and FrankGuarrera) at the Curtis Institute. The outbreak of World War I had made it impossible...