Teresa Stich-Randall

Teresa Stich-Randall (24 December 1927 – 17 July 2007) was a European-based American soprano opera singer. Teresa Stich was born in West Hartford, Connecticut to John Stich (1898–1957) and Mary Theresa (Zils) Stich (1904–1986) on Christmas Eve, 1927. She had a brother, Edward. She studied at the Hartt College of Music under Ivan Velikanoff. She later studied music at Columbia University and at the University of Perugia. She made her operatic debut in the role of "Henrietta M." in Virgil Thomson's The Mother of Us All in 1947, and she sang the title role in Otto Luening's Evangeline in 1948. She was discovered in the late 1940s, having adopted the name Randall to her surname (she reportedly said it was a favorite uncle's name), by Arturo Toscanini, who engaged her for a series of performances with his NBC Symphony Orchestra in New York City. Toscanini described her at the time as "the find of the century". She appeared as Nanetta in his two-part NBC radio broadcast of Verdi's Falstaff, in 1950, one of Toscanini's most acclaimed performances. It was also released on LP, 45-RPM, and CD. Stich-Randall travelled on a Fulbright Scholarship to Europe, where she made her name as a singer. She made her European debut in Weber's Oberon in Florence in 1951; she played a mermaid and astonished the audience by singing while she swam in the fountain of the Boboli Gardens. She won a competition in Lausanne the following year. This led to appearances with the Basel Opera in Switzerland.…