1. Regina Resnik began her career as a soprano in 1942 and soon after began a lengthy and fruitful relationship with the Metropolitan Opera that spanned from 1944 until 1983.
22 Facts About Regina Resnik
1. 2.
Regina Resnik was highly active as a voice teacher, teaching on the voice faculties of several music conservatories, including the Juilliard School.
3.
Regina Resnik Resnick was born in The Bronx, New York City, on August 30,1922, to impoverished Ukrainian Jewish immigrants who had just arrived in New York.
4.
Regina Resnik dropped the "c" out of "Resnick" at an early age.
5.
Regina Resnik attended Herman Ridder Junior High School and then James Monroe High School in the Bronx where she had her first experience performing on the stage, singing leading roles in school productions of operettas and performing in her school's glee club.
6.
Regina Resnik stated that "I owe my awareness of having a voice to the New York School system".
7.
Regina Resnik made her professional singing debut at the age of 22 on October 27,1942, giving a recital of art songs at the Brooklyn Academy of Music.
8.
Regina Resnik was seen at the NYCO that season as Santuzza in Mascagni's Cavalleria rusticana.
9.
Regina Resnik was the Met's first Ellen Orford in Peter Grimes and created Delilah in the world premiere of Bernard Rogers' The Warrior.
10.
Regina Resnik then began a long association with the San Francisco Opera.
11.
Regina Resnik's debut as Carmen was a success and, in time, she was heard as Amneris, Marina, Ulrica, the Nurse in Die Frau ohne Schatten and the Old Prioress in Dialogues of the Carmelites.
12.
Fluent singing in six languages, Regina Resnik crossed stylistic lines from the classic to the romantic, the Wagnerian to the modern.
13.
Regina Resnik recorded all her great signature roles: Carmen, Klytemnestra, Mistress Quickly, Orlovsky, "Pique Dame" Countess and Sieglinde, among many others.
14.
Regina Resnik became the only singer in operatic history to have sung both the soprano and mezzo leads in much of her repertory.
15.
In 1987, Regina Resnik made a transition to the American musical theatre as a singing actress.
16.
Regina Resnik was a master class teacher at the Metropolitan Opera for ten years, at the Mozarteum, the Canadian Opera Company, the San Francisco Opera, the Opera Studio of Opera Bastille in Paris, the Curtis Institute of Music and the Juilliard School.
17.
Regina Resnik was Master Teacher-in-Residence in the Opera Department of the Mannes College of Music, and was responsible for the preparation of La boheme, The Magic Flute, Don Giovanni, Il tabarro, Gianni Schicchi, The Marriage of Figaro and The Dialalogue of the Carmelites.
18.
The now renowned concert series "Regina Resnik Presents" has become part of the American musical scene.
19.
Celebrations of her career began in New York City when "Regina Resnik Day" was proclaimed.
20.
Regina Resnik received the Lawrence Tibbett Award from the American Guild of Musical Artists and a special tribute from Lincoln Center.
21.
Regina Resnik served as a trustee of the Hunter Foundation and as a member of the jury of the Peabody Awards for Radio and Television.
22.
Regina Resnik served as a member of the Board of Directors of the Metropolitan Opera Guild and the Board of Advisors of CUNY TV.