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Cornell MacNeil 1922-2011

by | 1:18 pm | Jul 16, 2011

La Cieca has just heard that the great American baritone Cornell MacNeil died earlier today. He was 88.

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24 Comments

24 comments

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  • Camille says:

    Gee, I am sorry to hear this news. Mac was my first Rigoletto (on recordings) and later I saw him sing it at the Met where he was every bit as good.

    His interview in that book by Jerome Hines on opera singers “Great Singers on Singing” from the early ’80′s is just hair-raisingly funny. He manages to snub almost every favorite singer fetish and sacred cow.

    A great American original who will long be remembered for his contributions, I feel.

    on July 16, 2011 at 7:20 PM
  • Loge says:

    My parents saw him in the first Broadway run of The Consul. I saw him many times as he was good about coming on tour with the Met. I sang in the chorus in a Georgia Opera Tosca–he pretty much staged it as the stage director was awful. He will be missed.

    on July 16, 2011 at 7:24 PM
  • Quanto Painy Fakor says:

    This is very strange, from a Funeral home in Virginia. One would think that there would be much more information about MacNeil than they have given. I hope it is not some scam site seeking contributions in MacNeil’s name. http://hosting-24256.tributes.com/show/Cornell-MacNeil-91909710

    on July 17, 2011 at 1:09 AM
  • the other leonora says:

    And a big one he was. There is no baritone like him today. Not even with half of his sound and artistic quality.

    on July 17, 2011 at 3:58 PM
  • Krunoslav says:

    Meanwhile, the NY TIMES let some tyro write MacNeil’s obit, largely cribbed from Ru Rauch’s ON piece a few years back. I think the writer is innocent of understanding what reads like a huge slam at Sherill Milnes, who–love his sound or not–was undoubtedly a stellar Verdi baritone in this context:

    “A pure baritone with power from low to high notes, [MacNeil] was considered the equal of Leonard Warren and Robert Merrill, the other stellar American Verdi baritones during the second half of the 20th century.”

    on July 18, 2011 at 1:36 PM
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