Grace Bumbry
Opera star
BORN JANUARY 4, 1937 – DIED MAY 7, 2023, AGED 86
GRACE Bumbry overcame appalling racist abuse to become one of the world’s finest operatic mezzosoprano singers.
On stage she had a charismatic presence but audiences also enjoyed her strong, even voice and the abundance of roles she was able to master.
Early in her stellar career, the black singer encountered abuse for taking on the part of the goddess of love, Venus, in Richard Wagner’s 1845 classic Tannhauser at the Bayreuth Festival Opera House.
Members of a neo-Nazi party in West Germany claimed giving Bumbry the role was a cultural “crime” but Wagner’s outraged grandson Wieland, who gave her the part, said she was ideal and batted away the abuse.
Audiences could not get enough of Bumbry, with one thrilling performance generating 42 curtain calls.
The furore created global headlines, which led to her being invited to sing at the White House for President John F Kennedy.
Singing from the age of 12 at her local Methodist Church in St Louis, Missouri, gave Bumbry the desire to become a professional performer.
When she was 17 her talent for opera was spotted at a singing competition. She chose an aria from Verdi’s Don Carlo, which reduced one presenter to tears.
This helped Bumbry win a music scholarship at Boston University, a stepping stone to a long and brilliant career.
In April 1963 she made her debut at the Royal Opera as Princess Eboli in Verdi’s Don Carlo.
In that year Bumbry married the Polish tenor Erwin Jaeckel but the marriage broke up in 1972.
London audiences enjoyed her in Salome and Verdi’s Macbeth.