Garrison Mabel
Garrison Mabel
Garrison, Mabel, American soprano; b. Baltimore, April 24, 1886; d. N.Y., Aug. 20, 1963. She attended Western Md. Coll. and then pursued vocal training with Heinendahl and Minetti at the Peabody Cons, of Music in Baltimore (1909–11), and in N.Y. with Saenger (1912–14) and Witherspoon (1916). In 1908 she married the composer George Siemonn. On April 18, 1912, she made her operatic debut under her married name as Philine in Mignon with the Aborn Opera Co. in Boston. On Feb. 15, 1914, she first sang at the Metropolitan Opera in a concert; her stage debut there followed as a Flower Maiden in Parsifal on Nov. 26, 1914, with her formal debut coming the next day as Frasquita. She continued to sing at the Metropolitan Opera until her farewell as Lucia on Jan. 22, 1921. In 1921 she made guest appearances at the Berlin State Opera, the Vienna State Opera, and the Cologne Opera, and then launched a concert tour of the globe. After singing with the Chicago Opera (1925–26), she taught at Smith Coll. (1933–39). Among her finest roles were the Queen of the Night, Rosina, Gilda, Urbain, Martha, and the Queen of Shemakha. In her recitals, she often included songs by her husband, who frequently appeared as her accompanist.
—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire