Home, Marilyn (Bernice)

Home, Marilyn (Bernice), outstanding American mezzo-soprano; b. Bradford, Pa., Jan. 16, 1934. She studied with William Vennard at the Univ. of Southern Calif, in Los Angeles, and also attended Lotte Leh-mann’s master classes. She then went to Europe, where she made her professional operatic debut as Giulietta at the Gelsenkirchen Opera in 1957; remained on its roster until 1960, appearing in such roles as Mimi, Tatiana, Minnie, Fulvia in Ezio, and Marie in Wozzeck, the role she repeated in her U.S. debut at the San Francisco Opera on Oct. 4, 1960. She married Henry Lewis in 1960, and subsequently made a number of appearances under his direction; they were separated in 1976. In 1965 she made her debut at London’s Covent Garden, again as Marie. She appeared at Milan’s La Scala in 1969, and on March 3, 1970, made her Metropolitan Opera debut in N.Y., as Adalgisa; subsequently became one of the Metropolitan’s principal singers. Her notable performances there included Rosina in II Barbiere di Siviglia (Jan. 23, 1971), Carmen (Sept. 19, 1972), Fides in Le Prophète (Jan. 18, 1977), Rinaldo (the first Handel opera to be staged there, Jan. 19, 1984), Isabella in L’Italiana in Algeri (telecast live by PBS, Jan. 11, 1986), and Samira in the premiere of Corigliano’s The Ghosts of Versailles (Dec. 19, 1991). In 1992 President Bush awarded her the National Medal of Arts. On Jan. 20, 1993, she sang at the inauguration of President Clinton in Washington, D.C. That same year, she founded the Marilyn Home Foundation with the goal of encouraging young singers as art song recitalists. In 1994 she began teaching at the Music Academy of the West in Santa Barbara, where she was artist-in-residence and director of the voice program. In 1995 she received a Kennedy Center Honor. In 1996 she retired from the operatic stage, and in 1999 gave her last classical recital. Acclaimed for her brilliant portrayals in roles by Handel, Rossini, and Meyerbeer, she won equal praise as an outstanding concert artist. She publ, an autobiography (with J. Scovell; N.Y, 1983).

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire