Whitehill Clarence (Eugene)
Whitehill Clarence (Eugene)
Whitehill, Clarence (Eugene), American baritone, later bass-baritone; b. Parnell, Iowa, Nov. 5, 1871; d. N.Y., Dec. 18, 1932. He studied with L. A. Phelps in Chicago, earning his living as a clerk in an express office. He also sang in churches. He then went to Paris in 1896, where he studied with Giraudet and Sbriglia. He made his operatic debut on Oct. 31,1898, at the Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie in Brussels. He was the first American male singer to be engaged at the Opéra-Comique in Paris (1899); he then was a member of Henry Savage’s Grand English Opera Co. at the Metropolitan Opera in N.Y. in 1900. He went for further study to Stockhausen in Frankfurt am Main, and from there to Bayreuth, where he studied the entire Wagnerian repertoire with Cosima Wagner; after engagements in Germany, he was a member of the Cologne Opera (1903-08). On Nov. 25, 1909, he made his Metropolitan Opera debut in N.Y. as Amneris with notable success; he sang at the Met for a season. He was then again on its roster from 1914 until his death. He also sang with the Chicago Opera (1911-14; 1915-17). Among his finest roles were Hans Sachs, Gounod’s Méphistophélès, and Golaud.
—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire