Mattiwilda Dobbs [SEP] voice type
Mattiwilda Dobbs
Mattiwilda Dobbs (11 July 1925 – 8 December 2015) was an African-American coloratura soprano and one of the first black singers to enjoy a major international career in opera. She was the first black singer to perform at La Scala in Italy, the first black woman to receive a long-term performance contract at the Metropolitan Opera, New York and the first black singer to play a lead role at the San Francisco Opera.
Biography.
Dobbs was born in Atlanta, Georgia, one of
voice dubbed by the Welsh bass Bruce Dargavel.
In 1953 Helpmann returned to the Old Vic, directing a new production of "Murder in the Cathedral" with Robert Donat as Becket. On Coronation night in June 1953 Helpmann returned to Covent Garden as a guest artist to dance Prince Siegfried in "Swan Lake". The following year he again directed and choreographed an opera there, "The Golden Cockerel", with a cast including Mattiwilda Dobbs, Hugues Cuénod and Geraint Evans. The following year brought two contrasting directing engagements