Order of the Brothers of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Mount Carmel
Abbreviation	Order of Carmelites (O.Carm.)
Motto	Zelo zelatus sum pro Domino Deo exercituum ("With zeal have I been zealous for the Lord God of hosts")
Formation	Late 12th century
Type	Roman Catholic religious order
Headquarters	Via Giovanni Lanza, Rome, Italy
Prior General	Most Rev. Fr. Fernando Millán Romeral
Website	www.ocarm.org

The Order of the Brothers of Our Lady of Mount Carmel or Carmelites (sometimes simply Carmel by synecdoche; Latin: Ordo Fratrum Beatissimæ Virginis Mariæ de Monte Carmelo) is a Roman Catholic religious order founded, probably in the 12th century, on Mount Carmel, hence its name. However, historical records about its origin remain uncertain.^[1] Saint Bertold has traditionally been associated with the founding of the order, but few clear records of early Carmelite history have survived and this is likely to be a later extrapolation by hagiographers.^[2]

Charism and origin[link]

Pietro Novelli, Our Lady of Mount Carmel and Carmelite Saints (Simon Stock (c1165-1265) (standing), Angelus of Jerusalem (1185-1220) (kneeling), Mary Magdalene de Pazzi (1566-1607), Teresa of Ávila (1515-82)), 1641 (Museo Diocesano, Palermo).

The charism, or spiritual focus, of the Carmelite Order is contemplative prayer. The Order is considered by the Church to be under the special protection of the Blessed Virgin Mary and thus has a strong Marian devotion. As in most of the orders dating to medieval times, the First Order is the friars (who are active/contemplative), the Second Order is the nuns (who are cloistered) and the Third Order consists of laypeople who continue to live in the world, and can be married, but participate in the charism of the order by liturgical prayers, apostolates, and contemplative prayer. There are also offshoots such as active Carmelite sisters.

Carmelite tradition traces the origin of the order to a community of hermits on Mount Carmel that succeeded the schools of the prophets in ancient Israel, although there are no certain records of hermits on this mountain before the 1190s. By this date a group of men had gathered at the well of Elijah on Mount Carmel. These men, who had gone to Palestine from Europe either as pilgrims or as crusaders, chose Mount Carmel in part because it was the traditional home of Elijah. The foundation was believed to have been dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary. The conventual buildings were destroyed several times, but a monastery of Discalced Carmelite friars was built close to the original site under the auspices of Fr. Julius of the Saviour and duly consecrated on 12 June 1836.

Some time between 1209 and 1214 the hermits received a formula vitae "in keeping with their avowed purpose" (Rule Ch. 1) from the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem and Papal legate St. Albert of Jerusalem. Albert had been responsible for giving a rule to the Humiliati during his long tenure as Bishop of Vercelli, and was well-versed in diplomacy, being sent by Pope Innocent III as Papal Legate to what was known as the Eastern Province. As an experienced prelate he created a document which is both juridically terse and replete with Scriptural allusions, thereby rooting the hermits in the life of the universal Church and their own aspirations.

The original Carmelite Rule of St. Albert addresses a prior whose name is only listed as "B." When later required to name their founders, the Brothers referred to both Elijah and the Blessed Virgin as early models of the community. Later, under pressure from other European Mendicant orders to be more specific, the name "Saint Bertold" was given, possibly drawn from the oral tradition of the Order.

The rule consisted of sixteen articles, which enjoined strict obedience to their prior, residence in individual cells, constancy in prayer, the hearing of Mass every morning in the oratory of the community, vows of poverty and toil, daily silence from vespers until terce the next morning, abstinence from all forms of meat except in cases of severe illness, and fasting from Holy Cross Day (September 14) until the Easter of the following year.

History[link]

Early history[link]

The Rule of St. Albert received the approval of Pope Honorius III in 1226. With the increasing cleavage between the West and the East, however, the Carmelites found it advisable to leave their original home, and in 1238 they settled in Cyprus and Sicily.

In 1242 they were in Aylesford, Kent, England, and two years later in southern France, while by 1245 they were so numerous that they were able to hold their first general chapter at Aylesford, where Saint Simon Stock, then eighty years of age, was chosen general. During his rule of twenty years the order prospered, especially by the establishment of a priory at Paris by Saint Louis in 1259.

Reforms[link]

Carmelite nuns.

The Carmelite Monks.

Quite early in their history the Carmelites began to develop ministries in keeping with their new status as mendicant religious. This resulted in the production of a letter Ignea Sagitta (Flaming Arrow) by the ruling prior general, Nicholas of Narbonne, who called for a return to a strictly eremitical life. His belief that most friars were ill-suited to an active apostolate was based on a number of scandals. However, the tendentious letter is not found quoted in early extant Carmelite texts, raising the question whether it was ever issued. In any case, Nicholas resigned from office at the General Chapter in Paris in 1271 to pursue the solitary life he favoured. This tension within the charism of the Order remains - the need for solitude and the need to respond to the Church's apostolic mission.

In the 14th and 15th centuries the Carmelites, like a number of other religious orders, declined and reform became imperative. Shortly before 1433 three priories in Valais, Tuscany, and Mantua were reformed by the preaching of Thomas Conecte of Rennes and formed the Congregation of Mantua, which was declared independent of the rest of the Order with its own special set of Constitutions as ratified by Pope Eugene IV and governed by its own vice prior general. In 1431 or 1432 the same pope sanctioned certain modifications of the Carmelite rule and, in 1459, Pope Pius II left the regulation of fasts to the discretion of the prior general. Blessed John Soreth, who was then prior general and had already established the order of Carmelite nuns in 1452, accordingly sought until his death in 1471 to restore the primitive asceticism.

In 1476, a papal bull cum nulla of Pope Sixtus IV founded the Carmelites of the Third Order, who received a special rule in 1635, which was later amended in 1678. The 16th century saw a number of short-lived reforms, but it was not until the second half of the same century that a thorough reformation of the Carmelites in parts of Spain was carried out by Saint Teresa of Ávila, who, together with Saint John of the Cross, established the Discalced Carmelites. Teresa's foundations, although welcomed by King Philip II of Spain - who was most anxious for all Orders to be reformed according to the principles of the Council of Trent (1545–1563) - did create practical problems at grassroots level. The proliferation of new religious houses in towns that were already struggling to cope was an unwelcome prospect, creating a backlash from local townspeople to nobility and diocesan clergy. Teresa made a point of trying to make her monasteries as self-sufficient as was practicable and restricted the number of nuns per community accordingly.

Out of concern over the advent of Protestantism, the Order was now inspired with a new asceticism and fervour. In 1593, the Discalced Carmelites had their own superior general styled propositus general - the first being Fr. Nicloas Doria. Due to the politics of foundation, the Discalced friars in Italy were canonically erected as a separate juridical entity.

The prior general, Fr. John Baptist Rossi, realized that if reform was going to work, it could not be left to the whims individual provinces. The problems created by Teresa's movement for those stubbornly rejecting the need for reform had created the fragmentation of the Order in Castile and many committed nuns and friars now belonged to a completely separate Order. Fr. Rossi laid the groundwork for a more systematic programme of reform. The place that offered the best conditions was the Province of Tourraine, which gave its name to the reform. One of its great figures was Br. John of St. Samson. The Congregation of Mantua continued to function in its little corner of Italy throughout this period.

It was only at the end of the 19th century that those following the reform of Tourraine (by this time known as the "strict observance") and the Mantuan Congregation were formally merged under one set of Constitutions. The friars following Mantua conceded to Tourraine's Constitutions but insisted that the older form of the habit - namely their own - should be adopted. In a photograph of the period Blessed Titus Brandsma is shown in the habit of Tourraine as a novice; in all subsequent images he wears that of the newly styled Ancient Observance.

Controversies with other orders[link]

By the middle of the 17th century the Carmelites had reached their zenith. At this period, however, they became involved in controversies with other orders, particularly with the Jesuits. The special objects of attack were the traditional origin of the Carmelites and the source of their scapular. The Sorbonne, represented by Jean Launoy, joined the Jesuits in their polemics against the Carmelites.

Papebroch, the Bollandist editor of the Acta Sanctorum, was answered by the Carmelite Sebastian of St. Paul, who made such serious charges against the orthodoxy of his opponent's writings that the very existence of the Bollandists was threatened. The peril was averted, however, and in 1696 a decree of Juan Tomás de Rocaberti, archbishop of Valencia and inquisitor-general of the Holy Office, forbade all further controversies between the Carmelites and Jesuits. Two years later, on November 20, 1698, Pope Innocent XII issued a brief which definitely ended the controversy on pain of excommunication, and placed all writings in violation of the brief on the Index Librorum Prohibitorum.

Modern history[link]

The French Revolution, the secularization in Germany, and the repercussions on religious orders following the unification of Italy were heavy blows to the Carmelites. By the last decades of the 19th century, there were approximately 200 Carmelite men throughout the world. At the beginning of the 20th century, however, new leadership and less political interference allowed a rebirth of the Order. Existing provinces began re-founding provinces that had gone out of existence. The theological preparation of the Carmelites was strengthened, particularly with the foundation of St. Albert's College in Rome.

A Carmelite nun reading in the cell of her Convent.

By 2001, the membership had increased to approximately 2,100 men in 25 provinces, 700 enclosed nuns in 70 monasteries, and 13 affiliated Congregations and Institutes. In addition, the Third Order of lay Carmelites count 25,000-30,000 members throughout the world. Provinces exist in Australia, Brazil, Britain, Canada, Hungary, Germany, Indonesia, Ireland, Italy, Malta, the Netherlands, Poland, Singapore, Spain, Portugal and the United States. Delegations directly under the Prior General exist in Argentina, France, the Czech Republic, the Dominican Republic, the Lebanon, the Philippines and Portugal.

Carmelite Missions exist in Bolivia, Burkino Faso, Cameroon, Colombia, India, Kenya, Lithuania, Mexico, Mozambique, Peru, Romania, Tanzania, Trinidad, Venezuela and Zimbabwe.

Monasteries of enclosed Carmelite nuns exist in Brazil, the Dominican Republic, Finland, Germany, Hungary, Indonesia, Ireland, Italy, Kenya, the Netherlands, Nicaragua, Peru, the Philippines, Spain, Portugal and the United States. Hermit communities of either men or women exist in Brazil, France, Indonesia, Lebanon, Italy and the United States.

The Carmelite Martyrs of Guadalajara, Spain.

The Discalced Carmelite Order also built the priory of Elijah (1911) at the site of Elijah's epic contest with the prophets of Ba'al (1 Kings 18:20-40. The monastery is situated about 25 kilometers south of Haifa on the eastern side of the Carmel, and stands on the foundations of a series of earlier monasteries. The site is held sacred by Christians, Jews and Muslims; the name of the area, is el-Muhraqa, an Arabic construction meaning "place of burning", and is a direct reference to the biblical account.

There are several Carmelite figures who have received significant attention in the 20th century, including Saint Thérèse of Lisieux,^[3] one of only three female Doctors of the Church,^[4] so named because of her famous teaching on the "way of confidence and love" set forth in her best-selling memoir, "Story of a Soul";^[5] Titus Brandsma, a Dutch scholar and writer who was killed in Dachau Concentration Camp because of his stance against Nazism; and Saint Teresa Benedicta of the Cross (née Edith Stein), a Jewish convert to Catholicism who was also imprisoned and died at Auschwitz. Saint Raphael Kalinowski (1835–1907) was the first friar to be sainted in the Order since co-founder Saint John of the Cross. The writings and teachings of Brother Lawrence of the Resurrection, a Carmelite friar of the 17th century, continue as a spiritual classic under the title The Practice of the Presence of God. Other non-religious (i.e., non-vowed monastic) great figures include Saint George Preca, a Maltese priest and Carmelite Tertiary.

Habit and scapular[link]

Christian Sacramentals A series of articles on Scapular

General articles Saint Simon Stock Our Lady of Mount Carmel Rosary & Scapular Sabbatine Privilege Specific Scapulars Mount Carmel (Brown) Fivefold Scapular Passion (Red) Passion (Black) Seven Sorrows of Mary (Black) The Archangel (Blue/Black) Good Counsel (White) Sacred Heart of Jesus (White) Immaculate Heart of Mary (White) Immaculate Conception (Blue) Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary

The original way of life of the order was changed to conform to that of the mendicant orders on the initiative of St. Simon Stock and at the command of Pope Innocent IV. Their former habit of a mantle with black and white or brown and white stripes—the black or brown stripes representing the scorches the mantle of Elijah received from the fiery chariot as it fell from his shoulders—was discarded and they wore the same habit as the Dominicans, except that the cloak was white. They also borrowed much from the Dominican and Franciscan constitutions. Their distinctive garment was a scapular of two strips of dark cloth, worn on the breast and back, and fastened at the shoulders. Tradition holds that this was given to St. Simon Stock by the Blessed Virgin Mary, who appeared to him and promised that all who wore it with faith and piety and who died clothed in it would be saved.^[6][7][8] There arose a sodality of the scapular, which affiliated a large number of laymen with the Carmelites. The order made some grandiose claims, however, contesting the "invention" of the rosary with the Dominicans, terming themselves the brothers of the Virgin, and asserting, on the basis of their traditional association with Elijah, that all the prophets of the Old Testament, as well as the Virgin and the Apostles, had been Carmelites. A miniature version of the Carmelite scapular is popular among Roman Catholics and is one of the most popular devotions in the Church. Wearers usually believe that if they faithfully wear the Carmelite scapular (also called "the brown scapular" or simply "the scapular") and die in a state of grace, they will be saved from eternal damnation. Catholics who decide to wear the scapular are usually enrolled by a priest, and some choose to enter the Scapular Confraternity. The Lay Carmelites of the Third Order of Our Lady of Mount Carmel wear a scapular which is smaller than the shortened scapular worn by some Carmelite religious for sleeping, but still larger than the devotional scapulars.

Visions and devotions[link]

Sister Marie of St Peter (1816-48) with the Golden Arrow. The three rings symbolize the Holy Trinity.

Among the various Catholic orders, Carmelite nuns have had a proportionally high ratio of visions of Jesus and Mary and have been responsible for key Catholic devotions.

From the time of her clothing in the Carmelite religious habit (1583) till her death (1607) the life of Saint Mary Magdalene de Pazzi is said to have had a series of raptures and ecstasies.

• First, these raptures sometimes seized upon her whole being with such force as to compel her to rapid motion (e.g. towards some sacred object).
• Secondly, she was frequently able, whilst in ecstasy, to carry on working e.g., embroidery, painting, with perfect composure and efficiency.
• Thirdly, during these raptures Saint Mary Magdalene de Pazzi gave utterance to maxims of Divine Love, and to counsels of perfection for souls. These were preserved by her companions, who (unknown to her) wrote them down.

Sister Antónia d'Astónaco, a Carmelite nun from Portugal, reported during her life a private revelation by Saint Michael the Archangel. Based on that revelation, the Archangel Michael had told in an apparition to the devoted Servant of God that he would like to be honored, and God glorified, by the praying of nine special invocations. These nine invocations correspond to invocations to the nine choirs of angels and origins the Chaplet of Saint Michael. This private revelation and prayers were fully approved by Pope Pius IX in 1851.

Sister Marie of St Peter, a Carmelite nun in Tours France, started the devotion to the Holy Face of Jesus. She said that in an 1844 vision Jesus told her: "Oh if you only knew what great merit you acquire by saying even once, Admirable is the Name of God, in a spirit of reparation for blasphemy."

In the 19th century, another Carmelite nun, Saint Thérèse of the Child Jesus and the Holy Face, was instrumental in spreading this devotion^[9] throughout France in the 1890s with her many poems and prayers. Eventually Pope Pius XII approved the devotion in 1958 and declared the Feast of the Holy Face of Jesus as Shrove Tuesday (the day before Ash Wednesday) for all Catholics. Therese of Lisieux emerged as one of the most popular saints for Catholics in the 20th century, and a statue of her can be found in many European and North American Catholic churches built prior to the Second Vatican Council (after which the number of statues tended to be reduced when churches were built).

Sister Antónia d'Astónaco, a Carmelite nun from Portugal, received a private revelation from St. Michael the Archangel.

In the 20th century, in the last apparition of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Fátima, Portugal, Sister Lúcia, one of the most famous visionaries of Our Lady, said that the Virgin appeared to her as Our Lady of Mount Carmel (holding the Brown Scapular). Many years after, Lúcia became a Carmelite nun. When Sister Lúcia was asked in an interview why the Blessed Virgin appeared as Our Lady of Mount Carmel in her last apparition, she replied: "Because Our Lady wants all to wear the Scapular... The reason for this," she explained, "is that the Scapular is our sign of consecration to the Immaculate Heart of Mary". When asked if the Brown Scapular is as necessary to the fulfillment of Our Lady’s requests as the Rosary, Sister Lúcia answered: "The Scapular and the Rosary are inseparable".^[10]

See also[link]

• Enclosed religious orders
• Dialogues of the Carmelites
• Ipswich Whitefriars

Other Branches of the Carmelite Order[link]

• Third Order of Our Lady of Mount Carmel
• Hermits of the Most Blessed Virgin Mary of Mount Carmel
• Monks of the Most Blessed Virgin Mary of Mount Carmel
• Order of Discalced Carmelites (also known as Teresian Carmelites)
• Secular Order of Discalced Carmelites
• Byzantine Discalced Carmelites
• Carmelites of Mary Immaculate

Provinces of O.Carm. Carmelite Friars[link]

Saint Teresa of Ávila (1515-82).

Saint John of the Cross (1542-91).

Saint Thérèse of Lisieux (1873-97), Doctor of the Church, in the Carmelite Brown Scapular, 1895.

• Carmelite Friars of the Province of the Assumption (founded c. 1241; refounded 1969)
• Carmelite Friars of the Most Pure Heart of Mary Province, Chicago (founded 1890)
• Carmelite Friars of the Saint Elias Province (founded 1931)

Communities of Carmelite Sisters[link]

• Carmelite Sisters of the Most Sacred Heart of Los Angeles
• Carmelite Sisters for the Aged and Infirm

Spirituality[link]

• Teresa of Ávila (Doctor of the Church)
• John of the Cross (Doctor of the Church)
• Thérèse of Lisieux (Doctor of the Church)
• Mary Magdalene de Pazzi
• Sister Lúcia of Fátima
• Nuno of Saint Mary
• Simon Stock
• Elizabeth of the Trinity
• Edith Stein
• Teresa of the Andes
• Teresa Margaret of the Sacred Heart
• Joaquina de Vedruna
• Angelus of Jerusalem
• Brother Lawrence
• Francisco Palau
• Angelo Paoli
• Jan Tyranowski
• Martyrs of Compiègne

Tradition[link]

• Carmelite Rule of St. Albert
• Constitutions of the Carmelite Order
• Book of the First Monks
• Carmelite Rite
• Our Lady of Mount Carmel
• Scapular of Our Lady of Mount Carmel
• Sabbatine privilege

Notes[link]

References[link]

• Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia of Religion
• Copsey, Richard and Fitzgerald-Lombard, Patrick (eds.), Carmel in Britain: studies on the early history of the Carmelite Order (1992–2004).
• "The Carmelite Order" by Benedict Zimmerman. The Catholic Encyclopedia, 1908.

Further reading[link]

• T. Brandsma, Carmelite Mysticism, Historical Sketches: 50th Anniversary Edition, (Darien, IL, 1986), ASIN B002HFBEZG
• J. Boyce, Carmelite Liturgy and Spiritual Identity. The Choir Books of Kraków, Turnhout, 2009, Brepols Publishers, ISBN 978-2-503-51714-8
• W. McGreal, At the Fountain of Elijah: The Carmelite Tradition, (Maryknoll, NY, 1999), ISBN 1-57075-292-3
• J. Smet, The Carmelites: A History of the Brothers of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel, 4. vol. (Darien IL, 1975)
• J. Welch, The Carmelite Way: An Ancient Path for Today’s Pilgrim, (New York: 1996), ISBN 0-8091-3652-X

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Carmelites

• North American Carmelites
• Order of the Brothers of Our Lady of Mount Carmel
• Order of the Discalced Carmelites
• Index of Carmelite Websites
• Carmelite Hermits - Branch of enclosed contemplative Carmelite men
• Carmelite Monks - Contemplative Carmelite men living a solitary life of prayer and penance
• O.CARM. - O.C.D. Collaborative Web Portal of the two Carmelite branches
• British Province of Carmelites Friars
• Meditations from Carmel
• "Sayings of Light and Love" - Spiritual Maxims of John of the Cross
• The Carmelite history and vocation
• "Mystical Brain" by Isabelle Raynauld (2006) - a documentary film about 5 Carmelite Nuns who volunteered to have their brains scanned while they meditated by recalling mystical experiences

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Régine Crespin (23 February 1927 – 5 July 2007) was a French singer who had a major international career in opera and on the concert stage between 1950 and 1989. She started her career singing roles in the dramatic soprano and spinto soprano repertoire, drawing particular acclaim singing Wagner and Strauss heroines. She went on to sing a wider repertoire that embraced Italian, French, German, Russian, and English opera from a variety of musical periods. In the early 1970s Crespin began experiencing vocal difficulties for the first time and ultimately began performing roles from the mezzo-soprano repertoire. Throughout her career she was widely admired for the elegance, warmth and subtlety of her singing, especially in the French and German operatic repertories.

Crespin began her career in France, earning her first critical successes in the French provinces during the early 1950s and then becoming a fixture at the Opéra National de Paris in the mid 1950s. Her international career was launched in 1958 with a critically acclaimed performance of Kundry in Richard Wagner's Parsifal at the Bayreuth Festival. She soon appeared at most of the major opera houses in the United States and Europe and made a number of appearances in South America as well. She had a long and fruitful association with the Metropolitan Opera in New York City, making over 125 appearances at that house between 1962 and 1987. Crespin retired from the stage in 1989, after which she taught singing for many years at her alma mater, the Conservatoire de Paris, and gave numerous acclaimed master classes at conservatories and universities internationally.

In recognition of Crespin's artistry as a singer, the Marguerite Long-Jacques Thibaud Competition, which had been restricted to pianists and violinists, has been expanded in 2011 to include singers and has been renamed the Long-Thibaud-Crespin Competition.^[1]

Early life and education: 1927-1950[link]

Crespin was born in Marseille in 1927. She moved to Nîmes with her family at the age of five^[2] and her parents opened a large shoe store in that city which they ran for many years. Crespin's childhood was not an easy one, being affected both by growing up during World War II and her mother's alcoholism.^[3] She initially intended to be a pharmacist^[2] but was prevented in pursuing this path after failing to pass her Baccalauréat at the age of 16.^[4] Up to this point her father had not allowed her to study singing. However, as her career path was limited by the exam results he finally allowed her to start taking lessons for purely pragmatic reasons.^[3] She went on to win first prize in a singing competition a few years later, and, at the age of nineteen, she went to Paris to study at the Conservatoire de Paris in the classes of Suzanne Cesbon-Viseur and Georges Jouatte.^[5] Four years later, in 1950, she was awarded first prize in the school's onstage competitions for opera and opéra comique and second prize in the school's singing competition. Traditionally past winners of Conservatoire's competitions were offered performance contracts with the Opéra National de Paris, but Crespin was for some unknown reason not offered one. This created a somewhat tenuous relationship relationship between Crespin and her country's musical establishment which extended into the early portion of her career.^[2]

Early career in France: 1950-1957[link]

Her first professional stage engagement was in Reims in 1949 (Charlotte in Werther).^[6] Crespin was then engaged by the Opéra national du Rhin to portray Elsa in Richard Wagner's Lohengrin — sung in French — at Mulhouse in 1950.^[3] Received with positive reviews, Crespin was finally approached by the Paris Opéra with a contract. She accepted and made her debut there in 1951 singing Elsa. On 27 June 1951 she made her debut at the Opéra-Comique singing the title role in Giacomo Puccini's Tosca, later singing Santuzza in Cavalleria rusticana.^[7] However, her reception in Paris was somewhat cool and did not improve, despite performing a number of roles in that city from 1951-1952.^[8]

Crespin decided to leave Paris in 1952 and try her luck performing with opera houses in the provinces of France. There she found her first critical successes, particularly in the roles of the Marschallin in Richard Strauss's Der Rosenkavalier and Tosca, both sung in French.^[2] In 1955 she returned to the Paris Opéra as Reiza in Carl Maria von Weber's Oberon.^[8] This time enthusiastically received by Paris audiences, Crespin went on to sing several triumphant performances at that house over the next three years in Desdemona in Giuseppe Verdi's Otello, Amelia in Verdi's Un ballo in maschera, Brunehild in Sigurd and Lidoine in the 1957 Paris premiere of Francis Poulenc's Dialogues of the Carmelites among others.^[2] She also continued to remain active in opera houses throughout France, notably singing in the world premiere of Henri Tomasi's Sampiero Corso at the Grand Théâtre de Bordeaux in 1956.^[8]

Rise to international success: 1958-1962[link]

Crespin's international career began when she was chosen by Wieland Wagner to portray the role of Kundry in Wagner's Parsifal at the 1958 Bayreuth Festival, despite the fact that she had never sung Wagner in German. To learn the role in German, she was coached by Lou Bruder, a professor of German literature who later became her husband.^[3] When Crespin first auditioned for Wieland she had initially assumed that he would cast her in what the French call les wagnériennes blondes, roles like Elsa, Eva, Sieglinde, and Elisabeth. She was therefore surprised when she was asked to tackle Kundry. Crespin recalls that when she expressed her surprise to Wieland he dismissed the other roles, saying, "Oh, those dummies, I don't like them. Look, you are not born for that, you have a better job to do." Crespin essayed the task and her performance was so well liked that she was invited to sing Kundry again for the 1959 and 1960 Bayreuth Festivals.^[2] She returned to the Bayreuth Festival again in 1961 to sing Sieglinde in Wagner's Die Walküre and the third norn in Wagner's Götterdämmerung.^[8]

Crespin's performances of Kundry effectively launched her international opera career, and she was soon invited to perform on the stages of the world's great opera houses. In 1959 she made her debut at La Scala singing the title role in Ildebrando Pizzetti's Fedra. That same year she made her first appearances at the Vienna State Opera singing Sieglinde in Die Walküre and the Marschallin in Der Rosenkavalier.^[8] She sang the Marschallin again for the 1959 Glyndebourne Festival and for her debut at the Royal Opera, Covent Garden in 1960, bringing "Gallic finesse, complemented by an ideal sense of proportion, supported by perfect German… she never succumbed to exaggeration, physical or vocal, never seemed fussy, never confused sadness with tragedy".^[2][9] She returned to Covent Garden numerous times over the next four years singing such roles as Elsa in Lohengrin and Tosca.^[8] In 1961 she sang for the first time at the Deutsche Oper Berlin. She sang Tosca for her United States debut at the Lyric Opera of Chicago in 1962 with Giuseppe Zampieri as Cavaradossi and Tito Gobbi as Scarpia.^[2] She returned to Chicago numerous times, singing such roles as Amelia (1963), Leonore in Beethoven's Fidelio (1963), Elisabeth in Wagner's Tannhäuser (1963), and the title role in Strauss's Ariadne auf Naxos (1964).^[10] In 1966, Crespin performed in Boston for the Peabody Mason Concert series.^[11]

International acclaim: 1962-1989[link]

In 1962 Crespin joined the roster of principal sopranos at the Metropolitan Opera in New York City where she sang every year — with the exception of 1974 — through 1981. Her first performance at the house was on November 19, 1962 singing the Marschallin with Hertha Töpper as Octavian, Otto Edelmann as Baron Ochs, Anneliese Rothenberger as Sophie, and Lorin Maazel conducting. Among the many roles she created at the Met over the next two decades included Amelia, the title role in Carmen, Charlotte in Werther, Elsa, Giulietta in Les Contes d'Hoffmann Kundry, Santuzza in Cavalleria rusticana, Senta in Der Fliegende Holländer, Sieglinde, and Tosca among others. After leaving the Met in 1981, Crespin returned to the house twice more during her career: once to perform for the Met's 100th Anniversary Gala in 1983 and a final appearance in April 1987 as Madame de Croissy in Dialogues des Carmélites. All told Crespin appeared in 129 performances at the Metropolitan Opera during her career, performing with many great singers like Lucine Amara, Gabriel Bacquier, Kathleen Battle, Carlo Bergonzi, Walter Cassel, Franco Corelli, Nicolai Gedda, Enrico Di Giuseppe, Plácido Domingo, Reri Grist, Alfredo Kraus, Evelyn Lear, William Lewis, George London, Christa Ludwig, Cornell MacNeil, James McCracken, Sherrill Milnes, Birgit Nilsson, Jessye Norman, Nell Rankin, Leonie Rysanek, Jeanette Scovotti, Shirley Verrett, and Jon Vickers among many others.^[12]

In 1970, after almost twenty years of faultless reviews, Crespin began experiencing some vocal challenges which caused her to re-evaluate her career. This coincided with the end of her marriage to Lou Bruder to whom she had been married to for eleven years; the couple had no children. With Charlotte in Werther in 1974, Crespin began performing opera roles from the mezzo-soprano repertoire to adjust to the change in her voice. However the timbre of her voice had not altered much from her earlier singing years and she therefore brought a different sound to the roles than the typical mezzo-soprano. Regardless, she was well received in her new choice of repertoire.^[2][13] This period also led to her interest in Offenbach and her sophisticated wit found its place in recordings of Métella, the Grand Duchess of Gérolstein^[14] and Périchole, along with Dulcinée (Massenet's Don Quichotte).^[6]

During her years at the Metropolitan Opera, Crespin remained active on the international opera stage. In 1962 she made the first of many appearances at the Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires singing the title role in Gluck's Iphigénie en Tauride. Her last role at that house was Madame Flora (Baba) in The Medium in 1987. She appeared as Tosca in Geneva in 1962. In 1966 she sang Ariadne at the Aix-en-Provence Festival and that same year made her first appearance at the San Francisco Opera singing both Cassandre and Didon in Berlioz's Les Troyens. She returned to the San Francisco Opera numerous times, singing such roles as Elisabeth in Tannhäuser (1966), the Marschallin (1967), Sieglinde (1968), Tosca (1970), Santuzza (1976), Mme de Croissy (1982), the title role in Offenbach's La Grande-Duchesse de Gérolstein (1983), Madame Flora (1986), and the Countess in Tchaikovsky's The Queen of Spades (1987).^[15] In 1963 she made her debut with the Philadelphia Lyric Opera Company portraying Sieglinde, a role which she repeated there in 1965.^[16] She later sang with the Opera Company of Philadelphia as Carmen (1978), the Countess (1983), and Madame Flora (1986). In 1967 Crespin portrayed Brünnhilde in Wagner's Die Walküre for her first appearance at the Salzburg Festival. She also returned to the Opéra National de Paris a handful of times during her career, notably singing the title role in Fauré's Pénélope.^[17] Her last opera performance was at the Paris Opéra in 1989 singing the Countess in The Queen of Spades.^[13]

Crespin sang in many concert halls around the world, where her repertoire included Marguerite in La Damnation de Faust, and Les nuits d'été by Berlioz. In recital, along with lieder (Schumann, Schubert, Brahms) she excelled in the French mélodie repertoire, especially Debussy and Poulenc, where the savouring of words and ability to capture the mood of songs made her a memorable interpreter.^[18]

Later life: 1990-2007[link]

After retiring from singing in 1989, Crespin focused mainly on teaching. She had joined the faculty at the Conservatoire de Paris in 1974 and continued to teach there until 1995. She had also begun teaching at the San Francisco Opera's Merola Opera Program during the latter part of her career, and was involved with that program for more than twenty years. Crespin also frequently traveled to give master classes at Universities and music conservatories in Europe and the United States during her retirement years. She continued to teach until her death from liver cancer in Paris in 2007. She had previously overcome battles with cancer in 1978 and 1984.^[2]

Her memoirs, La vie et l'amour d'une femme (the French name for Schumann's song cycle Frauenliebe und -leben), are quite candid, providing much detail of the singer's private life as well as unusual insights into her professional world. It was first published in French in 1982 and was republished in an expanded English version called On Stage, Off Stage: A Memoire in 1997.^[19]

Crespin was appointed Chevalier of the Légion d'honneur in 1972, and later made an Officer in 1982 and a Commander in 1994.^[20]

Recordings[link]

In her autobiography Crespin analyses the difficulties she found in the recording process, and notes that the Decca engineers called her, affectionately, ‘the French cannon’ due to the size of her voice.^[21]

Crespin left a considerable discography, starting, in the early part of her career, with recital discs for Vega, Pathé and Decca. Her classic recording of Berlioz's Les nuits d'été and Ravel's Shéhérazade with Ernest Ansermet and the Suisse Romande Orchestra is regarded by many as the finest of all versions on disc. Among her other important recordings were Sieglinde in Die Walküre, and the Marschallin in Der Rosenkavalier, both for Decca with the Vienna Philharmonic conducted by Sir Georg Solti. She also assumed the role of Brünnhilde on Herbert von Karajan's recording of Die Walküre with the Berlin Philharmonic re-released by Deutsche Grammophon as part of its "The Originals" series.

References[link]

External links[link]

• To hear sound samples of her Wesendonck Lieder recording
• Interview with Regine Crespin by Bruce Duffie, March, 1996

Maria Louise Ewing (born 27 March 1950) is an American opera singer who has sung both soprano and mezzo soprano roles. She is noted as much for her acting as her singing.

Life and career[link]

Ewing was born in Detroit, Michigan, the youngest of four daughters.^[1] Her mother, Hermina M. (née Veraar), was Dutch, and her father, Norman I. Ewing, was an American of Sioux Native American, Scottish, and African-American ancestry.^{[1][2][3][4][5]} She studied in Cleveland, Ohio and New York City.

Ewing made her debut at the Metropolitan Opera in 1976 in Mozart's The Marriage of Figaro. Her first European performance was at La Scala, Milan as Mélisande in Debussy's Pelléas et Mélisande. Her repertoire includes Carmen, Dorabella in Mozart's Cosi fan tutte, Salome, Marie in Berg's Wozzeck and Shostakovich's Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk. Ewing is particularly well known for her sensitive interpretation of the title role in Richard Strauss's Salome, where Oscar Wilde's stage directions for the original play specify that, at the end of the so-called Dance of the Seven Veils, Salome lies naked at Herod's feet. Ewing appeared fully nude at the end of this sequence, in contrast to other singers who have used body stockings.^[6][7] She also sang and appeared in Henry Purcell's Dido and Aeneas.

Ewing's discography includes video versions of Salome and Carmen and audio versions of Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk and Pelléas et Mélisande. She has also recorded concert music by Ravel, Berlioz and Debussy and programs of popular American song. She played Rosina in a Glyndebourne production of Il barbiere di Siviglia (1982), available on DVD.

Ewing has also sung jazz in live performance, including appearances at Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club in London. In January and February 2011 she will star in a production of Poulenc's La voix humaine by the Dutch National Touring Opera.

In 1982, she married the English theatre director Sir Peter Hall. The marriage ended in 1990; during this period of her life she was formally styled Lady Hall. Their daughter is the actress Rebecca Hall. Ewing makes her home near her birthplace.^[8]

References[link]