Operatic Soprano Brenda Lewis Remembered by a Friend, Blitzstein Biographer Eric Gordon
I had the singular privilege of knowing the American soprano Brenda Lewis for almost forty years. She died at her Westport, Conn., home on September 16, at the age of 96. When I last spoke with her by phone, a couple of months ago, she was feisty, gutsy, opinionated and clear minded as ever, although I could see on my visits East over the last few years that she had entered serious physical decline.
Our connection began in the fall of 1978 and concerned our mutual interest in the composer Marc Blitzstein, creator of The Cradle Will Rock, the Airborne Symphony, Regina, Juno, and numerous other works, including his brilliant translation of The Threepenny Opera. Curiously, she shared her birthday (March 2) with Blitzstein—as well as with Kurt Weill. By 1978 (she was 57 then) her singing career was long over. She was teaching at the Hartt School of Music in West Hartford, Conn., but her years on the stage had been a glorious comet-like adventure...
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