Frank Porretta

Frank Porretta (born Francis Samuel Porretta II, May 4, 1930, Detroit, Michigan; died April 23, 2015, Stamford, Connecticut) was an American tenor whose performing career spanned from 1952 to 1971 and encompassed opera, musical theater, concert work, and film. He appeared on Broadway between 1963 and 1971, with credits including Candide and Carousel.

Raised in Detroit, Porretta initially enrolled at the University of Michigan as a pre-med student, following the path of his father and two brothers, all of whom were surgeons. During his sophomore year he transferred to the university's music school to study vocal performance, earning a bachelor's degree in music in 1952. That same year he began his professional life as a vocal soloist with the United States Army Band, also singing in the band's associated choir, a position he held through 1954. In 1954 he received the Grinnell Foundation–Detroit Grand Opera Association scholarship, which funded vocal studies with Eleanor McLellan in New York City.

Before establishing himself in opera, Porretta participated in two notable world premieres in academic settings. In 1956 he portrayed the First Court Crier in the premiere of William Bergsma's The Wife of Martin Guerre at the Juilliard School, and in 1957 he created the role of Panfilo in the premiere of Carlos Chávez's The Visitors at Columbia University. His professional opera debut came in 1956 at the New York City Opera, where he sang Frederic in the company's first production of Mignon alongside Frances Bible and Beverly Sills. He remained affiliated with the NYCO for fourteen years, through 1970, performing an extensive range of roles that included Alfredo in La traviata, the Duke of Mantua in Rigoletto, Pinkerton in Madama Butterfly, Nanki-Poo in The Mikado, Ralph Rackstraw in H.M.S. Pinafore, Belmonte in The Abduction from the Seraglio, and Sam Kaplan in Street Scene, among many others. He also created roles in several NYCO world premieres: Bezano in Robert Ward's He Who Gets Slapped, the English sentry in Norman Dello Joio's The Triumph of St. Joan, Florindo in Vittorio Giannini's The Servant of Two Masters, and Lucas Wardlaw in Carlisle Floyd's The Passion of Jonathan Wade. Additionally, he appeared as the tenor soloist in Carl Orff's Carmina Burana with the company.

Porretta's guest appearances extended to opera companies across North America. He debuted at the Washington National Opera in 1958 as Scaramuccio in Ariadne auf Naxos and that same year sang Aronne in Rossini's Mosè in Egitto at Carnegie Hall with the American Opera Society. In 1959 he created the role of Micah in the world premiere of Abraham Ellstein's The Thief and the Hangman at Ohio University, a role he later reprised in a nationally broadcast ABC television performance on October 15, 1961. The 1959–60 season brought him to the Pittsburgh Opera as Count Almaviva in The Barber of Seville. In 1963 he debuted at the Canadian Opera Company as Don Ottavio in Don Giovanni. The following year he portrayed Alwa in Alban Berg's Lulu at the Opera Company of Boston under conductor Sarah Caldwell. His Vancouver Opera debut came in 1966 with Rodolfo in La bohème opposite Maria di Gerlando, and in 1967 he sang Gerald in Lakmé at the Seattle Opera with Joan Sutherland in the title role. In 1968 he performed Alfredo at the Edmonton Opera, and in 1970 he portrayed Jimmy Mahagonny in the United States premiere of Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny at the Phyllis Anderson Theatre in New York. He also sang leading roles with the Baltimore Opera, the Central City Opera, Opera Mobile, and the Philadelphia Lyric Opera Company.

Television brought Porretta additional visibility. For the NBC Opera Theatre he appeared in three productions: as Grigori–Dimitri in Boris Godunov in 1961, as Avito in The Love of Three Kings in 1962, and as The Astronaut in the world premiere of Gian Carlo Menotti's Labyrinth in 1963. His concert work was equally distinguished. In 1960 he served as tenor soloist in the world premiere of George Balanchine's ballet Liebeslieder Walzer with the New York City Ballet. In 1962 he sang the title role in a concert performance of Rossini's Le comte Ory with the New York Philharmonic under conductor Thomas Schippers at Carnegie Hall. He also performed Jaquino in Beethoven's Fidelio with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra under Georg Solti.

Alongside his operatic career, Porretta performed regularly in musical theater. At the Los Angeles Civic Light Opera he appeared in a series of productions: Rikard Nordraak in Song of Norway in 1962, Mr. Snow in Carousel in 1963, Lun Tha in The King and I in 1965, Schani in The Great Waltz in 1965, Karl Franz in The Student Prince in 1966, Alexander Dumas in Dumas and Son in 1967, various roles in Musical Theater Cavalcade in 1970, and the title role in Candide in 1971. He also toured the West Coast in Candide and performed the role opposite Mary Costa as Cunegonde at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in 1971. In 1964 he appeared in two Music Theater of Lincoln Center productions, playing Lun Tha in The King and I and Jolidon in The Merry Widow; both productions were recorded for RCA Records. In 1957 he recorded the role of Charlie in a studio cast recording of Brigadoon alongside Shirley Jones, Jack Cassidy, and Susan Johnson.

Porretta's sole film appearance came in 1970 in the musical film Song of Norway, in which he again portrayed Rikard Nordraak, this time opposite Florence Henderson and Toralv Maurstad.

After retiring from the stage in his early forties, Porretta served as choir director at St. John's Church in Darien, Connecticut, for more than forty years. He occasionally performed in local theater in Darien, including playing Fredrik Egerman in a 1980 production of Stephen Sondheim's A Little Night Music. In 1997 he made a guest appearance as Andrew McGregor on his son Matthew's television series The New Adventures of Robin Hood. He was married to soprano Roberta Porretta for 47 years, and together they had five children and seven grandchildren. Two of their sons pursued performing careers: actor Matthew Porretta and opera singer Frank Porretta III. Their daughter Anna Porretta wrote for the television program Talk Soup. Frank Porretta died on April 23, 2015, at Stamford Hospital at the age of 84.