Lee Venora

Lee Venora, born Elena Sinaguglia on February 16, 1932, in Bridgeport, Connecticut, is an American operatic soprano and musical theater actress. She trained at the Hartt School of Music and built a career spanning opera, Broadway, recordings, and television.

Venora made her first appearance at the New York City Opera on April 6, 1958, portraying The Girl in the first professional production of Mark Bucci's Tale for a Deaf Ear, with Patricia Neway, William Chapman, and conductor Arnold Gamson. During the 1958–59 season she returned to the company in a range of roles, including Micaela in Bizet's Carmen with Regina Resnik in the title role and Richard Cassilly as Don Jose, Lucia in Britten's The Rape of Lucretia with Frances Bible, the title role in Carlisle Floyd's Susannah with Joshua Hecht as Olin Blitch, the title role in Norman Dello Joio's The Triumph of St. Joan with Mack Harrell and Chester Ludgin, and Consuelo in the world premiere of Robert Ward's He Who Gets Slapped with Norman Kelley and Regina Sarfaty.

Composer and conductor Leonard Bernstein was an admirer of her voice, and Venora worked with him and the New York Philharmonic on multiple occasions. In 1959 she portrayed Monica in Menotti's The Medium and Sophie in Strauss's Der Rosenkavalier for Bernstein's CBS television program Omnibus. She appeared with the orchestra again for a televised Christmas concert in December 1959 and sang the role of Regina in a concert performance of Hindemith's Mathis der Maler in May 1960. In March 1962 she returned to Omnibus as Micaela, and that same year recorded Bach's Magnificat with the New York Philharmonic. Her subsequent appearances with the orchestra included Mahler's Symphony No. 2 alongside Jennie Tourel in 1963, which was also recorded, and a program of Gilbert and Sullivan works in 1964.

Venora made her Broadway debut in October 1959, playing Molly Bixby in the musical Happy Town. On March 14, 1960, she gave a recital at Carnegie Hall presenting the world premieres of four song cycles by composers Stanley Hollings-Worth, Paul Ramsier, Charles Turner, and Lee Hoiby, with each composer represented by one cycle. In January 1961 she sang Drusilla in Monteverdi's L'incoronazione di Poppea with the American Opera Society under Nicola Rescigno. That June she portrayed Zerbinetta in Strauss's Ariadne auf Naxos at the Cincinnati Opera opposite Eleanor Steber, and in July she sang Leïla in Bizet's Les pêcheurs de perles at the Empire State Music Festival. She returned to Broadway in November 1961 as Anna Danby in Robert Wright and George Forrest's Kean, and her performance was preserved on the cast recording released by Columbia Records.

Venora made her San Francisco Opera debut on May 5, 1961, as Mimì in Puccini's La Bohème opposite George Shirley as Rodolfo. She returned to the company annually through 1964, taking on roles including Blanche in Poulenc's Dialogues of the Carmelites, Concepción in Ravel's L'heure espagnole, Esmerelda in Smetana's The Bartered Bride, the Guardian of the Temple Gates in Strauss's Die Frau ohne Schatten, Juliette in Gounod's Roméo et Juliette, Klingsor's Maiden in Wagner's Parsifal, Lauretta in Puccini's Gianni Schicchi, Marzelline in Beethoven's Fidelio, Norina in Donizetti's Don Pasquale, Susannah, and the title role in Puccini's Manon Lescaut. She returned to the San Francisco Opera in 1966 to portray Cherubino in Mozart's Le Nozze di Figaro, Gilda in Verdi's Rigoletto, and Nannetta in Verdi's Falstaff.

On March 22, 1962, Venora returned to the New York City Opera to sing Deborah in the world premiere of Abraham Ellstein's The Golem under conductor Julius Rudel, and she reprised her roles of Susannah and Monica for the company in the weeks that followed. Later in 1962 she appeared as Marsinah in the Los Angeles Civic Light Opera's revival of Kismet, which subsequently toured the United States. That same year she recorded the role of Carrie Pipperidge in Rodgers and Hammerstein's Carousel.

In March 1964 Venora gave her first recital at New York City's Town Hall, performing mostly contemporary American works with accompanist David Garvey. Later that month she returned to the New York City Opera as the title character in Gilbert and Sullivan's Patience. She went on to appear in two Lincoln Center revivals: Tuptim in The King and I in 1964, with Risë Stevens as Anna and Darren McGavin as the King, and Marsinah in Kismet in 1965, with both productions recorded. Her Broadway appearances from 1959 to 1965 thus encompassed Happy Town, Kean, and Kismet. Venora made a final appearance at the New York City Opera in 1966 as the title character in Puccini's Madama Butterfly, and in November 1968 she sang Mimì opposite John Stewart's Rodolfo at the San Diego Opera. In 1974 she portrayed the title role in the world premiere of Hans Werner Henze's Rachel, la cubana for WNET Opera Theatre, alongside Susanne Marsee and Alan Titus, with the composer conducting.