Leon Lishner

Leon Lishner (July 4, 1913 – November 21, 1995) was an American operatic bass-baritone born in New York City to Russian Jewish immigrant parents. He received formal musical training at the City College of New York and the Juilliard School, earning diplomas from both institutions. Lishner appeared on Broadway between 1941 and 1954, and became particularly associated with the operas of Gian Carlo Menotti, for whom he created roles in four world premieres.

Early in his professional career, Lishner spent the 1942–1943 season with Sylvan Levin's Philadelphia Opera Company, where he sang Arkel in Pelléas et Mélisande, Colline in La bohème, Doctor Blind in Die Fledermaus, and Doctor Bartolo in The Marriage of Figaro. His first major stage role came in 1950, when he portrayed the Chief Police Agent in the world premiere of Menotti's The Consul in Philadelphia. He continued with the production when it transferred to Broadway that same year, and later reprised the role in a 1953 concert with the Philadelphia Orchestra and in a 1957 performance at Public Garden in Boston.

Following the success of The Consul, Menotti was commissioned by NBC to compose a television opera for the newly formed NBC Opera Theatre. The result was Amahl and the Night Visitors, which premiered on Christmas Eve 1951 in a national broadcast. Lishner, drawn from the cast of The Consul, was assigned the role of King Balthazar. He retained that role alongside the other original adult cast members for annual live television broadcasts through 1964, and the company also undertook yearly national tours performing the work with symphony orchestras across the United States.

Lishner created two additional roles in Menotti operas. He originated the part of Don Marco in The Saint of Bleecker Street, which opened on Broadway in 1954. In 1963 he portrayed The Desk Clerk and Death in Menotti's Labyrinth, another work commissioned by the NBC Opera Theatre. His other NBC Opera credits included John Claggart in Benjamin Britten's Billy Budd (1952), Osmin in Mozart's The Abduction from the Seraglio (1954), Napoleon Bonaparte in Prokofiev's War and Peace (1957), and the speaking role of Stepan in the world premiere of Bohuslav Martinů's The Marriage (1953).

Lishner made his Central City Opera debut in August 1953 as Herr Reich in Otto Nicolai's The Merry Wives of Windsor, and shortly afterward joined the New York City Opera, debuting with the company in October 1953 as Dottore Grenvil in Verdi's La traviata. At the New York City Opera he sang in the United States premieres of Gottfried von Einem's Der Prozeß and Marc Blitzstein's Regina, in which he played Ben Hubbard. A notable triumph came in 1958 when he performed Sir Morosus in Richard Strauss's Die schweigsame Frau. Additional roles with the company included Alcindoro in La bohème (1955), Carlino in Don Pasquale (1955), Herr Reich (1955), and Osmin (1958).

Among his other significant engagements, Lishner sang Vodník in Dvořák's Rusalka at Town Hall in 1955 under conductor Peter Herman Adler, and in 1956 performed Daniel Webster in Virgil Thomson's The Mother of Us All at the Phoenix Theater, in a production featuring Shirlee Emmons in her Obie Award-winning portrayal of Susan B. Anthony. In 1966 he sang Dr. Kolenatý in the United States premiere of Janáček's The Makropulos Case at the San Francisco Opera, and in 1972 he portrayed Rambaldo Fernandez in La Rondine for the Philadelphia Lyric Opera Company alongside Anna Moffo as Magda de Civry. Composer Carol Sams also cast him as God in her opera Heaven. His Broadway credits additionally included Threepenny Opera and La Parisienne.

From 1964 to 1979, Lishner served on the music faculty of the University of Washington. He died in Seattle on November 21, 1995, at the age of 82.