Sylvia Stahlman

Sylvia Stahlman (March 5, 1929 – August 19, 1998) was an American soprano born in Nashville, Tennessee, known for her work in light coloratura and soubrette roles. She trained at the Juilliard School in New York City before embarking on a career that spanned Broadway, European opera houses, and major American companies.

Stahlman began her professional career on Broadway during the 1948–49 season, appearing in Kurt Weill's Love Life alongside Nanette Fabray under the direction of Elia Kazan. She subsequently moved to Europe to pursue opera, performing initially under the name Giulia Bardi. Her operatic debut came at La Monnaie in Brussels in 1951, where she sang Elvira in I puritani, and she remained associated with that theater through 1954. Her European engagements also included appearances in Amsterdam, Frankfurt, and Vienna, as well as the Glyndebourne Festival in 1959, where she performed the role of Ilia in Idomeneo.

Returning to the United States, Stahlman joined the New York City Opera for its fall 1956 season, singing Eurydice in Orphée aux enfers under Erich Leinsdorf and Gilda in Rigoletto with Julius Rudel conducting. The following year she created the role of Lauretta in the world premiere of Carlos Chávez's The Visitors. Her work at the San Francisco Opera between 1957 and 1960 encompassed a range of roles, including Sophie in Der Rosenkavalier, Sister Constance of St. Denis in the United States premiere of Dialogues des Carmélites, Oscar in Un ballo in maschera opposite Herva Nelli, Lauretta in Gianni Schicchi, and Dircé in the Italian version of Médée. She also performed with the Lyric Opera of Chicago.

Stahlman's international profile continued to grow through the early 1960s. In 1963 she sang one of the Flower-maidens in Parsifal at the Bayreuth Festival, and in 1964 she took part in the American premiere of Daphne at the Santa Fe Opera. Her recorded legacy includes a 1960–61 account of Un ballo in maschera conducted by Sir Georg Solti, featuring Birgit Nilsson, Giulietta Simionato, Carlo Bergonzi, and Cornell MacNeil, as well as a 1962 recording of La sonnambula with Dame Joan Sutherland in which she sang Lisa. In 1964 she recorded excerpts from Fidelio, portraying Marzelline opposite Anja Silja. Stahlman died on August 19, 1998, in St. Petersburg, Florida.