Jean Madeira

Abstract is: Jean Madeira, née Jean Browning (born November 14, 1918, in Centralia, Illinois; died on July 10, 1972, in Providence, Rhode Island) was an American contralto, particularly known for her work in late-romantic German repertoire such as the operas of Richard Wagner and Richard Strauss. When she was a child her family moved to East St. Louis, Illinois, where she attended high school, and she later studied with Florence Kimball at the Juilliard School in New York City. She made her debut in opera in Chatauqua, as Nancy in Martha, by Flotow. In 1955, the singer and actress successfully sang the title role in Carmen with the Vienna State Opera. She sang approximately 300 times at the Metropolitan Opera in forty-one roles, between 1948 and 1971. Her last appearance there was in Elektra, opposite Birgit Nilsson and Leonie Rysanek.[3] Jean Madeira was a second-cousin of the composer Amy Beth Kirsten.