BRYN MAWR, Pa., Aug. 24 (UPI) -- Rose Bampton, an opera singer who moved from mezzo-soprano to soprano and sang both ranges at the Metropolitan Opera, has died in Bryn Mawr, Pa., at age 99.
During her years with the New York company, her voice was considered attractive rather than thrilling, but her interpretation made Bampton one of the most distinctive singers of her era, The New York Times reported.
Bampton, who died Tuesday, was originally a soprano. She was pushed toward mezzo-soprano after a bout with laryngitis. When she made her debut at the Chautauqua Opera in 1929 it was as Siebel, a mezzo-soprano role in Gounod's "Faust."
She continued to sing mezzo roles with the Philadelphia Grand Opera and when she was first associated with the Met, returning to the soprano repertory in the late 1930s, the Times said. Her first appearance at the Met singing soprano was as Leonora in Verdi’s "Trovatore" in 1937.
Bampton also sang with companies in San Francisco, Chicago and Buenos Aires. She was a recitalist, appearing regularly with the New York Philharmonic and other orchestras, the newspaper said.
Bampton was preceded in death by her husband, Wilfrid Pelletier, a conductor at the Met, who died in 1982.
