Anne Brown - Later Life and Career:1937-2009

Later Life and Career:1937-2009

After her appearance as the first Bess, Brown returned to Broadway in the 1937 musical revue Pins and Needles. This was later followed by an appearance in th 1939 Broadway play Mamba's Daughters in the roles of Gardenia and the "Lonesome Walls" Singer. Brown sang Bess in several revivals of Porgy and Bess during this time, including the 1942 Broadway revival. She also sang Bess for the Decca Records album Selections from George Gershwin's folk opera Porgy and Bess and sang some of Bess's music in an appearance in the 1945 Gershwin biography film Rhapsody in Blue.

Brown toured Europe as a concert artist from 1942 to 1948. Brown said that she left the United States because of continued racial prejudice. As she told The New York Times in 1998, "We tough girls tough it out. I've lived a strange kind of life—half black, half white, half isolated, half in the spotlight. Many things that I wanted as a young person for my career were denied to me because of my color". She also noted, regarding her light complexion, "Though there is no place on earth without prejudice. In fact, a French journalist wrote an article during one of my tours there asking: 'Why does she say she is colored? She's as white as any singer. It's just a trick to get people interested.' Can you imagine? Of course I was advertised as 'a Negro soprano.' What is 'a Negro soprano'?" She also stated that she felt her singing was better received in Europe because she mainly sang works by European composers, such as Brahms, Schubert, Schumann and Mahler.

In 1948, Brown settled in Oslo, Norway and became a Norwegian citizen after marrying skier Thorleif Schjelderup, a medalist at the 1948 Winter Olympics. He was her third husband, and like her previous marriages, their union ended in divorce. They had one child, a daughter, Vaar Inga (born 1951). Her second marriage had been to Dr Jacob Petit. They had one daughter, Paula (later known as Paula Schjelderup).

Brown continued working as a professional musician into the 1950s, mostly working as a concert singer and recitalist. She did however appear in a few more operas like Gian Carlo Menotti's The Medium and The Telephone. Her career as a singer was cut short due to problems with asthma and she no longer sang professionally after 1955 (She sang at the Teatro Colón in October 1955.)She embarked on a second career as a voice teacher at this point. Among her students were the famous soprano Elizabeth Norberg-Schulz, actress Liv Ullmann, ballad singer and former Minister of Culture, Åse Kleveland, and jazz singer Karin Krog. Brown also staged several operas in France and Norway.

Brown was a guest of honor at the gala opening of the Oslo Opera House 12 April 2008. She resided in Oslo up until her death in 2009 at the age of 96. It is not clear if she maintained her United States citizenship as well. Ms. Brown's papers and personal artifacts are housed in the Amistad Research Center at Tulane University in New Orleans, Louisiana.