Phyllis Curtin - Later Career

Later Career

After the close of the 1959-1960 season, Curtin left the employ of the NYCO, although she would continue to perform as a guest artist with the company up through 1976. She sang Fiordiligi for the NBC Television Opera Theatre in 1960. She sang several roles at the Vienna State Opera from 1960–1961, including Cio-Cio-San in Madama Butterfly, Fiordiligi, Salome, and Violetta. In 1961 she made her debuts at the Oper Frankfurt, the Staatsoper Stuttgart, and the Teatro Lirico Giuseppe Verdi. She made her first appearance at the Lyric Opera of Chicago in 1965 and her debut at the Seattle Opera in 1969. In 1966 she appeared in the world premiere of Milhaud's La mère coupable at the Grand Théâtre de Genève. In 1968 she sang Mimì in La bohème at the Philadelphia Grand Opera Company with Richard Tucker as Rodolfo, Ron Bottcher as Marcello, and Joan Sena as Musetta. She also returned several times to the Glyndebourne Festival in the 1960s. Other guest appearances included performances at the Scottish Opera (as Marguerite in Faust and Ellen Orford in Peter Grimes) and La Scala.

Curtin made her Metropolitan Opera debut on November 4, 1961 as Fiordiligi to the Ferrando of George Shirley, Dorabella of Rosalind Elias, Guglielmo of Theodor Uppman, Despina of Roberta Peters, and Don Alfonso of Frank Guarrera. She returned frequently as a guest artist at the Met, appearing in such roles as Alice Ford, Countess Almaviva, Donna Anna, Ellen Orford in Britten's Peter Grimes, Eva in Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg, Rosalinde, Salome, and Violetta. Her last Met appearance was on July 6, 1973 in the title role of Giacomo Puccini's Tosca with Enrico Di Giuseppe as Cavaradossi, Morley Meredith as Scarpia, and Ignace Strasfogel conducting.