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Road 977-7788
394-7788
Roberta Peters to
at A.A. centennial
Happy
New
Year
to all our friends
and customers
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Hours:
Monday-Frlday
8:30 a.m.-8:00 p.m.
Saturday
8:30 a.m.-€:00 p.m.
by Carolyn Gold
Roberta Peters will perform in
the Ahavath Achim Sanctuary on
Wednesday, Oct. 29 at 8 p.m.,
marking the gala opening event in
the synagogue’s Centennial Cele
bration. Any appearance by famed
coloratura soprano Peters calls for
the re-telling of her storybook
"Cinderella debut” at the Metro
politan Opera.
The fairy tale began in the Bronx
where Roberta Peters, nee Peter
man, was born into a Jewish family
of moderate means. She has des
cribed her family as “completely
non-musical” with the exception of
maybe one grandfather who be
longed to a choir. Her mother, who
was “always stage-struck.” worked
as a milliner and her father was a
shoe salesman. The young daugh
ter exhibited an amazing natural
voice and imitated songs she heard
on the radio and in movies.
This Jewish folk tale continues
with a grandfather who was the
first maitre d’ at Grossinger’s in the
Catskills. He asked Jan Peerce,
who was singing at the hotel, to
hear his 12-year-old granddaugh
ter. The famed tenor recommended
voice lessons with William Her
man, a New York voice teacher
credited with having taught Patrice
M unsel and other opera stars. Peerce
promised to follow her progress.
Teacher Herman insisted that
the 13-year-old Peters leave school.
He wrote a letter stating that her
education would be taken care of
and her concentration would be on
vocal studies. To this day all of
Roberta Peters’ diplomas are hon-
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Roberta Peters
orary.
Thus began a “work-a-day Cin
derella” regime of subway trips
from the Bronx to Manhattan every
morning, six days a week. Voice
lessons were only the beginning.
Her schedule included lessons in
ballet, French, German, Italian and
acting, interspersed with trips to
museums, operas, concerts and
bookshops. At 14 she was reading
Dante in Italian.
For six years this intensive study
continued. Miss Peters is quoted as
saying that during her teens she
was never with people her own age.
“I never dated. 1 never went to a
prom.”
Peerce arranged for the impres-
sarioSol Hurok to hear Miss Peters
when she was 19. Hurok arranged
for an audition with Rudolf Bing,
then general manager of the Met.
Miss Peters sang the Queen of
the Night’s big aria from Mozart’s
“T he Magic Flute” three times for
Bing. So impressed was he by her
remarkable voice and good looks
that he asked: “If you have any
more high Fs left, would you mind
repeating the aria?” She did, this
time with the legendary conductor
Fritz Reiner also listening, and got
a contract.
Her debut was scheduled for
later in the season, but three weeks
after the Met’s opening, the sche
duled soprano became ill and
Roberta Peters stepped into her
role. With only a few hours’ notice,
and with never having sung profes
sionally before, Miss Peters created
a sensation as Zerlina in “Don
Giovanni.”
It was a true Cinderella fantasy.
A beautiful 20-year-old, without
rehearsal, saved the show in her
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perform
opening
first stage appearance anywhere,
and started a career at the Metro
politan Opera that has lasted for
over 35 years. When she discusses
the glamorous legend of instant
fame, Roberta Peters prefers to
emphasize that when her oppor
tunity arose, she was ready. She
had prepared herself through the
years of hard work and when the
time came, she was able to deliver.
“I sang in the studio for Hurok in
November, auditioned for Bing in
January and made my debut the
following November.”
In the early ’50s she established
herself as a reigning coloratura
soprano, singers specializing in
light, quick, agile runs, trills and
sparkling embellishments. Of her
generation of coloratura sopranos,
only she and Joan Sutherland still
sing. Today at a surprisingly young
56 (the result of starting so early),
Roberta Peters continues to make
over 40 appearances each season.
Three years after her debut, Miss
Peters, then 22, and baritone Robert
Merrill were married following a
brief and heady courtship. The
marriage lasted a few short months
but the two, apparently friends,
still do two or three concerts a
year.
Roberta Peters later married
Bertram Fields, a prominent real
estate investor. Their marriage, now
in its 30th year, is a happy one,
centered in what the singer calls a
“Jewish home” in Scarsdale, N Y.
They have two grown sons, Paul
and Bruce. Mrs. Fields credits her
husband as the “anchor” of their
house, since her career as Roberta
Peters demanded that she be away
a great deal.
Luciano Pavarotti describes her
as “a beautiful, elegant, pretty
lady...She’s great!” Critic George
Rubin says “...there is absolutely
no singer on the scene today who
projects her charm and appeal, her
graciousness and warmth and her
utterly beguiling femininity. She
knows how to captivate an audience
and hold it in the palm of her hand.
Talk about stage presence!"
Talk about fairy tales and happ
ily ever after! But in the real world,
Roberta Peters continues her vocal
studies, sings her old teacher’s ad
vised clarinet exercises almost daily,
and appears in operas, recitals and
concerts here and abroad. She has
sung in Russia and more recently
in China. She has appeared in
Israel often, even having been
caught there during the Six-Day
War. Her many appearances on
television have made hers a famil
iar face—recently seen hailing a
cab in a well-known credit card
advertisement.
Tickets to hear Roberta Peters
Atlanta performance at the Aha
vath Achim Synagogue are S15 tor
sponsors and $75 for patrons. Pa
trons will be invited to a cham
pagne reception following the con
cert to meet the celebrated guest
artist. To make reservations, call
355-5222.
Norman Diamond and Dave Al-
terman are co-chairmen of the
Centennial Celebration.