Customer Reviews

I Never Walked Alone: The Autobiography of an American Singer

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Having read biographies of Sutherland and Caballe, I was happy to add Shirley Verrett's to the collection. Unlike some other opera memoirs, this is a very quick read. Verrett is not the kind to mince words, nor dramatize a situation. Sure, there were some details about certain stagings and colleagues that I would have liked to have learned more about, but the brevity of the writing allows you to read the entire book in just a couple of sittings.

Of all the stories she tells about relationships with other singers, most interesting of all is her "rivalry" with Grace Bumbry. Verrett hits it on the mark when she compares the much-hyped rivalry as being the equivalent of two black racehorses. It is an apt analogy, even if Verrett undermines the parallels between her career vis-a-vis Bumbry's. We're not just talking about two black opera singers. We are talking about two mezzos who often switched fachs, were as comfortable singing bel canto as they were singing Verdi, and whose signature roles overlapped (Eboli, Amneris, etc.) So, by default, controversy was bound to happen. In the end, they became friends, but the story of the rivalry is very compelling.

There are a couple of things that I don't like about this memoir. First, Verrett (and/or Mr. Brooks) has a bad habit of repeating information that you just read about a page or two earlier. The most blatant example is how she describes the increasing difficulty to pack opera houses. She mentions that even Joan Sutherland had trouble filling a house to capacity. Then, a couple of chapters later, she mentions that even Joan Sutherland had trouble filling a house to capacity(!)

Speaking of Sutherland, she also slights her in a paragraph where she gives her opinions of how critical acting is to a role, especially Norma. Verrett talks about how one critic faulted her diction when she sand Norma in San Fransisco. Verrett opines that the critic must have "another" soprano in mind that he preferred, which we understand is Sutherland, although Shirley never mentions her by name. Shirley declares that diction was this soprano's great weakness, and dismisses her acting ability by saying she acted "from the neck up". This is a valid point to make, but I am a Sutherlandphile, and feel that the Sutherland temperment was often underestimated.

All in all, this is a wonderful autobiography, of an artist hailed by the Italians as "La Nera Callas". She is very frank about the opportunities she let go by, including an exclusive contract with RCA. Funny how so many of the opera recordings we treasure were almost cast differently; if Verrett hadn't walked out on her contract, she would have recorded Preziosilla and Amneris opposite Leontyne Price, instead of Cossotto and Bumbry.

Shirley Verrett's autobiography "I Never Walked Alone" (with Christopher Brooks) pretty much tells her life as she has seen it, and all I can say is, "Right on." She covers the highlights of her career and does not shy from admitting mistakes she made along the way and things she would have done differently. Now a teacher at the University of Michigan, she leaves the impression that she is writing her autobiography, at least in part as a cautionary tale for her students. Coming from a woman who had a spectacular career, that is pretty strong stuff. Having shared her remarkable gifts with the world, she need not apologize for any false step she may think she took along the way. She steps from the pages of this book as a woman who was always true to herself. What more can a person ask?

Miss Verrett, whom the Italians dubbed the black Callas, covers it all. She gives the details of her strict upbringing and the effect it had on her career, her first marriage and why it dissolved and the trials that faced her as a African American opera singer arriving on the scene just as members of race were crossing the color line at the Metropolitan Opera House (not to mention other major opera houses). With touching candor, she relates her struggles to become a mother and some of the problems she faced balacing child-rearing and a career, her battles with a mysterious illness that made singing difficult, and working through the hormonal changes that accompanied middle life. Throughout, she describes singers and conductors she admired and enjoyed as well as several she did not; she returns several times to her complicated relationship with Grace Bumbry (known in Germany as the black Venus), painting a wonderful picture of their catharsis.

Put this one in the must read category along with the recent biographies of Eileen Farrell and Astrid Varnay, two other outspoken and humorous divas who called it like they saw it.

Shirley Verrett's life experiences and career were enlightening on several fronts. I appreciated her candid discussion of her mistakes and triumphs. Not being an opera buff, I was able to relate to Verrett's story at a human level. The challenges she faced in juggling her active career with a relatively stable homelife was inspiring. I was also impressed with the directness with which she spoke about her failed first marriage. She gave up the material wealth to gain peace of mind and in doing so eventually met her soulmate to whom she has been married for forty years. I highly recommend this book for music lovers and non-music lovers alike. There are many life lessons to be gleaned here. This is more than the story of an American singer. It is a story that many women will be able to relate to at some level.

I am harpist, not singer, but from my childhood I heard opera. We have at home an antique phonograph and I listened the musical ancestors from Mrs. Verrett, like Louise Hommer, Ernestine Schumann-Heink, Sigrid Onegin, Rosa Ponselle, Amelita Galli-Curci and others. When we received our first electric LP player I began to love the great Martina Arroyo and Shirley Verrett and I follow their carreers and glories continuosly.
I flew last april to NY in order to greet them live in the luncheon of the Metropolitan opera wild. What an amazing experience! I talked with Mrs. Verrett few minutes in the lobby of the Waldorf Astoria hotel and I keep in my mind and in my soul this short but wonderful conversation, I feelt the dignity, peace and harmony in her character and personality. And now, after I buyed her autobiography, I can better understand why she is so a great person and singer and my knowdleges about opera are richer. Thank you Mrs. Verrett, thank you Mr. Brooks !
I recommend the book as document and entretaining literature, and as gift idea, the presentation is so elegant!

Shirley Verrett was one of the finest singers of her generation. Her recorded legacy gives proof to all the accolades that have been written about her. But what makes this book as rewarding as her singing is the common theme of "truth."

I found the book an informative look at the glories and pains of a major operatic career. It's difficult for any of us to look back and face the truth, but Shirley Verrett does just that with great candor and even (at times) a sense of humor. I have been reading singers' biographies since my own student days. Many have been good (for various reasons), but this one touches a deep place for me. Her willingness to share about her family and her internal struggles seemed to hit home (I think it will with many). I loved and appreciated the fact that she made no excuses and took responsibility for her own miscalculations in her career and life. Don't get me wrong, She happily shares her many triumphs in the great opera houses and concert halls of the world as well.

Lastly, you will feel the deep love of music in this book. Unlike other biographies where things can seem "put on", I can always feel a sense of love and devotion to a musical and personal sense of responsibility. I never felt that she was preachy or putting on a show about how artsy she is. This is a great book for young students: the work ethic and devotion to doing one's best is a main theme in every area of her life. We can all learn from this.

This book is a must-have for any serious musician. As a young singer, I found Madame Verrett's book very delightful and inspiring. She tells her own story with such conviction, power, and truth. (At least, I am convinced!) Having read many singers' biographies, Verrett's memoir stands as one of the most interesting, compelling to date. Brutally honest, I like the moments when "she tells on myself" sharing some of her most personal conflicts, mistakes, and struggles as a diva. Filled with common sense, humor, and vocal wisdom which stems from over thirty years of singing in the world's leading opera houses, "I Never Walked Alone" should serve as a guidepost and source of renewed inspiration to young singers, coaches, teachers, and students alike.

Shirley Verrett must surely rank as one of the most distinguished American singers of the late twentieth century, with a combination of looks, voice and musical intelligence that carried her to the great halls and opera houses of the world, in practically all of the major mezzo-soprano and quite a few leading soprano roles of the operatic repertoire. Yet there has always been the sense that her career could have reached even greater heights, and this unusually thoughtful and introspective book of reminiscences addresses that question mark.

The book is ghostwritten, and the plainness of the writing is an advantage, as makes it seem as if a genuine person's voice is coming through. Verrett details her early upbringing in California, as the daughter of strict Seventh-Day Adventist parents; her early desire to sing and perform, and the encouragement of her father; her hesitant early steps forward, at one point turning down an opportunity to study with the great Lotte Lehmann; her unhappy first marriage and her happier second, with an adopted daughter. The sense of the importance of her family runs strong through her later, standard recounting of musical triumphs, and gives some explanation for career moves that seemed strange in the public eye at the time--when La Scala offered her a blank five-year contract after her extraordinary triumph there as Lady MacBeth, for example, she turned it down as it would have meant uprooting her husband from his established niche as a New York artist. Such a frank recounting of conflicts between the demands of career and family, as well as a willingness to discuss other faulty decisions (leaving RCA as a recording artist, for example) and her chronic health problems set this book apart from the usual diva memoir and make it at times an unusually touching self-portrait.

Apart from some dissection of her uneasy relationships with fellow mezzo-sopranos Marilyn Horne and Grace Bumbry, there is little sense of an inside look at the operatic world, nor does Verrett address the whole question of her taking up soprano roles such as Norma and Tosca, which many observers felt was a mistake, in any but general, self-justifying terms. As an artistic, as opposed to a personal, self-analysis this volume is not up to the level of, say, Astrid Varnay's memoirs. The lack of a detailed performance chronology is also a distinct liability. Still, overall this particular opera memoir is a memorable and entertaining read.

Shirley Verrett has written a profound, candid autobiography of her life and career as opera singer. Many singers write their own autobiographies and memoirs, among them include Placido Domingo, Luciano Pavoratti, Beverly Sills, Marilyn Horne and Joan Sutherland. Renee Fleming has also recently released her autobiography. Each singer provides us with an in-depth look at the elements that compose the opera business- from rehearsals, to facing reviews by critics, fandom, scandals, rumors, rivalries, recording sessions, the ups and downs of their careers and their personal lives. In the case of Shirley Verrett, we are treated to an uplifting and inspiring account of her life, and struggles. She's passionate, conversational, down-to-earth and very humble. I could never see her as the stereotypical diva raging and giving orders. Verrett was a classy lady, with artistic integrity, work ethics, morals and a lot of heart. From the first page to the last, we are in for a great ride and she lavishes the book with candid details and her inner thoughts on EVERYTHING. She opens up to us and we experience her life right along with her.

Shirley Verrett was raised as a Seventh-Day-Adventist, a strict and religious Christian denomination which is very active in America. As such, she was raised with the idea that a career in opera, and for that matter any public career, was sinful and shallow. Though perhaps Verrett had issues with her parents, she seems to have reconciled and even made them proud, for indeed she broke barriers in the opera scene. Opera is not rock and roll. It's the highest of all the arts, since it combines music, drama, art and poetry all in one. During the early 60's, it was extremely hard for a black woman to get into opera. Nowadays, it's a field they are experts in- we have seen the success of Jessie Norman, Kathleen Battle and Denyce Graves. But in a time of racial segregation and the desperate struggles of the Civil Rights Movement, it was difficult for a black woman to make it as an opera singer, and moreover, make it to the top as a leading soprano. Verrett tells us about these times. Her idol was contralto Marian Anderson, the first black woman to break the barrier, and tells us of how she met her in person and received great advice. Leontyne Price was on the rise as a dramatiac soprano and so was Grace Bumbry, who like Verrett, started off as a mezzo-soprano. Like Bumbry, Verrett did not want to remain constricted to the mezzo-soprano repertoire, which is actually quite limited and harldy the "star" role in any opera- (Azucena in Verdi's Trovatore, Ulrica in Un Ballo, Cherubino in Mozart's Nozze Di Figaro, Amneris in Verdi's Aida, Princess Eboli in Don Carlo and of course, the inevitable Carmen). Verrett provides us with anecdotes about performing these roles.

These roles Shirley Verrett mastered well, but singing the villain, or the vamp was not something she wanted to stick to. Other mezzo-sopranos, like Marilyn Horne (whom she talks about in her book, clarifying any rumors concering their clash of temperaments) got famous for using tricks to remain mezzos but still be a star- i.e. sticking to the Rossini heroines (most prominently in Semiramide but also L'Assedio Di Corinto, La Cenerentola and many other mezzo-coloratura roles. Dame Janet Baker used her mezzo voice to effectively convey religiosity and grace, while today's Cecilia Bartoli has made the mezzo voice a new form of dramatic soprano by coloring the voice with dizzying coloratura and highs as well as low notes. After making it to the top as a mezzo-soprano, it was time to move on. Like her peer, Grace Bumbry (with whom she was never really a rival, simply a rumor circulated by the media) she began training for the repertoire of dramatic soprano. Now, at last, she was ready to take on the same roles as her other idol, Maria Callas. Though Leontyne Price had already mastered the roles of Aida, Tosca, Leonora in Trovatore and Forza Del Destino, etc, Verrett was ready to hold her own.

Indeed, her stamina and committment served her well. A hard-working and talented artist, she nailed the soprano roles of Bellini's Norma (in a much acclaimed San Francisco Opera performance in 1978 which is also under a live recording) and Tosca which unfortunately was never captured on recording or video/film. As Norma she is passionate, intense, majestic and appropriately dramatic. She tells us of visits to Maria Callas' Paris apartment she inhabited in the late 70's shortly before her highly publicized death. Callas adviced her and Montserrat Caballe not to overdo Norma. Verrett took the advice to heart and was harks back to Callas in her performance, but with a lot more fluidity and better diction to the text. Caballe would do Norma much more than Verrett ever did. As Tosca, she is equally as passionate and intense. I personally dislike that the Italian press in Milan dubbed her "La Negra Callas" when she performed in La Scala, as if color was something people just had to point out. Verrett would go on to master the role of Aida and the heroine in Dialogue De Carmelites. She sang at least 3 times with Beverly Sills, with whom she had a great friendship (as the Lady Jane Seymour in the recording of Anna Bolena, as Adalgisa opposite Sill's Norma and as Neocle in Sill's Met debut in L'Assedio Di Corinto. She worked with the great Leyla Gencer, an underrated but outstanding dramatic diva (as Queen Elizabeth I in Maria Stuarda) and also with Caballe in Lucrezia Borgia. She sounded rather good opposite Placido Domingo in operas as Samson And Delilah and L'Africaine. Her last great role was as Santuzza in Cavalleria Rusticana. Retired, she looks back at her impressive career. She now coaches voice, is a great doner to charitable causes and a spokesperson for opera. This was a truly great book and I loved reading about her experience, which proved how persistence and integrity are eventually rewarded. My favorite moment- her parents, previously rejecting the "material world" and opera too, finally come to see their daughter in a performance of Carmen.

This is a very good autobiography by a great diva whom I had the pleasure of seeing many times (Dallas, New York, San Francisco). It was a pleasure to read her account of how she made it to the top. The book has some very honest pages about her religion, her family, racism in the US (shame on you, Houston Symphony!), a failed marriage, constant health issues, and her unstoppable drive to become a classical singer. Sometimes, she doesn't hold back (take that Fiorenza Cossotto and Grace Bumbry!) and other times she's very polite (as in not naming tenors who didn't have a good night and she doesn't want to criticize them now).

Sometimes, she admits to a failing memory, and we get vague mentions as to who certain colleagues were or when she really sang this or that role for the last time. There are two amazing sections on "Macbeth" in Italy. The latter (in Rome) is devastatingly honest. Would that all autobiographies could be so honest about failures. Also. there's a funny passage about filming "Macbeth" in Belgium. Throughout, she displays a basic humility and kindness toward most colleagues (uh, Franco Corelli and Jon Vickers, how dare you both!!) and most opera house administrators (ooops, bad La Scala, bad Met). Since she presents her case most convincingly, I had to stay on her side the entire time. There were times that I wanted just a little more catfight, but that's just not the way Shirley was raised. I ended up admiring her parents and grandparents almost as much as I admire her.

She had the help of Christopher Brooks in writing this, so perhaps we'll blame him for "vocal chords" on page 292. If you want to read a very inspirational account of how someone can rise above the petty racism around her to become an honored symbol of humanity (like her idol Marian Anderson), this is the book for you.

You no doubt know the basics of what the book is about and you've read that Ms. Verrett is utterly honest and candid in every sentence of the book.

What this means to me -- this is not only a book that is nearly impossible to put down (if you're interested in operatic performance and the personalities therein), it is also a book that lingers in the mind. Also, I can't remember a book that has generated so much conversation among friends. If you're of a certain age, this book will call up memories of gossip and legends that were hot topics in the 70's and 80's and will give you new insights on the truth behind them.

I will enjoy keeping this book on my shelf to refer back to as we talk about our memories for a long time.