Blog Post
From the desk of James Reel on Wednesday, July 5th 2006 at 7:05

LORRAINE HUNT LIEBERSON

    It’s remarkable and touching how people are reacting to the death Monday of mezzo Lorraine Hunt Lieberson. How many other classical singers today would inspire such a mixture of admiration, respect, and deep affection? She was a superb artist, excelling equally in vocal technique, communicative expression, taste, and musical courage, and as far as I know she never, ever indulged in diva behavior. By all accounts she was a decent, likable person, an impression I certainly got when I interviewed her a few years ago. She died at age 52 of causes that have not been officially announced; the widespread assumption inolves breast cancer, for which she was treated a few years ago, but one rumor has it that she succumbed to metastatic liver cancer. Tributes are proliferating; I’ll point you to two: Patty Mitchell fondly remembers working with her way back when, and Craig Smith provides a nice assessment of her more recent work in the Free New Mexican. For a more comprehensive list, go here and scroll down the right-hand column.

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