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The Filipino soprano, Evelyn Mandac, studied at Oberlin College Conservatory and at Juilliard School od Music in New York City.
Evelyn Mandac made her debut in Mobile, Alabama in 1968 in Orff's Carmina Burana. She sang at the Santa Fe in 1968 in the USA premiere of Henze's Tha Bassarids; Washington DC in 1969, as Mimi in La Boheme; Toured with Juilliard Quartet in 1969 in Arnold Schoenberg's 2nd Quartet; Carmel Bach Festival in 1971 singing J.S. Bach’s Cantata under Sandor Salgo; Seattle Opera in 1972, in the premiere of Pasatieri's The Black Widow; Sang in the USA premiere of Luciano Berio's Passaggio; San Francisco in 1972, as Inez in L'Africaine; Glyndebourne in 1974-1975.as Susanna and Despina; Houston Opera in 1975 in George Frideric Handel's Rinaldo; Baltimore Opera in 1976, in the premiere of Pasatieri's Inez de Castro; Lisa in The Queen of Spades for US TV in 1977..
Evelyn Mandac made her Metropolitan Opera House debut in New York in 1975, as Lauretta in Gianni Schicchi1. She is the first and, thus far, the only Filipino singer who has performed in the Met. From 1970 to 19802, Mandac assumed the feminine lead role (or one of the lead roles) in more than 20 operas staged at the Met, and has appeared in major opera houses not only in the USA but also in Europe. Time Magazine once described her as “a specially beautiful singer” after Mandac sang with Marilyn Horne in G.F. Handel’s Rinaldo. Her engagements have included international festivals such as England’s Glyndebourne, Austria’s Salzburg and Helburn, Italy’s Ravinia, and appearances in Toulouse, Turin, Rome and Geneva, etc.
Evelyn Mandac has sung the operatic roles of Mimi in Puccini’s La Boheme, Manon in Massenet’s Manon, Princess Liu in Puccini’s Turandot, Micaela in Georges Bizet’s Carmen, Melisande in Debussy’s Pelleas et Melisande, Gilda in Verdi’s Rigoletto, Leila in G. Bizet’s Les Pecheures de Perles and Inez in Meyerbeer’s L’ Africana. Her lighter roles include Lauretta in Puccini’s Gianni Schicchi, Zerlina in Mozart’s Don Giovanni, Anna in Verdi’s Falstaff, Norina in Donizetti’s Don Pasquale, Sophie in Strauss’ Der Rosenkavalier, Mozart’s Der Zauberflöte and Le Nozze di Figaro.
Conductors have eagerly accompanied her performances over television. Evelyn Mandac recorded Carmina Burana with Seiji Ozawa and the Boston Symphony Orchestra (RCA), a performance that was named Best In Interpretation by The Stereo Review. She sang in Tchaikovsky’s Queen of Spades with the famed Jennie Tourel, with Peter Adler conducting the Boston Symphony Orchestra. She has also performed with James Levine conducting the Cleveland Orchestra, Jan Peerce, Brigit Nilsson, tenor Richard Tucker, Swedish baritone Håkan Hagegård, Plácido Domingo, mezzo soprano Marilyn Horne, Shirley Barret, Marion Lippert, and Dame Kiri Te Kanawa. |
