Nell Rankin Dies at 81; Mezzo-Soprano With Met
NY Times
Nell Rankin, an American mezzo-soprano who sang at the Metropolitan Opera for 25 years and was highly regarded for her warm-toned portrayals of Amneris in Verdi’s “Aida” and in the title role in Bizet’s “Carmen,” died last Thursday at Cabrini Medical Center in New York. She was 81, and lived in New York.
Her husband, Dr. Hugh Clark Davidson, said the cause was polycythemia vera, a bone marrow disease.
During her years at the Met, Ms. Rankin sang many of the major dramatic mezzo-soprano roles. Among them were Amneris, with which she made her debut on Nov. 22, 1951, and several other Verdi roles - Eboli in “Don Carlo,” Azucena in “Il Trovatore” and Ulrica in “Un Ballo en Maschera,” as well as Carmen, Ortrud in Wagner’s “Lohengrin,” Santuzza in Mascagni’s “Cavalleria Rusticana” and Herodias in Strauss’s “Salome.” She ended her Met career in 1976, singing Laura in Ponchielli’s “Gioconda.”
