Marian Anderson [View all]

So last night I watch the PBS show on Marian Anderson. I'd love to hear from any other DUers who also did. I hadn't planned on it, but there it was, right after Finding Your Roots, which I try not to miss, ever. And I realized several things while watching it.

1. I can't remember a time in my life when I didn't know who Marian Anderson was. My parents had 78s of her singing which they played. A lot. They were classical music and opera buffs (she hadn't yet made her Met debut, which happened when I was a teenager, in 1960) and her voice, along with those of Schwarzkopf and Isobel Bailey, was as familiar to me as my mother's.
2. I knew almost nothing about her background or growing up years. Although I knew that, like most Black musicians, she got her start in church, I didn't know she was advertised at one time as the "baby contralto". I didn't know that she didn't graduate from high school (at a time when most Americans didn't have HS diplomas!) until she was 24. I didn't know about her 25 year romance with Orpheus "King" Fisher. None of that at all.
3. Although I knew she was famous in Europe, I didn't know how famous, or how much she was respected by the greats of music...Sibelius, Stokowski, etc. That was a real revelation.
4. The biggie...I did not realize the extent of her vocal range. It must have been a good 2 1/2 octaves at least. Denyce Graves, one of the narrators of the show, said it went way above the staff and even she didn't have that much. I know it went way low (I'm an alto and even in my best days I had trouble going there).

She was an altogether amazing woman and a trailblazer in so many ways. Do yourself a favor and even if you're not a classical music buff, stream this show. You will be glad you did.