About Regina Resnik
Regina Resnik (born Regina Resnick, August 30, 1922 – August 8, 2013) was an American opera singer who had an active international career that spanned five decades. She began her career as a soprano in 1942 and soon after began a relationship with the Metropolitan Opera that spanned from 1944 until 1983. Under the advice of conductor Clemens Krauss, she began retraining her voice in the mezzo-soprano repertoire in 1953 and by 1956 had completely removed soprano literature from her performance repertoire. While the Met was Resnik's artistic home, she worked regularly as a guest artist with other major American opera companies and with the top European opera houses, including La Scala, the Paris Opera, the Royal Opera, London, the San Francisco Opera, and the Vienna State Opera. After the mid-1980s, her performance career transitioned away from opera towards musical theater. In addition to performing, Resnik worked as a stage director at several European opera houses during the 1970s and 1980s, usually in collaboration with her husband, scenic and costume designer Arbit Blatas. She was also active as a voice teacher, teaching on the voice faculties of several music conservatories, including the Juilliard School. In April 1944 Resnik won the Metropolitan Opera Auditions of the Air, performing "Ernani, involami", and was offered a contract with that company for the 1944/45 season. In the spring of 1944, she portrayed both Frasquita and Micaela in Georges Bizet's Carmen in the New York City Opera's (NYCO) first season with Dusolina Giannini in the title role. She was the Met's first Ellen Orford in Peter Grimes and created Delilah in the world premiere of Bernard Rogers' The Warrior.
Biography source: Wikipedia. The profile adds birthday-specific historical context from the Celebs Birthday Today editorial database.