Norman Treigle American opera singer, bass-baritone Date of Birth: 06.03.1927 Country: USA

Biography of Norman Treigle

Norman Treigle was an American opera singer, bass-baritone, renowned for his exceptional acting abilities, particularly in portraying various villains and monsters. He was born in New Orleans, the fifth and youngest child of a poor carpenter. In 1946, Norman married Loraine Siegel and began professionally studying the secrets of vocal mastery under the guidance of contralto singer Elisabeth Wood.

In 1947, Treigle made his debut on the stage of the New Orleans Opera Association, portraying the character of Duke of Verona in 'Roméo et Juliette'. From 1949 to 1951, he studied at Loyola University of the South's College of Music while simultaneously performing various roles in local opera theaters. In 1953, Treigle made his first appearance at the New York City Opera, playing the role of Colline in 'La bohème'. However, it took him three more years to achieve significant success when he portrayed Reverend Olin Blitch in the New York premiere of Carlisle Floyd's 'Susannah'. In 1958, he performed in the European debut version of the same work at the Brussels World's Fair.

Following this remarkable success, Treigle quickly became one of the most popular bass-baritones in North America and ranked highly among the world's best opera singers. He often participated in experimental productions and had the opportunity to perform in several important premieres of works by Gottfried von Einem, Douglas Moore, Aaron Copland, Carl Orff, Luigi Dallapiccola, and Robert Ward. Some of his greatest roles during this period included Mephistopheles in 'Faust', Escamillo in 'Carmen', and memorable performances in 'Susannah', 'Il prigioniero', 'Les contes d'Hoffmann', 'Boris Godunov', and 'Mefistofele'.

On February 16, 1975, Treigle was found dead in his New Orleans apartment. The investigation revealed that he had taken an excessive amount of sleeping pills, as he had been suffering from insomnia for a long time.