ABSTRACT
American soprano, born in St. Louis, Missouri. She studied singing as a child, and made a concert debut with the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra on 13 Dec 1923, performing in Mahler’s Fourth Symphony. She continued singing and studying locally, and then sang at the Metropolitan Opera in a minor role on 12 May 1937. After singing her first major part, as Sieglinde on 28 Dec 1939, she was quickly identified as the prime American Wagnerian soprano. She was Kirsten Flagstad’s successor as BrÅnnhilde, Elsa, Isolde, and the other Wagner heroines. She was also outstanding as the Marschallin, and occasionally ventured into the Italian repertoire with fine results. An early operatic crossover singer, she enjoyed working in New York nightclubs; objections from the Metropolitan management in 1953 led her to quit the opera company and remain with the popular idiom. Traubel then performed on Broadway, in films and on television. She died in Santa Monica, California.
