Deborah Cook - Adam: LE TOREADOR, Ah! vous dirai-je, maman Variations, High D

THE SONGBIRD: Although born in Philadelphia, soprano Deborah Cook (1938 - 2019) primarily based her singing career out of Germany. She studied at Temple University and made her professional debut with the Philadelphia Lyric Opera Company in 1965. In the 1970s and 1980s, Cook sang coloratura and soubrette roles in opera houses and concert halls across Europe and the UK, including Zerbinetta at Glyndebourne and Fiakermilli at Covent Garden. She was featured in the world premiere of Henze's opera "We Come to the River" at Covent Garden in 1976. After returning to the U.S. in 1985, Cook became the executive secretary for the head of oncology at Children’s Hospital in Philadelphia, while teaching voice at Haverford College and Bryn Mawr College. She was the Cantor of several synagogues in Pennsylvania and later in Maine where she moved in the late 1990s.

THE MUSIC: Adolphe Adam's "Le toréador" is an opera-comique that premiered 1849. The character Coraline is an opera singer and she sings these famous variations on a theme of an old French children's folk song "Ah, vous dirai-je, maman" (known in English as the melody of "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star"). This tune has been referenced in over a dozen classical works by composers including Haydn, Liszt, Saint-Saens, Montsalvatge, John Corigliano, and most famously in variations set by Mozart for piano (K.265). Whereas Adam's aria is most often heard as a free-standing concert showpiece with soprano and flute interplay -- and a long cadenza -- in the context of his opera, it is actually a performed as trio. You can hear this (in German) on my channel sung by Ilse Hollweg and two men: https://youtu.be/p52Zf1zwe2Y

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