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Eileen Farrell

American opera and pop singer Eileen Farrell died on 23 March 2002 in Park Ridge, aged 82.

Born in Willimantic, Connecticut in 1920, the daughter of Irish-American vaudeville singers, Farrell was taught by her mother. She married a New York policeman and turned down work which took her away from her children.

Eileen Farrell, 1920-2002

As one of the leading sopranos of her generation, with a voice known for its power and beauty, she sang at the Met from 1962-66, including alongside Robert Merrill in Andrea Chenier, worked with Bernstein and the New York Philharmonic, dubbed the voice of opera singer Marjorie Lawrence in the 1955 Hollywood film Interrupted Melody and hosted a weekly radio programme on the CBS network.

Her forays into pop and jazz began in 1959 when she took over from a sick Louis Armstrong whilst performing the Verdi Requiem at Menotti's Spoleto Festival in Italy. She made a success of her pop and jazz work, recording albums such as Here I Go Again for Columbia Records.

Posted: 24 March 2002

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