Opera Singers in the Kitchen What gives opera singers as much pleasure as that vaunted "high C?"  (G.P.)  OK, what gives opera singers almost as much pleasure as that vaunted "high C?"  Right, dining in excelsis.  The gourmanderie of the opera singer is legendary - and rightly so.  When not singing, rehearsing or otherwise plying the tenets of their art, many singers enjoy their time in the kitchen wielding the instruments of the cuisinary arts.  In sharing these culinary talents with others of like kind, famous stories of post-opera pre-prandial excursions into pasta-fest preparations in hotel rooms abound.  Most singers can manipulate a scallion as easily as a scale.  Needless to say, all musicians seem partial to the exotic in food fare, but singers appear to find more of a parallel between the sensuality of singing and the gustatory satisfaction of fine eating, hence there emerge more cookbooks by and about singers than any other vocational musician. (When was the last time you saw a Violists' Cookbook?)  As (yet another) adjunct collection within the conglomerate Durbeck Archive, there has been an extended effort to obtain as many cookbooks as possible relating to the dining habits, preferences and practices of those participating in, and dedicated to, the operatic art.  Here are some of the Archive's more interesting acquisitions.   The Metropolitan Opera Cookbook Jules Bond, editor Foreword by Plácido Domingo New York: Stewart, Tabori & Chang  240 pages, HB, DJ First Edition, © 1988       autographed by the following "chefs:" Plácido Domingo Marilyn Horne Joan Sutherland Blanche Thebom Frederica Von Stade Kiri Te Kanawa Robert Merrill Dorothy Kirsten, "I loved onions     in almost everything." Roberta Peters Peter Gravina The Bel Canto Cookbook Garden City: Doubleday & Company 219 pages, HB, DJ,  First Edition, © 1964   autographed by: Dorothy Kirsten Robert Merrill Roberta Peters Joan Sutherland Encore - The Favorite Dishes of the World's Most Famous Musicians (including many opera singers) New York: Random House 310 pages, HB, DJ  First Edition, © 1958 autographed by: Robert Merrill Blanche Thebom   Charlotte Morris Favorite Recipes of Famous Musicians (including many opera singers) New York: Prentice-Hall 301 pages, HB, DJ  © 1941 Published in 1941, all of these recipes are really from "scratch." Donna Casey, comp. What Aria Cooking? San Francisco Opera Cookbook Published by The San Francisco Opera Guild Auxillary. San Francisco: privately printed. 132 pages, softcover © 1974 This is a collection of recipes by opera personalities who have participated in San Francisco productions. autographed by: Blanche Thebom Charles Neilson Gattey Foie Gras and Trumpets London: Constable 239 pages, HB, DJ © 1984 autographed by: Kiri Te Kanawa Over 100 rare recipes created for or by famous musicians; anecdotes about their eating habits for the past 300 years Dinah Shore, comp. The Celebrity Cookbook Introduction by Dinah Shore Los Angeles: Price Stern Sloan Publishers 93 pages, HB, © 1966 Although these celebrities are mostly Hollywood personalities, there are a few opera singers represented in there.  An interestingly presented cookbook.   Walter Slezak My Stomach Goes Traveling Foreword by Jean Kerr New York: Doubleday 320 pages, HB, DJ  © 1979 While not specifically an "opera singer's" cookbook, there are many references to opera and to singers in the book.  Walter's father was the great tenor, Leo Slezak.  Funny, there are no recipes for "swan" in this book. THE LITTLE OPERA COMPANY COOKBOOK. A Fund Raising cookbook for the benefit of The Little Opera Company of Winnipeg, Canada. Winnipeg: Gateway Publishing Co. Ltd., 2003. Autographed to me, personally, by Diane Berger, project coordinator. Anyone wanting a copy of this delightful cookbook can contact: dvberger@hotmail.com It is $15.00 (USD, ppd) Return to The Gallery                    Return to Home Page