Note: A version of this obituary originally appeared in the Classical Singer magazine (February, 2000) and is posted here with their kind permission.  Photo is used with the kind permission of the Ruth Welting Tribute site.

On December 16, Ruth Welting died at the age of 51 at her home in Asheville, North Carolina, of cervical cancer.  She was one of America's shining operatic stars during the 1970s and '80s and her premature passing has saddened not only colleagues but her many fans.  By 1996, Ruth had retired from the operatic stage, and was preparing to pursue an entirely new career path in government and foreign affairs.  In 1994 she entered Syracuse University in NY and graduated with a degree in liberal studies in 1998, at which time she entered the Maxwell School of Government at Syracuse.

I first heard Ruth Welting's voice in 1975, at an ambitious all-French concert program given by Andre Kostalanetz and the New York Philharmonic.  In addition to a Poulenc song, she sang Bachelet's "Chere Nuit" and the major florid arias from Hoffmann, Linda di Chamonix and Lakme.  Her encore was the Mad Scene from Hamlet.  I remember the impact of her voice as if it were yesterday: uncommonly sizable voice for its type and height, a firm, ringing top register, fluid, poised coloratura work and an advanced musicality for such a young artist.

For many Americans in the early 1970s, the 5' 2" apple-cheeked dynamo, represented a new breed of singer.  At the time of her glory days at the New York City Opera, the fact that often drew the most attention was that she ran a mile and 1/2 around the Central Park reservoir every day.  Vocally, what set Ruth aside from many other artists was a rare blending of secure, often dazzling technique, an exquisite legato line, seemingly endless range and an obvious love for her work.  She had a bright, sweet timbre and a formidable technique.  She occasionally astounded listeners by interpolating high Gs and A flats and her controversial cadenza in Lucia's Mad Scene boasted not only high Fs of great power and ease but also trills on high D and E.  (In the tradition of Frieda Hempel and Lily Pons, Ruth sang the Mad Scene in its original key of F rather than E flat.).  Her ornamentation was fresh and governed by an instinctive understanding of their construction and stylistic differences, and exhibited that infrequent uniting of elegance and imagination.  In singer's lingo, there was always a "face" to Ruth Welting's singing.

Born in 1948, in Memphis, Tennessee, Ruth originally intended to be a concert pianist - having studied for 15 years and having won the gold medal in the National Guild of Piano Teacher's Paderewski Competition.  But the allure of singing led her to study for 3 years at Memphis State University and, then, on the recommendation of Menotti, she went to Rome to study with the famous vocal coach, Luigi Ricci.

After her return to America she auditioned for the NYCO and made her debut in 1971, at the age of 22, as Blondchen.  Her success was immediate and was quickly followed by a series of roles including Lucia, Olympia, Adele, Rosina, Oscar, Zerlina and Despina.  The 1970s, and 1980s found her singing throughout America, Spain, Italy, Holland, Canada, France and England being especially noted for her portrayals of Lakme, Lucia, Olympia, Fille du Regiment, la Fee in Cendrillon, Philine in Mignon and Ophelia (the famous 1990 Chicago revival of Hamlet with Sherrill Milnes).  She made her Metropolitan Opera debut as Zerbinetta during the March 20, 1976 broadcast of Ariadne auf Naxos with Montserrat Caballe and during the next decade was Edita Gruberova's only serious competition.  She sang sporadically at the Met until at least October 1992, and her final performances as Olympia.

We are fortunate that she left two important recordings as her commercial legacy: a world-premiere recording of Massenet's Cendrillon (Sony CD, in which she sings La Fee) and the first complete recording of Thomas' Mignon with Marilyn Horne.  (Re-released onto Sony CD in 1999)

Ruth's private life was often not an easy one - a failed marriage to conductor, Edo de Waart, and the tragic, 1986 death of her older sister, Patricia (who also sang at the Metropolitan Opera for 3 seasons) and her family. Despite all these things, Ruth took control of her life and found solace in a re-affirmation of her faith by becoming a born-again Christian.

The high point of Ruth's career came early.  It was her unforgettable portrayal of Baby in Douglas Moore's The Ballad of Baby Doe in the NYCO Telecast in April of 1976.  (The first complete opera to be broadcast live over PBS).  Surrounded by such colleagues as Richard Fredricks, Frances Bible and the conductor Judith Somogi, Ruth gave one of the finest performances of her career.  By virtue of her inherent timbre and refined musicianship, she captured the complex essence of the character with disarming simplicity yet great, emotive power.  It is unfortunate that the telecast has never been commercially released.  Aside from being a superb demonstration of belcanto singing, Welting's singing of Baby's final aria (The Leadville Liebestodt) transcended art and became a cathartic experience for her listeners.  It was one of the most moving moments experienced during that decade of operatic performances.