Strange Child of Chaos: Norman Treigle

About the Book

This is the fascinating story of one of America's greatest singers, Norman Treigle (1927–1975). Born in the South's most exotic city, New Orleans, he was acclaimed as one of history's finest singing-actors, specialising in rôles that evoked villainy and terror, and was a resident star at the adventurous New York City Opera.

In this, the first biography of the legendary bass-baritone, you will read of his colourful life in New Orleans, his self-destructive life-style, the seeming contradictions in his complex character, his passion for the race-track, his enormous voice and emaciated physique, his electrifying stage-presence and astonishing acting ability, why he never sang at the Metropolitan Opera, and his mysterious, sudden death at the age of forty-seven. Read also of his relationships with his closest colleagues, including Beverly Sills, Phyllis Curtin, Jon Vickers, Plácido Domingo, Michael Devlin, Carlisle Floyd, Julius Rudel, Tito Capobianco and Frank Corsaro.

Based on the singer's private files, years of extensive research, and interviews with many of his relatives, friends and colleagues, Strange Child of Chaos (a quote from Mefistofele, his greatest triumph) is a tale of the troubled life of an incomparable artist of an elemental power, who bestrode the stage for too brief a moment.

About the Author

Brian Morgan is former Artistic Director of Opera Quotannis (New York) and former Programme Annotator of the New Orleans Opera. His writings on æsthetics have appeared in various publications, including Opera News.