Evelyn

Mandac                   

Soprano ~ Performer ~ Mentor

Photo by Christian Steiner

Evelyn Mandac was the first, and still is the only, Filipina to sing major roles at the Metropolitan Opera. Moreover, she broke the glass ceiling by performing not only leading roles in standard repertoire but also in operas by significant 20th century composers. Her five American premieres include two at Juilliard, The Mines of Sulphur by Rodney Bennett and Passaggio by Luciano Berio in New York (which she then performed in Turino, Italy with the RAI Orchestra), and three professional ones, L'Ormindo by Francesco Cavalli at the Washington National Opera, Bassarids by Hans Werner Henze at Sante Fe Opera, and the first staged US production of George Frideric Handel's Rinaldo with Marilyn Horne at Houston Opera. Her two world professional premieres were operas written by Thomas Pasatieri inspired by both her voice and dramatic prowess, Ines de Castro at the Baltimore Opera and Black Widow at the Seattle Opera with Jennie Tourel. The significant role of Liù to Birgit Nilsson’s Princess in Turandot opened up worldwide engagements. She has performed at major companies in the United States, France, Germany, Switzerland, Holland, Italy and Canada, in various prestigious music festivals such as Salzburg Festival, Glyndebourne Opera Festival, Holland Opera Festival, the Promenade Concert at the Royal Albert Hall in London, the Ravinia Festival in Chicago, and the Robin Hood Dell in Philadelphia, with famous conductors including the legendary Herbert von Karajan, James Levine, Seiji Ozawa, Claudio Abbado, Zubin Mehta, and Eugene Ormandy, and with prominent opera singers during her illustrious career, besides those mentioned above, including Placido Domingo, Sherill Milnes, Shirley Verrett, Frederica von Stade, Kiri Te Kanawa, and Richard Tucker. She also made her TV debut appearance as Lisa in Tchaikovsky’s Queen of Spades in the first opera adaptation made for the National Education Television. A young Filipina with little opera experience, she managed to break invisible barriers in the opera world in the late 1960s and beyond. As Asian and minority women empowering themes gain importance in today’s social landscape, the story of Evelyn Mandac becomes more significant to share, record, and document. 

PREMIERES

Evelyn Mandac's first American Premiere in the role of Her in Passaggio.Photo by Oleaga Photography, courtesy of the Juilliard Archives.
Evelyn Mandac's second American Premiere in the role of Jenny in The Mines of Sulphur. Photo by Milton Oleaga, courtesy of the Juilliard Archives.

FIVE AMERICAN PREMIERES


Bassarids by Hans Werner Henze at Santa Fe Opera

L'Ormindo by Francesco Cavalli at the Washington National Opera

Passaggio by Luciano Berio at The Juilliard School

Rinaldo by George Frideric Handel at Houston Opera

The Mines of Sulphur by Rodney Bennett at The Juilliard School

TWO WORLD PREMIERES

Black Widow by Thomas Pasatieri at Seattle Opera

Ines de Castro by Thomas Pasatieri at Baltimore Opera

(both written for her voice and dramatic prowess)


Evelyn Mandac as Almerina with Marilyn Horne in the Rinaldo's American Stage Premiere. Photo: Houston Grand Opera Archives
Evelyn Mandac as Berta with Theodore Uppman and Jennie Tourel in the World Premiere of Black Widow.Photo: by Des Gates/Seattle Opera Archives

ROLES

Adina in L'Elisir d'Amore

Almerina in Rinaldo

Anne Truelove in The Rake's Progress

Autonoe in Bassarids

Berta in Black Widow

Clorinda in Il Combattimento

Despina in Così Fan Tutte

Gilda in Rigoletto 

Gretel in Hänsel und Gretel

Her in Passagio

Ines in Ines de Castro

Ines in L'Africaine

Jenny in Mines of Sulphur

Lauretta in Gianni Schicchi 

*Standard 

Evelyn Mandac as Ines with Placido Domingo in L'AfricainePhoto: Carolyn Mason Jones/San Francisco Opera Archives 

Leila in Pearl Fishers

Lisa in Queen of Spades

Liù in Turandot  

Luise in Der Junge Lord 

Manon in Manon

Melisande in Pelleas et Melisande

Micaela in Carmen

Mimi in La Boheme 

Norina in Don Pascuale

Pamina in Die Zauberflöte 

Salud in La Vida Breve

Sicle in L'Ormindo

Susanna in Le Nozze di Figaro

Zerlina in Don Giovanni

 *20th Century 

THE FIRST FILIPINA

and still only Filipina to sing lead roles at the Metropolitan Opera

At an exhibit at the Met Opera in the Fall 2023, a photo of Evelyn Mandac making her debut at the Met as Lauretta in Giacomo Puccini's Gianni Schicchi (top right) beside Teresa Stratas (three photos on the left) and Renata Scotto (bottom right) both of whom also performed in other Met productions of Il Trittico.

TELEVISION DEBUT in the FIRST OPERA ADAPTATION

Made for the National Education Television

Evelyn Mandac made her TV debut in 1971 appearaning as Lisa in Queen of Spades
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s Queen of SpadesVideo: National Education Television

RECORDINGS

MODERN


Mabel Daniels, Miriam Gideon, Julia Smith and Louise TalmaJosef Alexander

OPERA


Evelyn Mandac as Ines in Giacomo Meyerbeer's L'Africaine with Shirley Verrett, Placido Domigo, Norman Mittlemann and conductor Jean Perisson

SYMPHONY


Seiji Ozawa and the Boston SymphonyEugene Ormandy and the Philadelphia Orchestra
Evelyn Mandac as soloist in Carl Orff's Carmina Burana with Seiji Ozawa and the Boston Symphony
Evelyn Mandac as orechestra soloistPhoto: Houston Grand Opera Archives
Evelyn Mandac as soloist in Gustav Mahler's Symphony No. 2 with Eugene Ormandy and the Philadelphia Orchestra