Biography / Administrative History
The mezzo-soprano Belva Kibler (1914-1983), was born in California and trained at the Cincinnati Conservatory. Her early appearances in Los Angeles included the West Coast premiere of Prokofieff?s Alexander Nevsky under the baton of Otto Klemperer. In New York she was consistently successful as a soloist with Arthur Mendel?s Cantata Singers with whom she performed Bach?s St. Mathew and St. John Passions, the Christmas Oratorio and the Mass in B minor. In 1951 she undertook a recital tour through Germany and Austria, and was very favorably received. Kibler was the chosen performer for several productions of contemporary works such as Benjamin Britten?s Rape of Lucretia in which she sang the coveted role of Lucretia for the American premiere and as Ann in Virgil Thomson?s Mother of us all. She also appeared in the film of Gian Carlo Menotti?s The Medium as Mrs. Gobineau and performed and recorded Schoenberg?s F?nfzehn Gedichte aus Das Buch der h?ngenden G?rten.
The bass-baritone Donald Morgan was born in Pomona, California in 1911. After receiving his B.A. degree from Stanford University (1933) he embarked on five years of graduate study in German literature and combined it with singing lessons at the universities of Cologne, Bonn and Munich. Back in the US he became a German professor at the University of Minnesota. He continued his musical career by doing solo work with the University?s Bach Society and the St. Paul Opera Company. The latter?s production of Smetana?s Bartered Bride led to an invitation to sing in Brahms? Requiem with the Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra under Dimitri Mitropoulos. Shortly after Pearl Harbor, Morgan responded to a call from the War Department to do censorship work in Florida, Puerto Rico and England. Later he was transferred to the U.S Military Government in Germany where he was engaged in post-war work with the industrial leaders of Germany. During those years he gave many performances for the German public and the U.S. Armed Forces. In 1949 he was invited by the British Goethe Festival Society in London to perform a concert of Goethe songs. A year later he was chosen for the role of Mr. Gobineau in Menotti?s The Medium. The tragic opera was filmed in Rome with Menotti as composer, director and writer. Donald Morgan and Belva Kibler met during The Medium?s filming, and married shortly thereafter. Morgan died in 1995.
From the guide to the Belva Kibler and Donald Morgan Collection, 1926-1995, (Stanford Archive of Recorded Sound)
