Helen Traubel (1899–1972)
Author of The Metropolitan Opera Murders (Library of Congress Crime Classics)
Works by Helen Traubel
Italian Operatic Arias 1 copy
Portraits in Memory 1 copy
Associated Works
AT Collection, Vol. 52: Die Walküre, I.3. [1941] / Prelude and Liebestod / Siegfried Idyll [1952] [Toscanini] (1991) — Sieglinde — 1 copy
Tagged
Common Knowledge
- Other names
- Traubel, Helen Francesca (birth)
- Birthdate
- 1899-06-16
- Date of death
- 1972-07-28
- Gender
- female
- Occupations
- opera singer
soprano
mystery novelist
autobiographer - Short biography
- Helen Traubel studied voice in her native St. Louis and made her debut as a soloist in 1925 with the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra. In 1937, she made her stage debut at the Metropolitan Opera in New York City in the world premiere of Walter Damrosch's opera The Man witbout a Country. She then became a leading interpreter of Wagnerian soprano roles. She also peformed on radio and teleivision, to the disapproval of the Metropolitan Opera's director, Rudolf Bing.
Helen Traubel left the Met and went on to perform in the nightclub circuit, appearing, inter alia, on Broadway in Rodgers and Hammerstein's musical Pipe Dream. She worked in films with Jimmy Durante, Jerry Lewis, Red Skelton, and Groucho Marx. She also wrote two mystery novels: The Ptomaine Canary (1950), which ran as a serial in 700 newspapers, and The Metropolitan Opera Murders (1951), featuring a soprano heroine. She also published an autobiography, St. Louis Woman (1959). - Nationality
- USA
- Birthplace
- St. Louis, Missouri, USA
- Place of death
- Santa Monica, California, USA
- Burial location
- Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery, Los Angeles, California, USA
- Associated Place (for map)
- California, USA
Members
Reviews
This is a lively whodunnit murder mystery story, set in New York City circa 1950. It opens with a dramatic death on stage at the Metropolitan Opera. There's a closed circle of suspects and the pacing of the storytelling creates suspense. The setting is the Metropolitan Opera and there's plenty of opera trivia included in the story. Most of the characters are connected with the world of opera, either as a performer or a behind-the-scenes person. They bring their egos and ambitions to the show more story giving a real life dimension to their actions. Detective Sam Quentin of the New York Police leads the search for the killer and follows a trail of red herrings.
A "contextual" Introduction and explanatory footnotes help the reader put the book in perspective. (One revelation is that it was ghostwritten by Harold Q. Masur, a writer of several crime novels).
Recommended. show less
A "contextual" Introduction and explanatory footnotes help the reader put the book in perspective. (One revelation is that it was ghostwritten by Harold Q. Masur, a writer of several crime novels).
Recommended. show less
The Metropolitan Opera murders / Helen Traubel ; edited, with an introduction and notes, by Leslie S. Klinger by Helen Traubel
This book will be of interest if you are a lover of mysteries and fond of opera. The involvement of the singer Helen Traubel in writing this is probably minimal, yet the book has some interesting tidbits from the world of opera. There is nothing really very special about it, but I found it interesting, and I hope some on LibraryThing will enjoy it as well.
As a fan of opera i Love the setting of this mystery. Keeps u guessing.
Lists
Opera in fiction (1)
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Associated Authors
Statistics
- Works
- 11
- Also by
- 6
- Members
- 86
- Popularity
- #213,012
- Rating
- 4.0
- Reviews
- 3
- ISBNs
- 7