Walter Cassel

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/189752189/walter_cassel

Walter Cassel (born John Walter Cassel in Council Bluffs, Iowa) was an American baritone who sang 275 performances with the Metropolitan Opera and 126 with the New York City Opera, and who originated a key role in Douglas Moore's opera The Ballad of Baby Doe, died on Monday at his home in Bloomington, Ind. He was 90.
During his long career Mr. Cassel appeared with American companies in Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Cincinnati and New Orleans, as well as the major companies of Vienna, Dusseldorf and elsewhere. When Birgit Nilsson made her acclaimed Met debut in Wagner's Tristan und Isolde in 1959, Mr. Cassel sang the role of Kurwenal.
He was the composer's choice for the role of Horace Tabor when The Ballad of Baby Doe was given its premiere in Central City, Colo., in 1956. Beverly Sills, who sang the first New York performances of the title role, one of her favorites, considered Mr. Cassel's portrayal was definitive. Each time Horace died in Baby's arms, Ms. Sills recalled in her 1987 autobiography, I really did start crying.
Born John Walter Cassel on May 15, 1910, in Council Bluffs, Iowa, he began playing trumpet in high school. In his senior year he joined the glee club and started taking voice lessons.
In 1933, he auditioned for the great American baritone Lawrence Tibbett, who was giving a recital in Omaha. Tibbett encouraged him to pursue a career in opera and praised him generously in an interview with the local newspaper. So with $40 in his shoe, a pair of coveralls and a briefcase full of music, Mr. Cassel boarded a cattle train for a five-day trip to Jersey City.
In New York he supported himself by singing on radio programs, including Air Breaks and Hammerstein's Music Hall. He auditioned for the Metropolitan Opera and in 1942 made his debut on short notice, filling in for an ailing singer, as Bretigny in Massenet's Manon.
Mr. Cassel was valued for his well-modulated, robust voice and commanding stage presence. Olin Downes, writing in The New York Times, was deeply struck by Mr. Cassel's portrayal of Jochanaan in Strauss's Salome, opposite Phyllis Curtin in the title role, at the New York City Opera in 1954. We never had seen so convincing and impressive an interpretation of the role, Downes wrote. There was fire, nobility and pathos, too.
Mr. Cassel always said his comfort on the stage came from his extensive experience with light opera. One of his last major roles came in 1970 when he sang the role of Johann Strauss Sr. in Erich Korngold's operetta, The Great Waltz, in London, a production that ran for two years.
In 1974, Mr. Cassel retired from the stage and began teaching at Indiana University in Bloomington.
He was survived by his wife, Gail; two daughters, Jeannie Cassel Charles and Mary; and a son, William. Another son, John Jr., died in 1996.
Family Members
Parents

Thaddeus William Cassel
1871–1911

Hester Grace Cederburg Lyman
1882–1971

Spouse

Gail Manners De Jarnette Cassel
1916–2007

Half Siblings
Thelma Geelmuyden Wolslagel
1918–2011

Children

John Walter Cassel Jr
1931–1996

Created by: Neil Funkhouser
Added: May 15, 2018
Find a Grave Memorial ID: 189752189