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Jean Kraft (January 9, 1927 – July 15, 2021) was an American mezzo-soprano. She began her career singing with the New York City Opera (NYCO) during the early 1960s, after which she embarked on a partnership with The Santa Fe Opera from 1965 through 1987. In 1970 she joined the roster of singers at the Metropolitan Opera in New York City where she remained a fixture until 1989. She also performed as a guest of many other opera companies throughout the United States. In 2005 Opera News called her "a gifted mezzo and observant, imaginative actress who lent distinction to a wide range of character roles. By the end of her Met tenure, she had sung nearly 800 performances and become a solid audience favorite."
Kraft became a favorite at the Met very quickly in roles like Emilia in Verdi's Otello, the drug-addicted Mrs. Sedley in Britten's Peter Grimes, and Mamma Lucia in Franco Zeffirelli's production of Mascagni's Cavalleria Rusticana. She was also an admired Mother Jeanne of the Holy Child Jesus in the critically acclaimed 1977 John Dexter staging of Dialogues of the Carmelites. In describing the haunting finale of that production, Opera News stated, "No one who has seen Dexter’s staging of the finale will ever forget it: the chorus of doomed nuns, singing the 'Salve Regina', was diminished, one voice at a time, as each woman marched to the guillotine. Finally, only Sister Constance and Mother Jeanne were left. Slowly, Kraft's Jeanne picked herself up and, supporting herself with her cane, hobbled defiantly to her death." Kraft later took over the role of Madame de Croissy in subsequent mountings of that production during the 1980s.
Although Kraft's performances at the Met were largely in comprimario roles, she occasionally starred, such as Herodias in Strauss's Salome (1973, 1977) initially with Grace Bumbry in the title role and Robert Nagy as Herod; Ulrica in Verdi's Un ballo in maschera (1970, 1976) initially with Elinor Ross as Amelia, Carlo Bergonzi as Riccardo, Merrill as Renato, and Roberta Peters as Oscar; Federica in Verdi's Luisa Miller (1971, 1978, 1979) initially with Adriana Maliponte as Luisa and Plácido Domingo as Rodolfo; Gertrud in Humperdink's Hänsel und Gretel (1971–1983) initially with Judith Forst as Hänsel and Joy Clements as Gretel; and Suzuki in Puccini's Madama Butterfly (1973–1981) initially with Gilda Cruz-Romo as Cio-Cio-San and William Lewis as Pinkerton. Some of the many supporting roles she portrayed were Berta in Rossini's Il Barbiere di Siviglia (with Marilyn Horne), Countess di Coigny in Giordano's Andrea Chénier, the Duchesse of Krakentorp in Donizetti's La Fille du Régiment (with Luciano Pavarotti and Joan Sutherland), Gertrude in Gounod's Roméo et Juliette, Grandmother Buryjovka in Janáček's Jenůfa (with Astrid Varnay), Hecuba in Les Troyens by Berlioz (with Jon Vickers and Shirley Verrett), Ines in Verdi's Il Trovatore, Marcellina (with Teresa Stratas and Frederica von Stade), Marthe in Gounod's Faust (with Franco Corelli), Ninetta in Verdi's I Vespri Siciliani (with Cristina Deutekom), and the Madrigalist in Puccini's Manon Lescaut (with Dorothy Kirsten and John Alexander) among others. Her final and 784th performance at the Met was on April 5, 1989 as Larina in Tchaikovsky's Eugene Onegin with Mirella Freni as Tatiana, Jorma Hynninen in the title role, and conductor James Levine. Metropolitan Opera archives
During her years working for the Met, Kraft continued to return periodically for performances with the Santa Fe Opera. Her roles with the company during these years included Flora (1970), Mother Goose (1970), Marcellina (1970, 1973, 1976, 1985, 1987), Penelope (1970), Death (1970), Suzuki (1972), Lapérouse in the United States Premiere of Aribert Reimann's Melusine (1972), Herodias (1972, 1979), Kate Julian in Britten's Owen Wingrave (1973), Countess Geschwitz in Berg's Lulu (1974), the Third Lady (1974, 1984, 1986), Meg Page in Verdi's Falstaff (1975, 1977), Genevieve in Debussy's Pelléas et Mélisande (1977), Larina (1980), Berta (1981), Miss Pick in Hindemith's News of the Day (1981), the notary's wife in Strauss's Intermezzo (1984), May in the U.S. premiere of Henze's We Come to the River (1984), and Juno in the world premiere of John Eaton's The Tempest (1985). Her last performance with the company was as Widow Zimmerlein in Strauss's Die schweigsame Frau in 1987.
Kraft was also active performing in concerts and operas with other organizations during the 1970s and 1980s. As a concert singer she drew particular acclaim for her performances in several of Mahler's symphonies, notably singing his Symphony No. 8 with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra in 1977 and performing/recording his Symphony No. 2 with the New York Philharmonic under Leonard Bernstein. Some of the opera companies she performed with during these years included the Houston Grand Opera, the Dallas Opera, the New Orleans Opera, and the Opera Company of Boston. In 1976 she made a highly praised portrayal of Augusta Tabor in Moore's The Ballad of Baby Doe with Tulsa Opera. In 1984 she made her debut with the Lyric Opera of Chicago as Larina, returning there to portray the Fortuneteller in Arabella (1984), and Annina (1989). She also portrayed Mrs. Sedley in 1984 in Jean-Pierre Ponnelle's critically acclaimed production of Peter Grimes at the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino in Italy. In April 1986 she portrayed Dinah in Bernstein's A Quiet Place at the Vienna State Opera under the baton of the composer. Kraft recalled in 2005 interview, "Keeping the hand in and knowing all the right people—I never did that. They came into my life, like Bernstein. I did A Quiet Place in Vienna, and after we recorded it, he said, 'I'm sorry I didn't write an aria for you.' And I said, 'I am, too!'" Her last opera appearance was in 1990 at the Seattle Opera as the Duchesse of Krakentorp in Donizetti's La Fille du régiment.
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