Despite his beautiful voice, Oberlin's concert career was short-lived, ending in 1966 at age 38, after which he taught at Hunter College.
Cultural Impact
Oberlin's career helped change the appreciation for the countertenor voice and a 600-year span of forgotten music, influencing many younger countertenors.
Critical Reception
Critics noted Oberlin's strikingly consistent tone across his range, describing it as ethereal in the upper registers and having a 'darker and more complex, slightly threatening' aura in the lower notes.
Performer Biography
Russell Oberlin was a core member of New York Pro Musica, an ensemble founded by choral director Noah Greenberg and recorder player Bernard Krainis, which gave its first concerts in 1953.
Performer Biography
Russell Oberlin, a countertenor, was born in Akron, Ohio, in 1928, and is a descendant of Jean-Frédéric Oberlin, an 18th-century Alsatian pastor and humanitarian.
Performer Biography
Oberlin initially trained as a lyric tenor at New York's Juilliard School, but discovered a very high vocal extension without resorting to falsetto, a technique then largely unknown for male singers in America.
Interpretation
Oberlin helped pioneer historically informed performance in the United States, rediscovering repertoire that had lost a continuous performing tradition through scholarship and musical intuition.
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