Nell Rankin, 81; Sang With the Met for 24 Seasons

Nell Rankin, 81, a mezzo-soprano who sang with the Metropolitan Opera for 24 seasons, died Thursday in New York City of a rare bone marrow disease.

A native of Montgomery, Ala., Rankin began singing on radio at age 4 and paid her way through the Birmingham Conservatory of Music by teaching swimming lessons.

She moved to New York City for further study and performed at Town Hall in 1947. Two years later, she made her operatic debut as Ortrud in Wagner’s “Lohengrin” at the Zurich Opera.

In 1950, Rankin became the first American singer to win first prize at the Concours de Musique in Geneva. That achievement gave her international cachet, and she was booked for operatic debuts a year later at La Scala in Milan, the Staatsoper in Vienna and the Metropolitan Opera in New York.

Rankin’s first performance at London’s Covent Garden occurred in 1953, and her first appearance at the San Francisco Opera was in 1955, in the title role of “Carmen,” a part for which she became widely known.

During Rankin’s long tenure at the Met, she sang such other starring roles as Eboli in Verdi’s “Don Carlo,” Marina in Mussorgsky’s “Boris Godunov” and Amneris in Verdi’s “Aida.”