Maria Nockin
Maria Nockin (also known as Gladys Maria Nockin Chandler) was born on 20 April 1935 in New York City to a British mother and a German father. She studied piano and violin from childhood and began voice lessons when she was in high school and began to sing solos with church choirs. She worked at the Metropolitan Opera Guild during the day while studying for her bachelors and masters degrees at Fordham University. After finishing her degrees, she taught high school in Brooklyn and on Long Island while continuing to sing with prominent city and suburban musical groups.
Two decades later, she moved to a ranchito in Maricopa, southern Arizona, where she continued to paint desert landscapes and to write on opera and classical singing for various publications. Her work can be read in English at Classical Music Daily and in Classical Singer Magazine. It is available in Spanish in Revista Pro Ópera of Mexico. Maria occasionally wrote under the pseudonym Susan Hampton.
Maria Nockin (1935-2021)
Maria Nockin was diagnosed with Mesothelioma in early September 2021 and she passed away in a Phoenix, Arizona hospice on 23 November 2021, aged eighty-six.
Articles by Maria Nockin
Maria Nockin reviews a streamed recital from Versailles, given by Ailyn Pérez, Nadine Sierra, Isabel Leonard, Vlad Iftinca and Pablo Sáinz-Villegas
Vocal music by Wagner and Richard Strauss, streamed from Germany and enjoyed
Maria Nockin reports from San Diego Opera's drive-in performances of Rossini's 'The Barber of Seville'
Bulgarian soprano Sonya Yoncheva's Met Stars recital with pianist Julien Quentin
Maria Nockin reviews a 'Met Stars' online concert from the Spanish Riding School in Vienna, featuring Anna Netrebko, Elena Maximova and Pavel Nebolsin
Piotr Beczała and Sondra Radvanovsky's Met Stars Live recital from Wuppertal
New York Metropolitan Opera's New Year's Eve Gala Concert
Bryn Terfel in Wales, the latest Met Stars live in concert
San Diego Opera's first drive-in opera - 'La bohème'
Diana Damrau and Joseph Calleja sing live from Caserta in Italy as part of Met Stars Live in Concert
American mezzo Joyce DiDonato's Met Stars Live recital from Germany
Lise Davidsen and James Baillieu's Met Stars Live recital from Oslo
Maria Nockin reports on Aleksandra Kurzak and Roberto Alagna's recital for 'Met Stars Live in Concert'
Maria Nockin connects to Renée Fleming and Robert Ainsley's Metropolitan Opera recital from the Dumbarton Oaks Museum music salon in Washington DC
Maria Nockin was impressed by Jonas Kaufmann's recital with Helmut Deutsch in New York Metropolitan Opera's new 'Met Stars Live in Concert' series
Maria Nockin listens to Pittance Chamber Music's opening concert
Verdi's 'La Traviata', live in high definition from New York Metropolitan Opera
Maria Nockin experiences Puccini's 'The Girl of the Golden West' in HD from New York Metropolitan Opera
Verdi's 'Aida' in high definition from New York Metropolitan Opera
Jules Massenet's 'Cendrillon', live in high definition from New York Metropolitan Opera
Verdi's 'Luisa Miller' live in HD from New York Metropolitan Opera
Maria Nockin reviews John Copley's production of Rossini's 'Semiramide' in HD from New York Metropolitan Opera, without Copley
Puccini's 'La bohème' in high definition from New York Metropolitan Opera
L'Elisir d'Amore, live in HD from New York
Puccini's 'Tosca' in high definition at New York Metropolitan Opera
Thomas Adès' 'The Exterminating Angel' in HD from New York Metropolitan Opera
Mozart's 'The Magic Flute', live in HD from New York Metropolitan Opera
Maria Nockin loved Bellini's 'Norma' in HD from New York Metropolitan Opera
Maria Nockin listens to orchestral music on the shores of Lake Tahoe
Richard Strauss' 'Der Rosenkavalier', the last of this season's Live in HD broadcasts from New York Metropolitan Opera
Tchaikovsky's 'Eugene Onegin' in HD from New York Metropolitan Opera
Mozart's 'Idomeneo' in HD from New York Metropolitan Opera
Willy Decker's production of Giuseppe Verdi's 'La traviata' in HD from New York Metropolitan Opera
San Francisco Opera's 2008 film of Puccini's 'La bohème'
Dvorák's 'Rusalka' in HD from New York Metropolitan Opera, enjoyed in the cinema
Charles Gounod's 'Romeo and Juliet' live in high definition from New York Metropolitan Opera
Verdi's 'Nabucco' in HD from New York Metropolitan Opera
Kaija Saariaho's opera 'L'amour de loin', live in HD from New York Metropolitan Opera
Zambello's 'Aida' premieres at San Francisco Opera
'Don Giovanni' live in high definition from New York Metropolitan Opera
Maria Nockin visits the cinema for Mariusz Trelinski's updated staging of Wagner's 'Tristan und Isolde' in HD from New York Metropolitan Opera
Maria Nockin tells the story of a bus driver who lands a job working for an opera company
Donizetti's 'Roberto Devereux'
Madama Butterfly live in HD from New York
Puccini's 'Manon Lescaut' live in HD from New York Metropolitan Opera
Puccini's 'Turandot' live in HD from New York
Bizet's 'The Pearlfishers' live in HD from New York
Alban Berg's 'Lulu', live in high definition from Metropolitan Opera
Mozart's Magic Flute at San Francisco Opera
Richard Wagner's 'Tannhäuser', live in HD from New York
Verdi's 'Otello', live in HD from New York
'Il Trovatore' live in HD from New York Metropolitan Opera
Verdi's 'Rigoletto' from Santa Fe
Donizetti's 'La fille du régiment' at Santa Fe Opera
Maria Nockin describes the best 'Salome' she's seen in a decade
Mozart's 'La Finta Giardiniera' from Santa Fe delights Maria Nockin
Cav and Pag in HD from Metropolitan Opera
Rossini's 'La Donna del lago' delights Maria Nockin
Iolanta and Bluebeard in high definition from New York
Offenbach's 'The Tales of Hoffmann', live in HD from New York
Rachel Barton Pine's solo Paganini
'Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg' in HD from New York on 17 December
Maria Nockin experiences one of this era's best productions of 'Carmen', live in HD from New York Metropolitan Opera
Maria Nockin enjoys Rossini's 'Barber of Seville' in HD from New York
Maria Nockin talks to Dolora Zajick about finding young dramatic voices
Mozart's Marriage of Figaro live in HD from the New York Met
Witches dressed as village ladies of the 1950s as New York Metropolitan Opera begins its HD broadcast season with Verdi's Macbeth
Albanian lyric tenor Saimir Pirgu talks to Maria Nockin
Maria Nockin visits Santa Fe Opera and experiences all of their 2014 productions
Rossini's 'La Cenerentola'
Mozart's Così fan tutte, live in high definition from New York
La bohème in HD from The Met
Maria Nockin visits Mexico for Donizetti's L'elisir d'amore
Jack Perla's 'Jonah and the Whale'
Traviata at Arizona Opera
Maria Nockin listens to Eliot Fisk and Yehuda Hanani
A new edition of Prince Igor, experienced live in HD
Chamber music in Arizona
Rusalka, live in high definition from New York Metropolitan Opera
Candace Evans' new production of Puccini's La bohème
Verdi's Falstaff in high definition, live from New York
'The Magic Flute' from Berlin's Komische Oper
Verdi's 'Falstaff' at Los Angeles Opera
Maria Nockin takes a whiff of an early Shostakovich opera
Maria Nockin loved The Met's 'Eugene Onegin' streamed live in HD
Los Angeles Opera's 'Carmen'
Arrigo Boito's Mefistofele at San Francisco Opera
A look at Tobias Picker and Sandy McClatchy's fascinating new opera Dolores Claiborne
Verdi, Rossini, Offenbach, Mozart and Theodore Morrison at Santa Fe Opera
Los Angeles Philharmonic's 'The Marriage of Figaro' delights Maria Nockin
Puccini's 'Tosca' at Los Angeles Opera
Handel's 'Giulio Cesare' live in HD fascinated Maria Nockin
Liszt's Dante Symphony and Antonio Estévez's Cantata Criolla
'The Marriage of Figaro' at Arizona Opera
Rossini's 'La Cenerentola' delights Maria Nockin
John Adams and Peter Sellars' 'The Gospel According to the Other Mary' begins a European tour
Wagner's 'Flying Dutchman' at Los Angeles Opera
Richard Wagner's 'Parsifal' in HD from New York Metropolitan Opera
Maria Nockin watches 'Rigoletto' from the Met, live in HD
Three companies combine forces
Maria Nockin listens to Yehuda Hanani, Erin Keefe and Jeffrey Swann
'Tosca' at AZ Opera
Donizetti's 'Maria Stuarda' in HD from New York Metropolitan Opera
Berlioz's 'Les Troyens' live in HD
Carols from Phoenix Chorale
Giuseppe Verdi's 'Un ballo in maschera'
Verdi's 'Aida', live in HD
Chamber and instrumental music from China and elsewhere
Mozart's 'La Clemenza di Tito' live in HD
'Madama Butterfly' at Los Angeles Opera
Charles Gounod's 'Roméo et Juliette'
Thomas Adès' 'The Tempest' live in HD
Maria Nockin was in the stalls for New York Metropolitan Opera's 'Otello' in HD
Maria Nockin was at the opening concert of Phoenix Chorale's 2012-13 season
Anna Netrebko in Donizetti's 'L'elisir d'amore' live in HD from New York
A fine performance of Donizetti's Lucia di Lammermoor' at Arizona Opera
Mozart's 'Don Giovanni' at Los Angeles Opera
Verdi's 'I Due Foscari' at Los Angeles Opera
Taormina Teatro Antico's 'Norma' in HD
Maria Nockin visits Santa Fe for the summer opera season
'The Tales of Hoffmann' from The Met in HD
San Francisco Opera's film of Puccini's 'La bohème'
'Peter Grimes' live from Milan in HD
La bohème at Los Angeles Opera
Verdi's 'La traviata' from New York Metropolitan Opera in HD
Maria Nockin listens to soprano Amber Wagner
Piotr Beczala's recital debut
Rossini's 'The Barber of Seville' at San Diego Opera
Gluck's 'Orfeo ed Euridice' at Arizona Opera
Massenet's 'Manon' in HD from New York Metropolitan Opera
Donizetti's 'Don Pasquale'
Chamber music from Lydia Artymiw, Arnaud Sussman, Toby Appel and Yehuda Hanani
Verdi's 'Aida' at Arizona Opera
Britten's 'Albert Herring'
Jake Heggie's new opera 'Moby-Dick'
Verdi's 'Simon Boccanegra' at Los Angeles Opera
Wagner's Götterdämmerung in HD from New York Metropolitan Opera, seen and heard in Arizona
'Close Encounters with Music' from Scottsdale
Richard Strauss's 'Salome' at San Diego Opera
Vivica Genaux and Europa Galante
Puccini's 'Madama Butterfly' at Arizona Opera
'The Enchanted Island' live in HD
Gounod's 'Faust' transmitted live in high definition from New York Metropolitan Opera
Handel's 'Rodelinda' at New York Metropolitan Opera, reviewed from the HD transmission
'Satyagraha' by Philip Glass
Gounod's 'Faust' at Arizona Opera
'Siegfried' from New York in HD
Barbier and Carré's version of Shakespeare, as set by Charles Gounod
'Don Giovanni' from New York Metropolitan Opera in HD
Donizetti's 'Anna Bolena' at New York Metropolitan Opera
'Cavalleria Rusticana' and 'Pagliacci' at Arizona Opera
Los Angeles Opera's 'Così fan tutte'
Tchaikovsky's 'Eugene Onegin' at Los Angeles Opera
Verdi's 'Nabucco' in HD from Sicily
Maria Nockin enjoys the summer opera fare in North America's oldest capital city
Maria Nockin makes a virtual visit to Covent Garden for Verdi's 'Macbeth'
Wagner's 'Die Walküre' at New York Metropolitan Opera, enjoyed in HD from Arizona
Shostakovich's 'Moscow, Cherry Town'
American conductor James Conlon talks to Maria Nockin
Bizet's 'Carmen' at San Diego Opera
George Frideric Handel's 'L'Allegro, Il Penseroso ed Il Moderato'
Verdi's 'Il Trovatore' from New York Metropolitan Opera in HD
Gounod's 'Faust' at San Diego Opera delights Maria Nockin
Richard Strauss's 'Capriccio'
Juan Diego Flórez sings Rossini's 'Le Comte Ory'
Maria Nockin talks to American mezzo Kate Lindsey
Arizona Opera's 'The Abduction from the Seraglio'
'Der Rosenkavalier' in San Diego
Donizetti's 'Lucia di Lammermoor'
Britten's 'The Turn of the Screw'
Jonas Kaufmann's Los Angeles recital
Verdi's 'Otello' at Arizona Opera
Rossini's 'Il Turco in Italia' delights Maria Nockin
John Adams' 'Nixon in China'
Maria Nockin was at San Diego for Puccini's 'Turandot'
Puccini's 'Turandot' in Arizona
Dudamel and the LA Philharmonic at the Movies, seen and
Puccini's 'La Fanciulla del West' at the movies
Giuseppe Verdi's 'La forza del destino'. '... a rhythmically alert, exciting performance ...'
New York Metropolitan Opera's Verdi's 'Don Carlo' transmission, seen and
Maria Nockin looks forward to San Diego Opera's 2011 season
Phoenix Opera's 'The Magic Flute'
Bryn Terfel, Esa-Pekka Salonen and the Los Angeles Philharmonic in Hindemith and Wagner
Los Angeles Opera's 'Rigoletto'
Wagner's 'Lohengrin' at L A Opera
Metropolitan Opera's 'Don Pasquale', live and in HD at the movies
'Carmen' in Tucson
Metropolitan Opera's live HD transmission of 'Boris Godunov'
Maria Nockin reviews Arizona Opera's 'The Pirates of Penzance'
Maria Nockin experiences Metropolitan Opera's HD transmission of 'Das Rheingold'
Maria Nockin talks to Vivica Genaux and Lawrence Brownlee
Los Angeles Opera's 'The Marriage of Figaro'
Daniel Catán's 'Il Postino'
Covent Garden at the cinema
Richard Strauss operatic scenes. '... an iridescent wave of vocal color.'
Santa Fe Opera's 'The Magic Flute'
A Santa Fe Opera digest, including the recent Kaye Edition of 'The Tales of Hoffmann'
Maria Nockin talks to American composer Daniel Catán
Maria Nockin talks to soprano Christine Brewer
Ricky Ian Gordon's 'Orpheus & Euridice'
Christine Brewer and Craig Rutenberg's recital in Los Angeles
Maria Nockin talks to American composer Ricky Ian Gordon
Maria Nockin talks to American mezzo Dolora Zajick
Maria Nockin talks to American mezzo-soprano Susan Graham
Arizona Opera's 'The Barber of Seville'
Mozart's 'Die Entführung aus dem Serail' live from Barcelona in Arizona
'La traviata' from San Diego Opera
A double bill from Los Angeles Opera
Maria Nockin talks to baritone Alan Opie, who is about to sing Germont for San Diego Opera
'Hamlet' by Ambroise Thomas
Gounod's 'Romeo and Juliet' at San Diego Opera
A concert of arias at Arizona Opera
Maria Nockin talks to Stephen Costello and Ailyn Perez, the young couple singing Gounod's 'Romeo and Juliet' this month at San Diego Opera
Verdi's 'Nabucco' from San Diego Opera
Verdi's 'Simon Boccanegra' broadcast from New York Metropolitan Opera
Maria Nockin reviews one opera at two different venues
Carmen at the movies
New York Metropolitan Opera's 'Der Rosenkavalier' in HD
'Il Trovatore' from Barcelona, experienced in Arizona
Vivica Genaux sings Vivaldi. 'Genaux's diction is excellent ...'
Handel and Rossini from Los Angeles Opera impress Maria Nockin
'Salome' from Arizona
'Carmen' from Phoenix Opera
'Così fan tutte' at Arizona Opera
Puccini's 'Tosca' on the big screen
Wagner's 'Siegfried'
Maria Nockin reports from Los Angeles Opera's opening night 'L'Elisir d'amore'
Maria Nockin reports from Santa Fe
Maria Nockin was at Los Angeles Opera's 'La Traviata'
'Madama Butterfly' from San Diego Opera
Britten's Peter Grimes
Two operas in Los Angeles over the Easter weekend
A San Diego performance of Verdi's 'Rigoletto'
Sacred music from the Phoenix Chorale
Arizona Opera's 'Don Giovanni'
Massenet's 'Don Quichotte' in San Diego
'Rheingold' from Los Angeles
An Arizona winter treat of Verdi's 'Aida'
Greer Grimsley sings Scarpia in 'Tosca' from San Diego
Donizetti's 'L'elisir d'amore'
Maria Nockin finds perfection in Los Angeles Opera's revival of Peter Hall's 1993 production of 'The Magic Flute'
'Die Walküre' from Provence. 'The cast is excellent.'
Elizabethan street songs. '... plain good listening ...'
American conductor Joel Revzen talks to Maria Nockin
'Tosca' and 'Mikado' in Arizona
Verdi's 'Rigoletto' at Arizona Opera
Italian arias and madrigals. '... performed with accuracy and grace.'
Maria Nockin reports on the beginning of a new season at Los Angeles Opera
Maria Nockin visits Santa Fe for operas by Verdi, Mozart, Britten and Handel, plus the first American performance of Kaija Saariaho's 'Adriana Mater'
Puccini's 'La Rondine'
Puccini's 'Tosca' at Los Angeles Opera
Bizet's 'The Pearl Fishers' at San Diego Opera
Maria Nockin experiences an updated version of Verdi's 'La Traviata'
Plácido Domingo's Fortieth Anniversary Gala
Verdi's 'Aida' at San Diego Opera
'Cavalleria Rusticana' and 'I Pagliacci' at San Diego Opera
'Maria Stuarda' at San Diego Opera
Verdi's 'Otello' at Los Angeles Opera
An unusual double bill at LA Opera
'Tristan and Isolde' at Los Angeles Opera
Richard Wagner's 'Tannhäuser' at San Diego Opera
Maria Nockin introduces San Diego Opera's new season
The first performance of a brand new opera company
'La bohème' at Los Angeles Opera
Los Angeles Opera revives 'Don Giovanni'
Maria Nockin at Arizona Opera's 'Lucia di Lammermoor'
Janácek's 'Jenufa' in LA
Beethoven's 'Fidelio' and Verdi's 'Requiem' at Los Angeles Opera
New ideas at Santa Fe Opera
Two productions at Santa Fe Opera
Torroba's zarzuela 'Luisa Fernanda' at Los Angeles Opera
'The Merry Widow' from Los Angeles Opera
Mozart's 'Figaro' at San Diego Opera
Alban Berg's 'Wozzeck' at San Diego Opera
Los Angeles Opera's production of Wagner's 'Tannhäuser'
'Il Trovatore' in San Diego
LA Opera's 'Recovered Voices'
Saint-Saëns' 'Samson and Delilah'
Kurt Weill's 'The Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny'
Puccini's 'Turandot' from St Louis
'Madama Butterfly' in Arizona
Maria Nockin experiences Tan Dun's 'The First Emperor'
Vivica Genaux sings Handel and Hasse. '... a wonderful trip back in time ...'
Monteverdi's 'L'incoronazione di Poppea'
LA Opera's 'Hansel and Gretel'
'The Marriage of Figaro' in Arizona
Mozart's 'Don Giovanni'
'Madama Butterfly' from Long Island
Puccini's 'La bohème' in New Hampshire
Donizetti's 'Lucia di Lammermoor'
Verdi's 'Macbeth' in Arizona
Massenet's 'Manon' at LA Opera
Verdi's 'Don Carlo' at LA Opera
'The Tempest' by Thomas Adès
Richard Strauss's 'Salomé'
Mozart's 'The Magic Flute'
Santa Fe Opera's 'Cendrillon'
'Carmen' in Santa Fe
Los Angeles Opera's 'La Traviata'
Maria Nockin at the première of Goldenthal's opera 'Grendel, Transcendence of the Great Big Bad'
A gala concert presented by Arizona Opera
A concert at New York City's Hunter College
Maria Nockin was at San Diego Opera's 'The Magic Flute'
Maria Nockin was at Opera Pacific for Verdi's 'Aïda'
Maria Nockin was at San Diego Opera for Handel's 'Julius Caesar in Egypt'
San Diego Opera's 'Carmen' delighted Maria Nockin
Arizona Opera's 'The Flying Dutchman'
A New Jersey 'Magic Flute'
Teatro Lirico d'Europa's 'La Traviata'
Donizetti's 'Lucia di Lammermoor'
'L'Italiana in Algeri' in Arizona
'Madama Butterfly' in Los Angeles
Bellini's 'Norma' in Denver
'The Barber of Seville' at San Diego Opera
Handel's 'Semele' in Arizona
Conductor Kenneth Montgomery talks to Maria Nockin about his life, his music and upcoming events
The first recording of Vivaldi's 'Bajazet'. '... absolutely stunning.'
Tristan und Isolde. '... you feel you are sitting in the tenth row center ...'
'Tristan and Isolde' in Puerto Rico
Maria Nockin talks to American mezzo-soprano Vivica Genaux about her life and career
Maria Nockin enthuses over Ewa Podles' recent recital for San Diego Opera
The opera 'Florencia en el Amazonas' as recorded by Albany. '... shimmering iridescent music ...'
Ewa Podles sings Russian songs and arias. '... incredibly well done ...'
The voice of mezzo-soprano Vivica Genaux. '... played, sung and recorded with exquisite artistry.'
Articles about Maria Nockin
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