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 (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

Classical music news. March 2022 Newsletter - Watch and listen to our March 2022 newsletter

Classical music news. November 2021 Newsletter - Watch and listen to our November 2021 newsletter

Classical music news. Defining Our Field - Classical Music Daily's June 2021 Newsletter is a panel discussion led by John Dante Prevedini, and has just been published as a video podcast

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Classical music news. Creativity, Innovation and Re-invention - Classical Music Daily's April 2021 Newsletter has just been published as a video podcast

Classical music news. Hang in there together - Classical Music Daily's March 2021 Newsletter has just been published as a video podcast

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