Laurel Hurley

Laurel Hurley (born February 14, 1927) is an American soprano who had an active performance career in the mid 20th century. She was a principal artist at the Metropolitan Opera from 1955 through 1967.

Born in Allentown, Pennsylvania, Hurley's mother was a church organist and she received her initial music education from her. She made her Broadway debut at the age of 16 as Kathie in Sigmund Romberg’s operetta The Student Prince. She continued with that production after it left Broadway to go on tour. In 1951 she was awarded the Walter W. Naumburg Foundation Award after beginning her work as an opera singer performing with the Charles L. Wagner Opera Company. On October 25, 1952 she performed the role of Micaëla in Georges Bizet's Carmen for her debut with the New York City Opera (NYCO) at New York City Center. She performed several more roles with the NYCO over the the next three years, including Susanna in The Marriage of Figaro (1952) and Magnolia in Show Boat (1954).

Hurley made her debut at the Metropolitan Opera ("The Met") on February 8, 1955, as Oscar in Giuseppe Verdi's Un ballo in maschera with Zinka Milanov as Amelia, Richard Tucker as Riccardo, and Dimitri Mitropoulos conducting. She was a principal artist at the Met for the next 12 years where her repertoire included the roles of Adele in Die Fledermaus, Adina in L'elisir d'amore, Arsena in The Gypsy Baron, Despina in Così fan tutte, Fiakermilli in Arabella, Flower Maiden in Parsifal, the Forest Bird in Siegfried, Gilda in Rigoletto, the Happy Shade in Orfeo ed Euridice, Jouvenot in Adriana Lecouvreur, Kitty in The Last Savage, Lady Harriet Durham in Martha, Lauretta in Gianni Schicchi, Marzelline in Fidelio, Micaela in Carmen, both Mimi and Musetta in La bohème, Najade in Ariadne auf Naxos, Nedda in Pagliacci, Norina in Don Pasquale, Olympia in The Tales of Hoffmann, Papagena in The Magic Flute, Rosina in The Barber of Seville, Sophie in Der Rosenkavalier, Susanna in The Marriage of Figaro, Violetta in La traviata, Xenia in Boris Godunov, Zerlina in Don Giovanni, and the title role in La Périchole.