Richard Tucker Park

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Richard Tucker

History

This text is part of Parks’ Historical Signs Project and can be found postedwithin the park.

Located in a small park triangle known formerly as Empire Park North and adjacent to Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, this bronze portrait bust by Milton Hebald (1917–2015) depicts opera star Richard Tucker (1913–1975). The bust sits on an inverted, tapered and polished granite pedestal on which are inscribed the titles of 31 operas that Tucker performed.

Tucker was born in Brooklyn in 1913, and he worked as a cantor before making his debut with New York’s Metropolitan Opera in 1945. Tucker enjoyed a thirty-year career with the organization, specializing in Italian operatic works. The monument was a gift of Tucker’s wife, Sarah, and was unveiled in 1979. A similar bust was unveiled in Tel Aviv, Israel that same year.

Sculptor Hebald also created the bronze pieces The Tempest (1966) and Romeo and Juliet (1977) in front of Central Park’s Delacorte Theater that commemorate celebrated playwright and poet William Shakespeare (1564–1616).

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Richard Tucker Details

Location: West 66th Street, Broadway, and Columbus Avenue
Sculptor: Milton Hebald
Architect: Abramowitz, Harris, Kingsland
Description: Bust (over life-size) on pedestal
Materials: Bronze, granite
Dimensions: total h 7'
Cast: 1979
Dedicated: April 20, 1980
Donor: Richard Tucker Music Foundation
Inscription: On bust:
HEBALD 1979 /

South side:
RICHARD TUCKER / AUGUST 28 1913 JANUARY 8 1975 / METROPOLITAN OPERA TENOR /

South side, lower:
GIFT TO THE CITY OF NEW YORK / IN LOVING MEMORY OF RICHARD TUCKER / FROM / MRS RICHARD TUCKER AND FAMILY /

North side:
IL TROVATORE / LA BOHEME / LA FANCIULLA DEL WEST / LA FORZA DEL DESTINO / LA GIOCONDA / LA JUIVE / LA TRAVIATA / LUCIA DE LAMMERMOOR / LUISA MILLER / MADAMA BUTTERFLY /

West side:
MANON LESCAUT / MARTHA / RIGOLETTO / SAMSON ET DELILA / SIMON BOCCANEGRA / THE MAGIC FLUTE / THE TALES OF HOFFMAN / TOSCA / TURANDOT / BALLO EN MASCHERA /

East side:
AIDA / ANDREA CHENIER / BORIS GODUNOV / CARMEN / CAVALLERIA RUSTICANA / COSI FAN TUTTE / DIE FLEDERMAUS / DON CARLOS / EUGENE ONEGIN / FAUST / I PAGLIACCI /

Please note, the NAME field includes a primary designation as well as alternate namingsoften in common or popular usage. The DEDICATED field refers to the most recent dedication, most often, butnot necessarily the original dedication date. If the monument did not have a formal dedication, the yearlisted reflects the date of installation.

For more information, please contact Art & Antiquities at (212) 360-8163