The Swedish tenor Nicolai Gedda (born July 11, 1925) is a famous opera singer and recitalist. "Sverige" redirects here For other uses see Sweden (disambiguation and Sverige (disambiguation. The tenor is the highest male voice within the Modal register, just above the Baritone voice Events 911 - Signing of the Treaty of Saint-Clair-sur-Epte between Charles the Simple and Rollo of Normandy. Year 1925 ( MCMXXV) was a Common year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Opera is an art form in which Singers and Musicians perform a Dramatic work (called an opera which combines a text (called a Libretto Having made some two hundred recordings, Gedda is said to be the most widely-recorded tenor in history. Gedda's singing is best known for his beauty of tone, vocal control, and musical perception. [1]
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Biography
Nicolai Harry Gustav Gedda (Nikolaj Ustinov in Russian, and Gedda means pike in Swedish) was born in Stockholm to a Swedish mother and a Russian father. ('stɔkhɔlm is Sweden 's Capital and its largest City. It is the site of the national Swedish government, the parliament, and the His father, a distant relative of Peter Ustinov, sang bass in a Don Cossack choir and was cantor in a Russian Orthodox church. Sir Peter Alexander Ustinov (ˈjuːstɪnɒf or /ˈuːstɪnɒf/ 16 April 1921 – 28 March 2004) born Peter Alexander Baron von Ustinow See also Eastern Orthodox Church Structure and organization The Slavic Orthodox Church is organized in a hierarchical structure Gedda grew up bilingual and learned English, German, Italian, and Latin besides Swedish and Russian.
Gedda began his professional career as a bank teller in a local bank in Stockholm. One day a wealthy client overheard him speaking about his desire to sing professionally, and offered to pay for his tuition to study with Carl Martin Öhman, a well known Wagnerian tenor from the 1920s who also discovered Jussi Björling. WikipediaWikiProject Opera#Infoboxes --> Johan Jonatan (sometimes spelled as "Bjoerling" in English-language sources ( 5
Opera career
An early appraisal of Gedda's singing was offered by Walter Legge, after first hearing Gedda sing for the role of Dmitry in a planned recording of Boris Godunov. Walter Legge (born 1 June 1906, London; died 22 March 1979, Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat, France) was an influential Boris Godunov ( Борис Годунов, original Orthography Борисъ Годуновъ, Borís Godunóv) is an Opera by
"On my arrival at the airport I was asked by a swarm of journalists if I were not interested in hearing their excellent young Swedish voices. Naturally I was interested, but I did not expect either the front page stories that appeared next morning or the mass of letters and almost incessant telephone calls asking to be heard. I had to ask the Director of the Opera for a room for a couple of days to hear about 100 young aspirants. The first to sing to me (at 9. 30 in the morning) was Gedda who had I believe sung only once in public. He sang the Carmen Flower Song so tenderly yet passionately that I was moved almost to tears. He delivered the difficult rising scale ending with a clear and brilliant B flat. Almost apologetically I asked him to try to sing it as written -- pianissimo, rallentando and diminuendo. Without turning a hair he achieved the near-miracle, incredibly beautifully and without effort. I asked him to come back at 8 that evening and sent word to my wife that a great singer had fallen into my lap and to Dobrowen that, believe it or not, this 23-year-old Gedda was the heaven-sent Dmitry for our Boris. "[2]
In April 1952, at the age of 26, Gedda made his debut at the Royal Swedish Opera, performing the role of Chapelou in Adolphe Adam's Le Postillon de Longjumeau. The Kungliga Teatern ( "Royal Theatre") or Royal Swedish Opera is the national stage for Opera in Sweden. WikipediaWikiProject Composers#Lead section --> Adolphe Charles Adam ( July 24, 1803 &ndash May 3, Le postillon de Lonjumeau ( The Coachman of Lonjumeau) is an Opéra-comique in three acts by Adolphe Adam to a French libretto by In this same year he also performed the role of Nicklausse in Offenbach's The Tales of Hoffmann and the tenor role in Der Rosenkavalier. Jacques Offenbach (born Jacob Offenbach 20 June 1819 in Cologne &ndash 5 October 1880 in Paris) was a German Der Rosenkavalier ( op 59 ( The Knight of the Rose) is a comic Opera in three acts by Richard Strauss to an original
After an audition in Stockholm, Gedda gained the attention of conductor Herbert von Karajan, who took him to Italy. WikipediaWikiProject Classical music#Biographical_infoboxes --> Herbert von Karajan ( April 5 In 1953, he made his début at La Scala as Don Ottavio in Don Giovanni. The Teatro alla Scala (or La Scala, as it is known in Milan, Italy, is one of the world's most famous Opera houses The theatre was Don Giovanni ( K527; complete title Il dissoluto punito ossia il Don Giovanni, literally "The Rake Punish'd or Don Giovanni In 1954, he made his Paris Opera debut in the tenor role in Weber's Oberon, and was given a permanent contract for several years. The Palais Garnier, also known as the Opéra de Paris or Opéra Garnier, but more commonly as the Paris Opéra, is a 2200-seat Carl Maria Friedrich Ernst von Weber ( 18 December 1786 in Eutin, Holstein, Germany - 5 June 1826 in London Oberon or The Elf King's Oath is a romantic Opera in three acts by Carl Maria von Weber to an English Libretto by James Robinson Planche, after In 1957, Gedda made his Metropolitan Opera début in the title role of Gounod's Faust, and went on to sing 28 roles there over the next 26 years, including the world premieres of Barber's Vanessa and Menotti's The Last Savage. The Metropolitan Opera Association of New York City, founded in April 1880 is a major presenter of all types of opera including Grand Opera. Biography Gounod was born in Paris, the son of a pianist mother and a draftsman father Faust is an opera in five acts by Charles Gounod to a French libretto by Jules Barbier and Michel Carré from Carré's play Samuel Osborne Barber II ( March 9, 1910 – January 23, 1981) was an American Composer of Orchestral, Opera, Vanessa is an Opera in three (originally four acts by Samuel Barber with an original English Libretto by Gian-Carlo Menotti. Gedda made his Royal Opera House Covent Garden début in 1954 as the Duke of Mantua in Verdi's Rigoletto and has since returned to sing Benvenuto Cellini, Alfredo, Gustavus III in Un Ballo in Maschera, Nemorino and Lensky. WikipediaWikiProject Opera --> The Royal Opera House is an Opera house and major performing Covent Garden (Pronunciation kɒvʌnt is a district in London, England, located on the easternmost parts of the City of Westminster and the southwest Rigoletto is an Opera in three acts by Giuseppe Verdi. The Italian Libretto was written by Francesco Maria Piave based Benvenuto Cellini is an Opera in two acts with music by Hector Berlioz and Libretto by Léon de Wailly and Auguste Barbier La traviata is an Opera in three acts by Giuseppe Verdi set to an Italian Libretto by Francesco Maria Piave. Un ballo in maschera (A Masked Ball, is an Opera in three acts by Giuseppe Verdi with text by Antonio Somma. L'elisir d'amore ( The Elixir of Love) is a Melodramma giocoso in two acts by the Italian composer Gaetano Donizetti. Eugene Onegin ( Евгений Онегин, Yevgény Onégin is an Opera ("lyrical scenes" Opus 24 in 3 acts 7 scenes
Gedda's recordings span a wide variety of styles and several of the roles may be considered amongst the most challenging in the entire operatic repertoire, notably Arnoldo in Rossini's Guglielmo Tell and Arturo in I Puritani, both requiring stratospheric high-notes and an easy legato line. Opera is an art form in which Singers and Musicians perform a Dramatic work (called an opera which combines a text (called a Libretto Guillaume Tell ( William Tell) is an Opera in four acts by Gioachino Rossini to a French Libretto by Etienne de Jouy I puritani ( The Puritans) is an Opera in three acts by Vincenzo Bellini.
A singer of unusual longevity, Gedda has been active well into his late 70s; in May 2001 he recorded the role of the Emperor Altoum in Puccini's Turandot and the role of the High Priest in Mozart's Idomeneo in June 2003. WikipediaWikiProject Composers#Lead section --> Giacomo Antonio Domenico Michele Secondo Maria Puccini ( December 22, 1858 Turandot is an Opera in three acts by Giacomo Puccini, set to a Libretto in Italian by Giuseppe Adami and Renato Simoni Idomeneo re di Creta ossia Ilia e Idamante ( Italian: Idomeneo King of Crete or Ilia and Idamante; usually referred to simply as Idomeneo
Art song
In addition to his opera performances, Gedda cultivated an active parallel career as a recitalist, with a large repertoire of French, German, Scandinavian, and Russian art songs. An art song is a Vocal music composition, usually written for one Singer with Piano or Orchestral accompaniment Gedda's language skills, intellectualism and intense musicality, as well as his extensive recordings, have rendered him particularly indispensable in this genre. [3]
Autobiography
Gedda wrote an autobiography, Nicolai Gedda: My Life and Art, which was published by Amadeus Press in 1999. An autobiography, from the Greek αὐτός autos "self" βίος bios "life" and γράφειν graphein "to write"
Notes
- ^ Warrack, John and Ewan West (1996). "Nicolai Gedda. " The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Opera. (3rd Ed. ), Oxford University.
- ^ Legge, Walter (1998). Walter Legge: Words and Music. Routledge (UK), pg. 204-05. ISBN 0415921082.
- ^ Miller, Richard (2003) Solutions for Singers: Tools for Every Performer and Teacher. Oxford University Press, pg. 118. ISBN 0195160053. ("Regardless of the ethnic or national origin of the singer, excellence in diction and enunciation are to a large extent dependent on the principle of anticipatory consonants. Nicolai Gedda is a prime example of an international artist who sings beautifully in languages not natively his. Like Fischer-Dieskau, he makes much use of the anticipatory consonant. A list of current singing artists who have mastered this technique would include most of today's great singers. ")
External links
- Nicolai Gedda Homepage - Un-official Nicolai Gedda fan website (in English and German).
- YouTube - Lorengar & Gedda in Love duet Act 1 M. Butterfly 1/2 - Pilar Lorengar and Nicolai Gedda sing Puccini's "Vogliatemi Bene" from Madama Butterfly. Lorenza Pilar García Seta ( January 16, 1929, Zaragoza, Spain &ndash June 2, 1996, Berlin, Germany WikipediaWikiProject Composers#Lead section --> Giacomo Antonio Domenico Michele Secondo Maria Puccini ( December 22, 1858 Part 1 of 2.
- YouTube - Lorengar & Gedda in Love duet Act 1 M. Butterfly 2/2 - Part 2 of 2.
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