Tenor (Voice)

(b Brockton, MA, USA, Nov 4, 1925). Albanian tenor and pedagogue. Born in the large Albanian immigrant colony in New England (USA), Athanasi returned as a child to his parents’ hometown of Korça, where he participated in its vibrant prewar choral, theatre, and sports scenes. During World War II, he performed with resistance groups singing patriotic and partisan songs and, in 1948, he was selected as a soloist in the newly formed National Army Ensemble by director Gaqo Avrazi. Athanasi was among a handful of young men in this ensemble to receive a scholarship to study in the Soviet Union, and following the completion of his degree in vocal performance at the Moscow State Conservatory in 1958, he was appointed soloist at Tirana’s Theatre of Opera and Ballet. He performed leading roles in premières of Albanian operas, and was active as a recitalist, performing a broad range of art music works from the Western European and Albanian repertories as well as arranged folk songs into the 1980s. In ...

(Thomas)

(b Oxford, Nov 6, 1941; d Redhill, March 27, 2023). English countertenor. He studied at Oxford University and made his stage début in 1967 at Aldeburgh as Britten’s Oberon, a role he sang at Covent Garden, Strasbourg, Sydney, with the WNO, and at Glyndebourne, where he made his début in 1970 as Endymion in Cavalli’s Calisto. He created the Priest-Confessor in Maxwell Davies’s Taverner (1972), his Covent Garden début; the voice of Apollo in Death in Venice (1973, Aldeburgh Festival); and Astron (with Anne Wilkens) in Tippett’s The Ice Break (1977, Covent Garden); and sang Ridout’s Phaeton for BBC Radio. Britten dedicated his fourth Canticle, Journey of the Magi, to him, Pears, and Shirley-Quirk. Bowman was a noted Handelian, and for the Handel Opera Society sang Otho, Scipio, Xerxes, and Justinian, as well as Polinesso (Ariodante), which he repeated at Geneva and Buxton. His other Handel roles include Julius Caesar (Barber Institute), Ptolemy (San Francisco and the ENO), Goffredo in ...

(b Korça, Albania, Jan 24, 1935). Albanian tenor and pedagogue. Identified early as a talented singer in his hometown of Korça, he attended the Arts Lyceum ‘Jordan Misja’ in Tirana where he received his first formal training, with the pedagogue Mihal Ciko. In 1957 he received a scholarship to study at the Moscow State Conservatory, where he remained until 1961. On his return to Tirana, Çako was named soloist to the Theater of Opera and Ballet, where he performed a number of leading roles in foreign and Albanian operas during the 1960s and 1970s. Chief among his roles in Albanian operatic works were Dhimitër in Lulja e Kujtimit (by P. Jakova, 1961), Doda in Mrika (by P. Jakova, 1966), and Muji in Vjosa (by T. Daija, 1980). In addition to art music, he interpreted light popular songs and arrangements of folk songs throughout his career. Named as a pedagogue to Tirana’s State Conservatory in ...

Ronald)

(b Littleborough, Lancs., Nov 10, 1941; d July 6, 2023). English tenor. At first a sports teacher, he studied with Bruce Boyce, then in 1973 took small roles in The Gambler and A Life for the Tsar at Wexford. In 1975 he joined Scottish Opera, singing Brighella (Ariadne auf Naxos), Malcolm, Jaquino, Ernesto, Pedrillo, the Italian Singer (Rosenkavalier), Zorn, and David (Die Meistersinger). He performed the title role in the British première of Ginastera's Bomarzo for the ENO (1976), followed by Rinuccio, Ramiro, Almaviva, Hoffmann, Rodolfo, and, for Opera North, Count Ory. Realizing that conventionally romantic parts were not for him, Clark took roles at the ENO such as the Pretender (Boris Godunov), Hermann (Queen of Spades), Aleksey (The Gambler), Busoni's Mephistopheles, Don Juan (Dargomïzhsky's The Stone Guest), and Mr Brouček. He sang for 12 consecutive seasons at Bayreuth (...

(b Columbus, OH, June 23, 1943; d Königstein im Taunus, Jan 16, 2022). American tenor. Educated at Wesleyan University, he studied singing at the Curtis Institute with Martial Singher. In 1969 he sang Froh with the San Francisco Opera in Los Angeles. After winning the Lauritz Melchior Heldentenor Foundation Award in 1969, he became a member of the Frankfurt Opera (1970) and the Vienna Opera. He sang in many other European houses as well as in concert with the New York PO (1971), the Boston SO, and a number of other American orchestras. He made his Covent Garden début in 1974 as Laca (Jenůfa) and returned to San Francisco in 1977 (having sung Froh in Das Rheingold there in 1968) to sing Tichon (Kát′a Kabanová). In addition to all the Wagnerian heroic tenor roles, his repertory included Idomeneus, Jason (Cherubini’s ...

(b Plzeň [Pilsen], July 14, 1939; d Prague, Oct 1, 2019). Czech pop singer, actor, and painter. The best-known and most successful Czech pop singer of the 20th and 21st centuries. In his youth Gott aspired to become a painter, and after completing his schooling in Plzeň, he applied to study art in Prague. After failing to be admitted, he trained as an electrician, and during his training devoted himself also to singing. He began by studying as an opera singer (lyric tenor) with Konstantin Karenin, a pupil of Chaliapin, at first at the Prague Conservatoire and later privately. In 1962 he was engaged at the Semafor Theatre in Prague of Jiří Suchý and Jiří Šlitr, where he achieved great success singing the songs of Suchý and Šlitr; in 1963 he won the Zlatý slavík (‘Golden Nightingale’) poll for the first time, with the hit Oči má sněhem zaváté...

(b Ojai, CA, Dec 27, 1939). American tenor. He studied at the Music Academy of the West, UCLA with martial Singher and from 1963 to 1972 at the Juilliard School with Jennie Tourel. He began his professional career as Francesco Cavalli’s Ormindo with the Opera Society of Washington (1969) and as Tonio in a concert performance of Gaetano Donizetti’s La fille du régiment with Beverly Sills at Carnegie Hall (1970, recorded on the Adagio Classics label). Shortly thereafter he made his New York City Opera debut in Benjamin Britten’s The Turn of the Screw and went on to sing with opera companies in the United States, Mexico, Brazil, France, Switzerland, and England. His repertoire of more than seventy roles includes Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s Ferrando, Belmonte, and Tamino, Charles Gounod’s Faust and Roméo, Georges Bizet’s Don José, and Claude Debussy’s Pelléas. He has appeared regularly with major American orchestras, choral societies, and music festivals and has performed Franz Schubert’s song cycles with fortepiano. Known for his versatility and acute attention to style, he has sung in the premieres of works by Leonard Bernstein, Jack Beeson, Thomas Pasatieri, Alberto Ginastera (...

(b Aberdeen, Scotland, Dec 11, 1946). Scottish tenor and pedagogue. Graduating in 1969 he studied the piano and the clarinet at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama; he won a scholarship to the RCM in voice, graduating Associate of the Royal College of Music (Hons) and a Postgraduate Diploma in 1972 and 1973, respectively. In 1973 a Gulbenkian Fellowship supported vocal study with Ernst Haeflinger in Munich, followed by vocal studies with renowned English tenor Sir Peter Pears from 1973 to 1986. He has enjoyed a longtime collaboration with Peter Maxwell Davies, creating roles in The Martyrdom of St Magnus (the title role, 1977), Solstice of Light (1979), The Lighthouse (1980), Into the Labyrinth (1983), Jacobite Rising (1997), and Sea Elegy (1998). He sang and recorded first performances from Benjamin Britten’s song canon (after Britten’s death), notably including the première performance of ‘Now sleeps the crimson petal’, which was excised from ...

(b Constanța, Romania, Oct 6, 1935). Romanian tenor . He began his studies at the Bucharest Conservatory with the renowned lyrical artist Constantin (Dinu) Bădescu, whose disciple he remained throughout his career. He made his début at the Romanian Opera as Rinuccio in Gianni Schicchi (1966) and in a short time became renowned for his Italian and Mozartian repertory. He left Romania in 1972 due to conflicts with the communist government in Romania. His first European contract came that same year with the Regensburg Opera in Germany, for the role of Manrico, a success that led to an international career. He performed, between 1972 and 1989, on the major stages in Germany, France, Austria, Switzerland, England, and Portugal. He also performed in cities in North America, including Fort Worth, Chicago, San Francisco, New York, Pretoria, Pittsburgh, Denver, and Baltimore. He sang lead tenor roles in Il tabaro, Don Carlo, Rigoletto, Manon Lescaut, La traviata, Cavalleria rusticana, La bohème, Faust, Turandot...

(b Elbasan, Albania, Sept 23, 1981). Albanian tenor . After earning the diploma in violin at 16 in Elbasan, he graduated in 2002 in singing from the Conservatory Claudio Monteverdi in Bolzano (Italy), where he studied with Vito Maria Brunetti. During his studies he met tenor Luciano Pavarotti, who helped him to perfect a number of roles in his repertory. He has been awarded a series of first prizes in lyric festivals, including the Caruso and Tito Schipa, both in 2002, which became determinant factors in the rise of his singing career. That same year he was invited by Claudio Abbado to sing the role of Ferrando in Così fan tutte in Ferrara, which he interpreted again two years later at the Salzburg Festival with Philippe Jordan conducting. In 2008 he was chosen by Woody Allen to sing in Los Angeles the role of Rinuccio in Gianni Schicchi. He has performed at a number of notable opera houses, including the Vienna State Opera (...

(David)

(b Wellington, Shropshire, March 21, 1935; d Jan 19, 2022). English tenor. He studied at King's College, Cambridge, under Boris Ord (1953–6), then privately in Rome (1957), Milan (1958–9), and at the Musikhochschule in Munich (1959–64), where he was taught by Gerhard Hüsch. There in 1960 he helped to found the Studio der Frühen Musik, a quartet specializing in early music, with whom he made his professional début in 1961. After 1964 he also pursued a career as a soloist, particularly in music of the Baroque period, on the Continent, especially in Germany and the Netherlands; he also sang in Britain and in North America. He taught at the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis. Rogers specialized in Monteverdi's operas, singing principal roles in Il ritorno d’Ulisse in patria, L'incoronazione di Poppea, Il combattimento di Tancredi e Clorinda, and Orfeo. He was associated with several early music groups, including Chiaroscuro, with whom he recorded frequently and performed in many European countries, but did not confine himself to music of the 17th century and earlier; he sang in several 20th-century works (including ...

(b Shkodra, April 4, 1926; d Tirana, May 24, 2004). Albanian tenor . He started singing at an early age. In the year 1945 he entered the Ansambli i Ushtrisë (‘Army Ensemble’) as a soloist. From 1952 to 1957 he was in Moscow to study singing at the P.I. Tchaikovsky Conservatory. Once back, he started work as a soloist at the National Opera Theater and at the Ansambli Shtetëror i Këngëve dhe Valleve Popullore (‘State Ensemble of Folk Songs and Dances’). He interpreted several main roles in the operas Cavalleria Rusticana, Madame Butterfly, and Rigoletto, and also in the Albanian operas Lulja e kujtimit (‘The Flower of Memory’) by Kristo Kono, Mrika by Prenk Jakova, Zgjimi (‘The Awakening’) by Tonin Harapi, and Borana, by Avni Mula. Tukiçi was renowned also for his performances of Albanian songs (këngë popullore), sung in a characteristic leggero tenor style. These pieces became very popular among Albanian audiences. He toured with the State Ensemble of Folk Songs and Dances and achieved several different state prizes during his career....

(b Brăila, Romania, Nov 1, 1960). Romanian tenor. After graduating from the George Enescu University of Arts in Iaşi, where he studied with Visarion Huţu, he débuted as Rodolfo in La Boheme at the Iaşi lyric theatre. He has received awards in national and international competitions (Iaşi, 1976; Sofia, 1978; Francisco Viñas, 1979; Ostende, 1980) and was granted a scholarship at the Academy Santa Cecilia, Rome, where he studied with Gino Becchi. He was a soloist at the Iaşi Opera (1976–82), then first soloist of the National Opera in Bucharest (1982–97). He has toured in Italy, Spain, France, Austria, Holland, Germany, Belgium, the United Kingdom, Hungary, Korea, and Japan. His repertory includes works by Verdi, Puccini, Donizetti, Mascagni, Bellini, Mozart, Delibes, Saint-Saëns, Bizet, Offenbach, Tchaikovsky, Richard Strauss, Enescu, Constantin Nottara, Marţian Negrea, Porumbescu, Anatol Vieru, Mihail Jora, Doru Popovici, Cornel Trăilescu, and Nicolae Bretan...