Nicolai Gedda
Nicolai Gedda -- possessor of one of the widest-ranging repertoires ever, phenomenal technique, and a bright, resonant voice with clarion high notes and a seductive mezza voice -- had one of the finest singing careers of the 20th century. He excelled in music of English, French, German, Italian, Russian, American, and Swedish composers, and was equally adept in traversing styles from the Baroque to the contemporary; he was as noted a performer of oratorio and songs as of opera. His performances were masterpieces of authentic style, from language and diction to phrasing. While performing Samuel Barber's Vanessa, in which he created the role of Anatol, critics consistently acclaimed his diction as the finest in the cast, even though he shared the stage with Rosalind Elias and Eleanor Steber -- both native speakers of English.
Gedda's father was Russian, his mother Swedish, and in 1929 his parents moved to Leipzig, where his father became cantor and choirmaster of a Russian Orthodox Church. As a child he sang in the church and performed Russian songs at weddings and parties. Having no wish to remain in Germany as the Nazi party rose to power, the family returned to Sweden in 1934.
As a teenager, he developed a strong ambition to become an opera singer, but unable to come up with the money to fund his studies, he became a bank teller, though he continued to participate in singing competitions. A wealthy bank client who was also an instrumentalist with the Stockholm Opera happened to hear Gedda mention his aspirations, and asked Karl-Martin Oehmann, a music teacher who had himself been an operatic tenor, to take him on as a pupil. Gedda later credited the development of his spectacular technique to Oehmann's teaching. Shortly thereafter, he won the Christine Nielsson Scholarship, which enabled him to begin music studies at the Stockholm Conservatory as a full time pupil in 1950.
In 1952, Gedda's recording and performing careers began simultaneously. Walter Legge, the famous producer for EMI, was in Sweden, and agreed to audition some of the students. He was immediately bowled over by Gedda's voice, musicianship, and technique; given that Gedda spoke fluent Russian, he signed him on the spot to take on the role of Dmitri in his upcoming recording of Boris Godunov, starring Boris Christoff -- all despite the fact that Gedda had yet to make his stage debut (which came only a short time later, in a production of Adolphe Adam's Le Postillon de Lonjumeau)! This began a lifelong association with EMI.
He made his La Scala debut in the 1952-1953 season as Don Ottavio (Mozart's Don Giovanni), and Carl Orff asked him to create the role of the Bridegroom in Il Trionfo dell'Afrodite; his Paris Opera debut in 1954 was as Huon in Weber's Oberon, and his Covent Garden debut in 1954 was as the Duke of Mantua. These were soon followed by debuts at Salzburg (Don Ottavio, 1957) and the Metropolitan Opera (Faust).
His life-long association with EMI made him one of the most widely-recorded tenors, though in the compact disc era, EMI had been rather dilatory in re-releasing many of his recordings.
© TiVo
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Nicolai Gedda sings Arias & Lieder
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Vocale muziek (wereldlijk en religieus) - Released by SWR Classic on 6 mrt. 2012
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Puccini: Madama Butterfly, Extracts (Mono Version)
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Klassiek - Released by BNF Collection on 1 jan. 1963
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
GRANDI VOCI NICOLAI GEDDA Una collana dedicata con registrazioni originali Decca e Deutsche Grammophon rimasterizzate con le tecniche più moderne che ne garantiscono eccellenza tecnica e artistica
Nicolai Gedda, Vincenzo Bellini, Jules Massenet
Klassiek - Released by UME - Global Clearing House on 25 jun. 2021
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Gounod: Mireille, extraits (Mono Version)
Janette Vivalda, Nicolai Gedda, Orchestre de la Société des Concerts du Conservatoire, André Cluytens
Divers - Released by BNF Collection on 1 jan. 1958
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Rousseau: Le devin du village (Intermède en un acte) [1956]
Janine Micheau, Michel Roux, Nicolai Gedda
Opera - Released by Classical Moments on 20 mrt. 2015
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Mozart : Die Zauberflöte (1953 - Restored Version)
Herbert von Karajan, Giuseppe Taddei, Nicolai Gedda
Opera - Released by Urania on 1 jan. 2003
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Lehár: La veuve joyeuse (Mono Version)
Elisabeth Schwarzkopf, Nicolai Gedda, Philharmonia Orchestra, Otto Ackermann
Divers - Released by BNF Collection on 1 jan. 1954
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Faust
Nicolai Gedda, Victoria de los Angeles, Boris Christoff
Opera - Released by Urania on 1 jan. 1960
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Nicolai Gedda Live in Budapest, 1984: Goethe Songs
Vocale muziek (wereldlijk en religieus) - Released by Bluebell on 1 apr. 2012
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Kienzl: Der Evangelimann [Electrola-Querschnitt] (Electrola-Querschnitt)
Klassiek - Released by Warner Classics on 12 apr. 2013
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Eine Nacht in Venedig (Intégrale)
Klassiek - Released by Naxos on 13 apr. 2007
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Die Fledermaus
Klassiek - Released by Naxos on 18 apr. 2006
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Gounod: Faust (Mono Version)
Nicolai Gedda, Jerome Hines, Hilde Güden, Jean-Paul Morel
Divers - Released by BNF Collection on 1 jan. 1958
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Glinka · Una Vita per lo Zar
Boris Christoff, Nicolai Gedda, Igor Markevitch, Orchestra dell'Associazione dei Concerti di Lamoreux
Klassiek - Released by G.O.P. on 30 nov. 2022
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Strauss II: The Gypsy Baron
Elisabeth Schwarzkopf, Erich Kunz, Will Ferenz, Nicolai Gedda, The Philharmonia Orchestra, The Philharmonia Chorus
Opera - Released by Past Classics on 28 apr. 2009
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Georges Bizet: Carmen
Giulietta Simionato, Nicolai Gedda, Hilde Güden
Opera - Released by Urania on 1 jan. 2004
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Rousseau: Le devin du village (Mono Version)
Janine Micheau, Michel Roux, Nicolai Gedda, Louis De Froment
Divers - Released by BNF Collection on 1 jan. 1962
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Firestone presents Your Christmas Favorites, Vol. 7
Leontyne Price, Vikki Carr, John Gary, Nicolai Gedda, Wiener Sängerknaben
Divers - Released by Christmas Album on 31 okt. 2023
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Nikolai Gedda Concert in Moscow, October 6, 1980 (Live)
Klassiek - Released by JSC Firma Melodiya on 24 nov. 2016
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Gluck · Alceste
Eileen Farrell, Nicolai Gedda, Kurt Adler, Orchestra del teatro Metropolitan
Klassiek - Released by G.O.P. on 31 mei 2021
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Daylight Is Fading, Vol. 2
Pop - Released by Diamond Days on 18 jul. 2013
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo