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
Similar artists
-
Mozart: Don Giovanni, K. 527 (Remastered)
Nicolaï Ghiaurov, Christa Ludwig, Mirella Freni, Nicolai Gedda, New Philharmonia Orchestra, Otto Klemperer
Opera - Released by Warner Classics on 16 Aug 1991
24-Bit 192.0 kHz - Stereo -
Mozart: Die Zauberflöte
Otto Klemperer, Lucia Popp, Gundula Janowitz, Nicolai Gedda, Philharmonia Orchestra
Classical - Released by Warner Classics on 1 Jan 1964
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Gounod: Faust (Stereo Version)
Paris Opera Orchestra, André Cluytens, Victoria de los Angeles, Nicolai Gedda
Miscellaneous - Released by BNF Collection on 1 Jan 1960
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Gounod: 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 -
Gluck: Alceste (Sung in French)
Opera - Released by Orfeo on 1 Jan 2016
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Delibes: Lakmé
Gianna d' Angelo, Nicolai Gedda, Jane Berbié, Ernest Blanc, Orchestre Du Theatre National De L'opera-comique, Georges Prêtre
Classical - Released by Warner Classics on 22 Dec 2023
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Mozart: Così Fan Tutte (Complete Mozart Edition)
Montserrat Caballé, (Dame) Janet Baker, Nicolai Gedda, Wladimiro Ganzarolli, Sir Colin Davis
Classical - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on 1 Jan 1974
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Puccini · la bohème
Mirella Freni, Nicolai Gedda, Thomas Schippers, Orchestra del Teatro dell'Opera di Roma
Classical - Released by G.O.P. on 28 Feb 2023
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
J. Strauss II: Der Zigeunerbaron
Grace Bumbry, Rita Streich, Nicolai Gedda, Franz Allers, Bayerisches Staatsorchester
Opera - Released by Warner Classics on 30 Jun 2023
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Lehár: Paganini
Anneliese Rothenberger, Nicolai Gedda, Bayerisches Staatsorchester , Willi Boskovsky
Operettas - Released by Warner Classics on 1 Jan 1977
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Lehár: Der Graf von Luxemburg
Lucia Popp, Nicolai Gedda, Symphonie-Orchester Graunke, Willy Mattes
Classical - Released by Warner Classics on 24 Apr 2020
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
L'art de la mélodie. Debussy, Fauré, Hahn, Poulenc, Satie
Classical - Released by Warner Classics on 3 Feb 2023
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Gounod: Faust (1953 Version)
Victoria de los Angeles, Boris Christoff, Nicolai Gedda, Orchestre du Theatre National De L'Opera De Paris, André Cluytens
Classical - Released by Warner Classics on 1 Jan 1960
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Singers of the Century: Opera Recital
Opera - Released by Jube Classic on 5 Aug 2022
24-Bit 48.0 kHz - Stereo -
Mozart · Die Zauberflöte
Nicolai Gedda, Gundula Janowitz, Otto Klemperer, Philharmonia Orchestra
Classical - Released by G.O.P. on 29 May 2023
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Debussy: Pelléas et Mélisande, L. 88 (Live) [Orfeo d'Or]
Opera - Released by Orfeo on 5 Jul 1994
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Rousseau: Le devin du village (Mono Version)
Louis De Froment, Orchestre de Chambre Louis De Froment, Nicolai Gedda, Janine Micheau
Classical - Released by BNF Collection on 1 Jan 1957
The Qobuz Essential Discography24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Puccini: Madame Butterfly (Mono Version)
Orchestra del Teatro della Scala di Milano, Herbert von Karajan, Maria Callas, Nicolai Gedda
Classical - Released by BNF Collection on 1 Jan 1955
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Delibes: Lakmé, extraits (Stereo Version)
Gianna d' Angelo, Nicolai Gedda, Georges Prêtre, Orchestre Du Theatre National De L'opera-comique
Miscellaneous - Released by BNF Collection on 1 Jan 1962
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Berlioz: La Damnation de Faust
Nicolai Gedda, Jules Bastin, Josephine Veasey, London Symphony Chorus, London Symphony Orchestra, Sir Colin Davis
Classical - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on 1 Dec 1973
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Bizet: Les pêcheurs de perles (Stereo Version)
Janine Micheau, Nicolai Gedda, Pierre Dervaux, Orchestre Du Theatre National De L'opera-comique
Miscellaneous - Released by BNF Collection on 1 Jan 1900
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo