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
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J. Strauss II: Une nuit à Venise, chanté en allemand (Mono Version)
Philharmonia Orchestra, Otto Ackermann, Elisabeth Schwarzkopf, Nicolai Gedda
Miscellaneous - Released by BNF Collection on 1 Jan 1958
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Berlioz: La damnation de Faust, Extracts (Stereo Version)
Orchestre du Theatre National De L'Opera De Paris, André Cluytens, Nicolai Gedda
Miscellaneous - Released by BNF Collection on 1 Jan 1960
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Siv Wennberg: A Great Primadonna, Vol. 6
Siv Wennberg, Nicolai Gedda, Loa Falkman
Opera - Released by Sterling on 6 Jan 2017
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Faust
Boris Christoff, Victoria de los Angeles, Nicolai Gedda
Opera - Released by P4Y Music on 28 Mar 2016
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Gounod : Faust (Mono Version, 1953) (Mono Version)
Victoria de los Angeles, Nicolai Gedda, Orchestre du Theatre National De L'Opera De Paris, André Cluytens
Full Operas - Released by BNF Collection on 1 Jan 1953
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
J. Strauss II: The Gypsy Baron (Mono Version)
Elisabeth Schwarzkopf, Nicolai Gedda, Philharmonia Orchestra, Otto Ackermann
Miscellaneous - Released by BNF Collection on 1 Jan 1960
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Madama Butterfly, Extracts (Mono Version)
Maria Callas, Nicolai Gedda, Herbert von Karajan
Miscellaneous - Released by BNF Collection on 1 Jan 1959
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Stravinsky: Perséphone (Mono Version)
Nicolai Gedda, Orchestre de la Société des Concerts du Conservatoire, André Cluytens
Miscellaneous - Released by BNF Collection on 1 Jan 1955
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
J. Strauss II: Die Fledermaus, extraits (Mono Version)
Nicolai Gedda, Elisabeth Schwarzkopf, Philharmonia Orchestra, Herbert von Karajan
Miscellaneous - Released by BNF Collection on 1 Jan 1960
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Airs d'opéras français (Mono Version)
Miscellaneous - Released by BNF Collection on 1 Jan 1962
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Gluck: Airs d'Alceste (Mono Version)
Consuelo Rubio, Nicolai Gedda, Orchestre du Theatre National De L'Opera De Paris, Georges Prêtre
Miscellaneous - Released by BNF Collection on 1 Jan 1963
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Gounod: Mireille, extraits (Mono Version)
Janette Vivalda, Nicolai Gedda, Orchestre de la Société des Concerts du Conservatoire, André Cluytens
Miscellaneous - Released by BNF Collection on 1 Jan 1958
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Emil Sjögren: Songs, Vol. 3
Nicolai Gedda, Margareta Hallin, Jan Eyron, Thomas Schuback
Vocal Music (Secular and Sacred) - Released by Bluebell on 1 Apr 2012
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Peterson-Berger: The Nicolai Gedda Collection of Swedish Song
Vocal Music (Secular and Sacred) - Released by Bluebell on 1 Apr 2012
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Rossini Il turco in Italia
Maria Callas, Nicola Rossi-Lemeni, Gianandrea Gavazzeni, Franco Calabrese, Nicolai Gedda, Jolanda Gardino
Classical - Released by Warner Classics on 1 Jan 1955
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Rossini: Il Turco in Italia
Maria Callas, Nicolai Gedda, Coro e Orchestra del Teatro alla Scala, Milano, Gianandrea Gavazzeni
Classical - Released by Warner Classics on 1 Jan 1955
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Finest Tenor Essentials
Classical - Released by Classique Perfecto on 23 Aug 2011
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
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Nicolai Gedda & Tatiana Gedda Viennese Delights
Stockholm Philharmonic Palm Court Orchestra, Nicolai Gedda, Lars Almgren, Tatiana Gedda
Classical - Released by Bluebell on 1 Apr 2012
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Daylight Is Fading, Vol. 1
Pop - Released by Diamond Days on 5 May 2008
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Singer Portrait: The Young Nicolai Gedda
Opera - Released by The Art Of Singing on 3 Dec 2015
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo