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
Artistas semelhantes
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Bach, Schubert, Fauré, Poulenc, Reutter & Strauss: Lieder (Live)
Aurèle Nicolet, Hermann Reutter, Nicolai Gedda
Classical - Lançado por Orfeo em 1 de jan. de 2016
Qualidade de CD de 16 bits 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Peterson-Berger: Songs, Piano & Violin Music
Esther Bodin-Karpe, Bernt Lysell, Nicolai Gedda, Jan Eyron
Classical - Lançado por Bluebell em 1 de abr. de 2012
Qualidade de CD de 16 bits 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Nicolai Gedda sings Arias & Lieder
Nicolai Gedda, South West German Radio Symphony Orchestra, Baden-Baden and Freiburg, members, Erik Werba
Vocal Music (Secular and Sacred) - Lançado por SWR Classic em 6 de mar. de 2012
Qualidade de CD de 16 bits 44.1 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
Classical - Lançado por UME - Global Clearing House em 25 de jun. de 2021
Qualidade de CD de 16 bits 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Rousseau: Le devin du village (Intermède en un acte) [1956]
Janine Micheau, Michel Roux, Nicolai Gedda
Opera - Lançado por Classical Moments em 20 de mar. de 2015
Qualidade de CD de 16 bits 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Mozart : Die Zauberflöte (1953 - Restored Version)
Herbert von Karajan, Giuseppe Taddei, Nicolai Gedda
Opera - Lançado por Urania em 1 de jan. de 2003
Qualidade de CD de 16 bits 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Faust
Nicolai Gedda, Victoria de los Angeles, Boris Christoff
Opera - Lançado por Urania em 1 de jan. de 1960
Qualidade de CD de 16 bits 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Nicolai Gedda Live in Budapest, 1984: Goethe Songs
Vocal Music (Secular and Sacred) - Lançado por Bluebell em 1 de abr. de 2012
Qualidade de CD de 16 bits 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Kienzl: Der Evangelimann [Electrola-Querschnitt] (Electrola-Querschnitt)
Classical - Lançado por Warner Classics em 12 de abr. de 2013
Qualidade de CD de 16 bits 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Eine Nacht in Venedig (Intégrale)
Classical - Lançado por Naxos em 13 de abr. de 2007
Qualidade de CD de 16 bits 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Die Fledermaus
Classical - Lançado por Naxos em 18 de abr. de 2006
Qualidade de CD de 16 bits 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Glinka · Una Vita per lo Zar
Boris Christoff, Nicolai Gedda, Igor Markevitch, Orchestra dell'Associazione dei Concerti di Lamoreux
Classical - Lançado por G.O.P. em 30 de nov. de 2022
Qualidade de CD de 16 bits 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Georges Bizet: Carmen
Giulietta Simionato, Nicolai Gedda, Hilde Güden
Opera - Lançado por Urania em 1 de jan. de 2004
Qualidade de CD de 16 bits 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Nikolai Gedda Concert in Moscow, October 6, 1980 (Live)
Classical - Lançado por JSC Firma Melodiya em 24 de nov. de 2016
Qualidade de CD de 16 bits 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Gluck · Alceste
Eileen Farrell, Nicolai Gedda, Kurt Adler, Orchestra del teatro Metropolitan
Classical - Lançado por G.O.P. em 31 de mai. de 2021
Qualidade de CD de 16 bits 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Daylight Is Fading, Vol. 2
Pop - Lançado por Diamond Days em 18 de jul. de 2013
Qualidade de CD de 16 bits 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Emil Sjögren: Songs, Vol. 3
Nicolai Gedda, Margareta Hallin, Jan Eyron, Thomas Schuback
Vocal Music (Secular and Sacred) - Lançado por Bluebell em 1 de abr. de 2012
Qualidade de CD de 16 bits 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Peterson-Berger: The Nicolai Gedda Collection of Swedish Song
Vocal Music (Secular and Sacred) - Lançado por Bluebell em 1 de abr. de 2012
Qualidade de CD de 16 bits 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Rossini Il turco in Italia
Maria Callas, Nicola Rossi-Lemeni, Gianandrea Gavazzeni, Franco Calabrese, Nicolai Gedda, Jolanda Gardino
Classical - Lançado por Warner Classics em 1 de jan. de 1955
Qualidade de CD de 16 bits 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Rossini: Il Turco in Italia
Maria Callas, Nicolai Gedda, Coro e Orchestra del Teatro alla Scala, Milano, Gianandrea Gavazzeni
Classical - Lançado por Warner Classics em 1 de jan. de 1955
Qualidade de CD de 16 bits 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Finest Tenor Essentials
Classical - Lançado por Classique Perfecto em 23 de ago. de 2011
Qualidade de CD de 16 bits 44.1 kHz - Stereo