Wikipedia:Votes for deletion/Anglo-Welsh and Nicolai Gedda: Difference between pages

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#redirect [[Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Anglo-Welsh]]

The [[Sweden|Swedish]] [[tenor]] '''Nicolai Gedda''' (born [[July 11]], [[1925]]) is a famous [[opera]] singer and recitalist. What he lacks in Italianate tone and ''[[squillo]]'', he amply compensates for in versatility, with more than sixty roles to his credit, ranging from [[Rameau]] to [[Shostakovich]]. Having made some two hundred recordings, Gedda is said to be the most widely-recorded tenor in history.

Gedda was born in [[Stockholm]] to a Swedish mother and a Russian father, who sang bass in a Don Cossack choir and was cantor in a [[Russian Orthodox]] church; he grew up bilingual and learned English, German, Italian, and Latin. Gedda began his professional career as a bank teller in a local bank in Stockholm. One day a wealthy client overheard him speaking about his desire to sing professionally, and offered to pay for his tuition to study with Karl Martin Oehmann, a well known Wagnerian tenor from the 1920s who also discovered [[Jussi Björling]].

In 1952, at the age of 27, Gedda made his debut at the [[Royal Swedish Opera]], performing the role of Chapelon in [[Adolphe Adam]]'s ''Le Postillon di Langjumeau''. In this same year he also performed the role of Nicklaus in [[Jacques Offenbach|Offenbach]]'s ''[[Tales of Hoffmann|The Tales of Hoffmann]]'' and the tenor role in ''[[Der Rosenkavalier]]''.

After an audition in Stockholm, he gained the attention of conductor [[Herbert von Karajan]], who took him to Italy. In 1953, he made his début at [[La Scala]] as Don Ottavio in ''[[Don Giovanni]]''.

In 1954, he made his [[Opera Garnier|Paris Opera]] debut in the tenor role in [[Carl Maria von Weber|Weber]]'s ''[[Oberon, King of the Fairies]]'', and was given a permanent contract for several years. In 1957, Gedda made his [[Metropolitan Opera]] début in the title role of [[Gounod]]'s ''[[Faust (opera)|Faust]]'', and went on to sing 28 roles there over the next 26 years, including the world premieres of [[Samuel Barber|Barber]]'s ''[[Vanessa (opera)|Vanessa]]'' and [[Gian Carlo Menotti|Menotti]]'s ''The Last Savage''. Gedda made his [[Royal Opera House]] [[Covent Garden]] début in 1954 as the Duke of Mantua in [[Giuseppe Verdi|Verdi]]'s ''[[Rigoletto (opera)|Rigoletto]]'' and has since returned to sing Benvenuto Cellini, Alfredo, Gustavus III in ''[[Un Ballo in Maschera]]'', Nemorino and Lensky.

In addition to his opera performances, Gedda cultivated an active parallel career as a recitalist, with a large repertoire of French, German, Scandinavian, and Russian artsongs.

A singer of unusual longevity, Gedda has been active well into his late 70s; in May 2001 he recorded the role of the Emperor Altoum in [[Puccini]]'s ''[[Turandot]]'' and the role of the High Priest in [[Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart|Mozart]]'s ''[[Idomeneo]]'' in June 2003.

==External link==

*[http://www.nicolai-gedda.de/ Unofficial Nicolai Gedda fan website]

[[Category:1925 births|Gedda]]

[[Category:Male singers|Gedda]]

[[Category:Swedish opera singers|Gedda]]

[[Category:Tenors|Gedda]]