Deon van der Walt: Difference between revisions

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{{Short description|South African tenor}}

'''Deon van der Walt''' ([[July 28]] [[1958]] – [[November 29]], [[2005]]), was a [[South Africa|South African]] tenor.

{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2020}}

{{Use South African English|date=August 2012}}

'''Deon van der Walt''' ([[28 July 28]] [[1958]] – [[29 November 29]], [[2005]]), was a [[South Africa|SouthAfrican African[[tenor]] tenor.

Van der Walt studied singing at the [[Stellenbosh University]] ofand Stellenboschresided at [[Wilgenhof]] and made his debut as Jaquino in [[Ludwig van Beethoven|Beethoven]]'s ''[[Fidelio]]'' at the (then) [[ArtscapeCape Theatre Centre|Nico MalanTown Opera House]] in [[Cape Town]] before he had graduated. Numerous scholarships and awards allowed him to continue his studies abroad. In 1981, he won the [[International{{Interlanguage Mozartlink Competition]]multi|Internationaler Mozartwettbewerb|de}} in [[Salzburg]].{{Citation needed|date=September 2016|reason=There was no competition in 1981, and he's not listed at http://www.moz.ac.at/files/pdf/mowe/mowe_preistraeger_75-06.pdf}} His first formal engagement took him to Gelsenkirchen's [[GelsenkirchenMusiktheater im Revier]], then to the [[Staatsoper Stuttgart]] and [[Zurich Opera]]. He was invited to perform at the [[Royal Opera House|Covent Garden]] in [[London]] in 1985 and there made his debut as Almaviva in [[GioacchinoGioachino Rossini|Rossini]]’s's ''[[The Barber of Seville]]''.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.theguardian.com/news/2005/dec/02/guardianobituaries.southafrica |title=Deon van der Walt: Tenor with a Gift for Comic Opera and a Taste for Good Wine |author=Blyth, Alan|authorlink=Alan Blyth|date=2 December 2005 |work=[[The Guardian]]|publisher=Guardian News and Media |accessdate=5 March 2010}}</ref>

Deon van der WaltHe was counted amongst the leading lyric tenors andof hehis day {{according to whom|date=April 2024}} and performed at all the world’sworld's major opera houses, including:

*[[La Scala]] in [[Milan]],

*the [[Hamburg State Opera|Hamburg]]

*the [[Vienna State Opera]]s,

*the [[Bavarian State Opera]] in [[Munich]],

*the [[Liceu]]Zurich in [[BarcelonaOpera]], and theSwitzerland

*the [[Liceu]] in Barcelona

*the [[Metropolitan Opera|Met]] in [[New York]].

Additionally heHe also performed at numerous international festivals, especially at the [[SalzburgerSalzburg FestspieleFestival]], where he sungsang Belmonte in [[Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart|Mozart]]'s ''The[[Die Entführung aus dem Serail|Abduction from the Seraglio]]'' and Ferrando in ''[[Così fan tutte]]'' under [[Riccardo Muti]].

On video/DVD, he can be seen i.a. in [[George Frideric Handel|Handel]]'s ''[[Semele (Handel)|Semele]]'' as Jupiter, singing a long, beautifully shaped "Where e'reer Youyou Walk,walk"; in [[Gaetano Donizetti|Donizetti]]'s ''[[Linda di Chamounix]]'' with [[Edita Gruberova, in La Belle Helene, effortlessly soaring to the heights as Paris,Gruberová]]; and in Mozart's '[[TheLa Magicbelle FluteHélène]] as Tamino with Ulrike Sonntag as Pamina''.

Deon van der Walt died at the age of 47 at his ownfamily's wine farmvineyard in South Africa. Apparently, he was shot twice in the chest by his own father, who then committed suicide.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/News/Damn-farm-cost-Deon-his-life-20051130|title=Damn Farm Cost Deon His Life|author=Ekron, Ziegfried|date=30 November 2005|work=[[News24 (website)|News24]]|accessdate=2020-05-25}}</ref>

==References==

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[[Category:2005 deaths]]

[[Category:Tenors]]

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[[Category:1958 births]]

[[Category:2005 deaths]]

[[Category:South African operatic tenors]]

[[Category:TenorsAfrikaner people]]

[[Category:South African murder victims]]

[[Category:People murdered in South Africa]]

[[Category:Deaths by firearm in South Africa]]

[[Category:Stellenbosch University alumni]]

[[Category:20th-century South African male opera singers]]

[[Category:21st-century South African male opera singers]]

[[Category:20th-century South African opera singers]]

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