TOM KRAUSE, Bass-Baritone * 05 July 1934, Helsinki, Finland + 06 December 2013, Hamburg, Germany;

The Finnish baritone, Tom Krause, had begun studying to become a psychiatrist, and obtained a medical degree from Helsinki University. But he gave it up to study singing. He received his training in Helsinki, and later at the Vienna Music Academy and in Berlin.

Since his debut in Berlin in 1957, Tom Krause has established himself as a leading baritone with a vast repertoire, ranging from J.S. Bach to Messiaen. He was with the Deutsche Oper Berlin for three years and has been a member of the Hamburg State Opera since 1962, where he created the leading role in the world premieres of various modern operas such as The Golden Ram and Hamlet. He also appeared as guest with most of the leading operas in Europe, including La Scala, Vienna, London, Berlin, Munich, Copenhagen, Brussels, Amsterdam and Rome.

Tom Krause was awarded the Harriet Cohen Bach Prize for his singing in Benjamin Britten’s War Requiem in London. In 1963, he made his debut in America at Tanglewood with Boston Symphony Orchestra in the American premiere of this work. He also sang it at the Carnegie Hall. Since then, his career has lead him to all great American and European theatres, in London, Berlin, Vienna, Milan, and Paris where he sang Le nozze di Figaro, Les Contes d’Hoffmann, La Concrentola, Parisfal, Elektra, Cosi fan Tutte, etc. at the Garnier Opera House, and more recently The Queen of Spades, Katya Kabanova, and Saint Francois d’Assise at the Bastille Opera House. He sang at the music festivals in Bayreuth, Glyndebourne, Tanglewood, Vienna, Baalbeck, and at the City of London Festival. He was named ‘Kammersänger’ in Hamburg in 1967 and in the same year he made his very successful Metropolitan Opera debut in the role of Count Almaviva.

Tom Krause performed oratorio, and sung in Lieder recitals many times. At the end of the 1960’s he was also under contract with the Metropolitan Opera, as well as with the Hamburg State Opera. Among his more important roles are Don Giovanni, Count Almaviva, Amonastro, Germont, Don Carlos (Forza del Destino), Escamillo, Malatesta, Oreste (Elerktra), Marcello and Nick Shadow.

Tom Krause also performed on stage St François at the 1998 Salzburg Festival and at the Luzern Festival (in concert version). In 1999, he returned to Paris to sing Titurel in Parsifal. Tom Krause was regularly invited to the Salzburg Festival as well as the Savolinna Festival.

Tom Krause did many great recordings, including not only opera, but Lieder as well (Johannes Brahms, Robert Schumann, Moussorgksi, Schubert, Sibelius). His numerous recordings won him wide acclaim

Tom Krause taught in Hamburg and was a member of numerous Voice Competitions through the world.

 

ALMA JOHANNA-KUULA, Soprano * 05 February 1884, St. Petersburg + 08 October 1941, Lappeenranta;

Alma Johanna Kuula born Silventoinen (05 February 1884, St. Petersburg + 08 October 1941, Lappeenranta) was a Finnish soprano.

 

Alma and Toivo Kuula, circa 1914

Toivo and Alma Kuula 1916.

Oulu 1911 (Museovirasto)

Date: 1914

Concert program 1919

 

AUNE KERTTU ANTTI, Soprano * 23 December 1901, Lappeenran, Finland + 27 August 1983, Helsinki, Finland;

F

Finnish soprano ANTTI (1901-1983), born Kerttu Aune Anttonen, debuted in Helsinki, Finland in 1931 and performed in Stockholm, Copenhagen, Oslo, Berlin, Warsaw, Budapest, Paris and Lisbon. She also toured the United States and Canada in 1937 and 1938 with the Salzburg Opera Guild. She was awarded Finland’s Order of the Lion in 1972.

 

LEA PILTTI, Soprano * 02 January 1904, Rautjärvi, Finland + 05 February 1982, Helsinki;

Opera Singer. A coloratura soprano, she is remembered both for her pre-World War II career on the leading German stages and for her time as a distinguished voice teacher. Raised in the southeastern portion of her country, she began her vocal studies at 16, earned a degree in education, and took a teaching job in 1924. Still harboring musical ambitions, she gave her first public recital in 1926 and shortly thereafter bowed with the Finnish National Opera as the title lead of Leo Delibes’ “Lakme”. Lea began her international career with the Konigsburg Opera in 1930 and soon was in demand at the Berlin State Opera, the Vienna State Opera, and elsewhere, her roles including Konstanze of Mozart’s “The Abduction From the Seraglio”, Zerbinetta in Richard Strauss’ “Ariadne auf Naxos”, and her probable signature piece, the Queen of the Night from Mozart’s “The Magic Flute”. Selected to perform at Maestro Strauss’ 1939 75th birthday gala, she also did voice-overs for the 1942 film feature “Wiener Blut” but at the end of World War II found her career damaged due to her Nazi associations. In 1949 she began a teaching career that saw her train a number of notable students including dramatic soprano Anita Valkki and baritone Matti Salminen. Lea received the Pro Finlandia Award in 1956, maintained a concert career that saw her perform on both sides of the Atlantic up thru 1961, and continued teaching for many years. Much of her recorded legacy is preserved on CD. (bio by: Bob Hufford)

 

FREDERICO DAVIA, Bass * 07 July 1933, Genoa, Italy + 02 January 1997, New York City, New York, USA;

Frederico Davia made his debut in 1959 with a touring opera stage in Italy as Colline in Puccini’s Bohème. He also participated in 1960 in Florence in the premiere of the opera Una notte in Paradiso by Valentino Bucchi. In the future he acquired by his performances at the big Italian opera houses an important call to sing at the Milan’s La Scala (debut 1962 in Puccini’s Gianni Schicchi), at the opera houses of Genoa, Florence, Palermo, Naples, Parma, Bologna, Triest, Turin and Venice. Abroad he made guest appearances in Brussels, Copenhagen, Oslo, Lisbon, to San Francisco Opera, at the operas of Bordeaux and Rouen and at the Festivals of Glyndebourne, Florence (Maggio Musicale Fiorentino) and Drottningholm. In Glyndebourne he sang in 1970 in the premiere of the Baroque opera La Calisto by Cavalli, already in 1965 Count Robinson in Cimarosa’s Matrimonio segreto and Bartolo in Le Nozze di Figaro, in 1980 in La Bohème and still in 1988 as Pistol in Falstaff by Verdi. In 1968 he could be heard at the Teatro San Carlo Naples in the premiere of Nino Rota’s Lampada di Aladino, in 1975 at La Scala in the premiere of Al gran brine carico d’amore by Luigi Nono, in 1970 likewise at La Scala in the premiere of Luigi Dallapiccola’s Ulisse. At the Festival of Edinburgh he appeared as a guest in 1980 in L’Amour trois of the oranges by Prokofiev, at the Covent Garden Opera London in 1988 as Figaro in Nozze di Figaro. At the Salzburg Festival he appeared in 1981-1982 as Pistol in Verdi’s Falstaff, in 1986-1988 as Antonio in Nozze di Figaro. He appeared as a guest at the Metropolitan Opera in New York (debut in 1989 as Talpa in Puccini’s Il Tabarro, in 1990-1991 as Antonio in Nozze di Figaro), at opera houses in Washington and Mexico City. He participated also in opera performances of the Italian television.

Frederico Davia became a late director of the I Commedianti Opera company, a touring opera, led the Italian Opera Academy London and produced operas in Geneva, Tel Aviv, Avignon and at the Brighton Festival. He was an also artistic director for opera films in the French television. He mastered an extensive repertoire for bass-bariton with roles from all ranges of the opera literature on the stage, not least also in modern works.

Recordings: Argo, Curci, RCA, Decca (L’Ormindo and La Calisto by Cavalli), Mixtur (Euridice by Jacopo Peri), Acanta (La Cenerentola).

 

 

LEO GOEKE, Tenor * 06 November 1937, Kirksville, Missouri, United States + 18 September 2012, Pittsfield, Massachusetts, United States;

Leo Goeke (November 6, 1937, Kirksville, Missouri — September 18, 2012, Pittsfield, Massachusetts) was an American operatic tenor who had an active international career from the 1960s through the 1980s. He was particularly admired for his portrayal of Tom Rakewell in The Rake’s Progress at the Glyndebourne Festival in 1975 and its subsequent revivals there in 1977, 1978 and 1980. He was also lauded for his portrayal of Gandhi I in Philip Glass’ Satyagraha which he performed in a production staged by Achim Freyer at the Stuttgart Opera in 1983. Other opera companies which he sang leading roles with included the Metropolitan Opera, the New York City Opera, the Royal Opera, London, the Santa Fe Opera, and the Portland Opera among others.

Goeke was an alumnus of Missouri Teachers College, Louisiana State University, and Iowa State University. He also studied voice at the Metropolitan Opera Studio. From 1994-2004 he was a professor of voice and director of the opera theatre program at DePauw University.

 

BEVERLY WOLFF, Mezzo-Soprano * 06 November 1928, Atlanta, Georgia, United States + 14 August 2005, Lakeland, Florida, United States;

The American mezzo-soprano, Beverly Wolff, studied music in her native city and in Philadelphia.

Beverly Wolff made her professional debut as Dinah in Leonard Bernstein’s Trouble in Tahiti, on television (CBS) in 1952. Dinah was also her debut role at the New York City Opera in 1958. Other roles at that house included, Cherubino in Nozze di Figaro, Siebel in Faust, the title role in Carmen. She took part in two Tito Capobianco ‘s landmark productions there, George Frideric Handel ‘s Giulio Cesare in which she sang Sesto, opposite Norman Treigle, Beverly Sills and Maureen Forrester, in 1966, and Donizetti ‘s Roberto Devereux, in which she sang Sara, opposite Beverly Sills, Plácido Domingo, Louis Quilico, in 1970, both operas were conducted by Julius Rudel. She also took part in the creation of Douglas Moore’s Carry Nation, in 1966, in Lawrence, Kansas.

Beverly Wolff was also active as a recitalist, appearing in numerous cities around the USA. She also sang abroad, notably in Spoleto, Florence, Venice, in roles such as Brangäne in Tristan und Isolde, Dalila in Samson et Dalila, and Benjamin Britten ‘s Lucretia in The Rape of Lucretia.

Beverly Wolff was married to businessman, John Dwiggins, with whom she had two sons. Early on in her career, she established a measured pace for her professional and personal life, in general, for every two weeks of work, she would spent three weeks at home. She retired from performing in 1981, and began teaching at Florida Southern College in Lakeland, where she remained until shortly before her death.

Selected Recordings: George Frideric Handel’s Giulio Cesare (w/ Norman Treigle, Beverly Sills, Maureen Forrester, NYCO Chorus and Orchestra conducted by Julius Rudel – 1967, RCA); Donizetti’s Roberto Devereux (w/ Beverly Sills, Robert Ilosfalvy, Peter Glossop – Ambrosian Opera Chorus & Royal Philarmonic Orchestra conducted by Charles Mackerras – 1969, DGG).

 

RENATO CAPECCHI, Baritone * 06 November 1923, Cairo, Egypt + 30 June 1998, Milan, Italy;

Renato Capecchi (born Cairo, November 6, 1923; died Milan, June 30, 1998) was an Italian baritone, actor, and opera director.

He sang in the Italian premiere of Shostakovich’s The Nose and Prokofiev’s War and Peace, and in the world premieres of Gian Francesco Malipiero’s La donna è mobile, Giorgio Federico Ghedini’s Billy Budd and Lord Inferno, and Sylvano Bussotti’s L’ispirazione.

In 1951, Capecchi made his New York Metropolitan Opera debut as Germont in La traviata and sang regularly in leading roles there until 1954. After a period of singing primarily in European opera houses, he returned to the Metropolitan Opera in 1975 where he specialized in smaller comic roles in otherwise tragic operas such the Sacristan in Tosca and Benoit and Alcindoro in La bohème.

Amongst the productions Capecchi directed were The Daughter of the Regiment at New York City Opera (1985), Così fan tutte in Susa, Italy (1978), and the US premiere of Giuseppe Gazzaniga’s Don Giovanni Tenorio, ossia Il convitato di pietra with the San Francisco Opera Merola Opera Program, in Saratoga, California (1977).

Recordings are available of him as Figaro (Mozart and Rossini), Dandini, Riccardo, Rigoletto, Belfiore, Melitone, Ford, Jago, Scarpia, and, in an Italian translation-performance of Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg, Beckmesser. There is a DVD of Cappecchi as Don Bartolo with Jennifer Larmore as Rosina in The Barber of Seville staged at Netherlands Opera in a 1992 production by Dario Fo.

Renato Capecchi taught at the Manhattan School of Music for many years.

 

JACQUELINE BRUMAIRE, Soprano * 05 November 1921, Herblay, France+ 29 October 2000, Nancy, France;

Jacqueline Brumaire (born Herblay, 5 November 1921, died Nancy 29 October 2000) was a French operatic soprano and later teacher.

Life and career
After training at the Conservatoire National de Paris under Madeleine Mathieu, she debuted on 13 October 1946 at the Opéra-Comique as the Countess in Le nozze di Figaro.[1] She then embarked on a successful career at that opera house, being admired particularly in roles for lyric soprano from French and Italian operas: Mimi in La bohème, Micaëla in Carmen, the title heroine in Massenet’s Manon, Antonia in Les contes d’Hoffmann, Fiordiligi in Così fan tutte, and Mireille in Gounod’s opera under the same title.

She sang Emma Bovary in the 1951 Opéra-Comique premiere of the opera Madame Bovary by Emmanuel Bondeville (in 1962 she sang in the same opera at the Paris Opéra). At Paris Opéra she had a very successful career her singing roles including Juliette in Roméo et Juliette by Gounod, Donna Elvira in Don Giovanni, Pamina in Die Zauberflöte, and Violetta in La Traviata. She also performed in the other main opera houses in France: Marseille, Nice, Bordeaux, Strasbourg, Lyon and Toulouse. In 1956 she debuted at La Scala, Milan as Fiordiligi in Così fan tutte, in 1957 as Louise in the opera of the same name by Charpentier, in the season of 1956-57 as Concepción in L’heure espagnole by Maurice Ravel.

She appeared as a guest in Johannesburg (1957) and in Prague (1967), in the Opéra Royal de Wallonie (1964 in title role in Thaïs by Massenet) and in Oran (1961). In 1962 she took part in Toulouse at the premiere of the opera Hop! Signor by Manuel Rosenthal.

She sang the title role in Esclarmonde by Massenet on 19 November 1963 during the concert performance of that opera for RTF (Radiodiffusion-Télévision Française). In 1969 she sang the role of Hélen (Elena) during the concert performance of Les vêpres siciliennes which was made available as a commercial recording.

From her other versatile stage repertoire, she sang Konstanze in Die Entführung aus dem Serail, the Marschallin in the Der Rosenkavalier, Renata in The Fiery Angel by Prokofiev (Opéra-Comique, 1967), and Béatrice in Un sguardo sul ponte by Renzo Rossellini (Bordeaux 1965, possibly the first French performance of that opera).

In 1981 she started to teach at the Conservatoire in Nancy, preparing among others Chinese singers for their first performances of Carmen in the People’s Republic of China. From 1992 up to her death she was a member of the Académie de Stanislas in Nancy. She published an autobiography La Baraka ou si Jacqueline Brumaire m’était contée.

Discography
Her recordings include albums collections of various arias for Philips and also some for Decca. She took part in recordings of Les Malheurs d’Orphée and Le Pauvre Matelot by Darius Milhaud (conducted by the composer) for Adès (1956), Pribaoutki and Les noces under Boulez (Concert Hall), sang Duchesse Hélène in Les vêpres siciliennes (BBC/Opera Rara) and Rosalinde (Carolina) in Chauve Souris for EMI France. For EMI she also recorded highlights from Massenet’s Thaïs.

 

 

ANTHONY ROLFE-JOHNSON, Tenor * 05 November 1940, Tackley, England + 21 July 2010, London, England;

One of England’s most distinguished singers, Anthony Rolfe-Johnson was a student of Ellis Keeler at the Guildhall School of Music in London, and later of Vera Rosza. He gained experience singing in the chorus and appearing in small roles at the Glyndebourne Festival between 1972 and 1976. In 1973 he made his formal operatic debut with the English Opera Group in Iolante. In 1978 he made his first appearance with the English National Opera in London as Don Ottavio.

Anthony Rolfe-Johnson’s schedule included concerts with the major orchestras and festivals in UK and in the leading European capitals. In America, he has sung with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra under Georg Solti, the Boston Symphony under Seiji Ozawa, the New York Philharmonic Orchestra under Rostropovitch, and the Cleveland Orchestra under Simon Rattle. Conductors with whom he worked also include Carlo Maria Giulini, Nikolaus Harnoncourt, Rostdestvensky, John Eliot Gardiner, Tennstedt, Pierre Boulez, Kurt Masur, Bernard Haitink and Claudio Abbado.

Anthony Rolfe-Johnson had a vast range of recordings to his name, reflecting his worldwide reputation as an interpreter of J.S. Bach, George Frideric Handel, Haydn, W.A. Mozart and Benjamin Britten. He has been acclaimed for his recordings of the great G.F. Handel oratorios, the Evangelist in both St John Passion (BWV 245) and St Matthew Passion (BWV 244) by J.S. Bach, and many award-winning recordings including Haydn’s Die Jahreszeiten and Die Schöpfung, W.A. Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte, Idomeneo and La Clemenza di Tito, and B. Britten’s War Requiem. He recorded the title roles in Oedipus Rex under Welser-Möst for EMI, in Samson under Nikolaus Harnoncourt for Teldec and in Peter Grimes under Bernard Haitink for EMI; Tom Rakewell (The Rake’s Progress) under Seiji Ozawa for Philips; Florestan under Charles Mackerras for Telarc and Captain Vere (Billy Budd) under Kent Nagano for Erato.

Anthony Rolfe-Johnson appeared with all the major opera companies in Britain since his debut at the Glyndebourne Festival as Fenton (Falstaff); he sang Albert Herring for the English Opera Group; Don Ottavio, Tamino, Ferrando and Belmonte, Essex (Gloriana), the Male Chorus (The Rape of Lucretia, Florestan, and the title roles in Monteverdi’s Ulysses and Orfeo for the English National Opera; Jupiter (Semele) and Oronte (Alcina) for the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden. At the Monnaie in Brussels he sang his first Pelléas; at La Scala, Milan, the title role in W.A. Mozart’s Lucio Silla and he was a regular guest with the Netherlands Opera with whom he travelled to New York to sing the title role in Il ritorno d’Ulisse in patria.

Anthony Rolfe-Johnson sang his first Aschenbach in 1983 in a joint production of B. Britten’s Death in Venice, mounted by the Geneva Opera and Scottish Opera, and he has subsequently sung the role at the Metropolitan Opera New York. In 1991 he sang Idomeneo at the Salzburg Festival under Seiji Ozawa, at the Vienna State Opera under Nikolaus Harnoncourt and the Metropolitan Opera, New York under James Levine. In 1994 he sang his first Peter Grimes on stage, with Scottish Opera, at the Glyndebourne Festival, and then at the Metropolitan Opera New York. In 1996 he made his Paris Opera debut as Idomeneo. He recently appeared as Don Ottavio at Covent Garden, Tito at the Metropolitan Opera, New York, and Peter Grimes in Munich. Future engagements include the Missa Solemnis with the Berlin Phiharmonic Orchestra under James Levine and with the New York Philharmonic Orchestra under Kurt Masur. Future operatic engagements include Peter Grimes in Tokyo and at the Savonlinna Festival, Ulisse in Amsterdam and Peter Quint in Brussels.

Anthony Rolfe-Johnson was a founder member of Graham Johnson’s The Songmakers’ Almanac.

Anthony Rolfe-Johnson was awarded a CBE in the 1992 Queen’s Birthday Honours. After a long battle with Alzheimer’s he died in London in July 2010, at the age of 69.