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
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Diskografie
150 Album, -en • Geordnet nach Bestseller
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Mozart: Die Zauberflöte
Otto Klemperer, Lucia Popp, Gundula Janowitz, Nicolai Gedda, Philharmonia Orchestra
Klassik - Erschienen bei Warner Classics am 01.01.1964
Verfügbar in24-Bit/96 kHz Stereo -
Mozart: Don Giovanni, K. 527 (Remastered)
Nicolaï Ghiaurov, Christa Ludwig, Mirella Freni, Nicolai Gedda, New Philharmonia Orchestra, Otto Klemperer
Oper - Erschienen bei Warner Classics am 16.08.1991
Verfügbar in24-Bit/192 kHz Stereo -
Gounod: Faust (Stereo Version)
Paris Opera Orchestra, André Cluytens, Victoria de los Angeles, Nicolai Gedda
Verschiedenes - Erschienen bei BNF Collection am 01.01.1960
Verfügbar in24-Bit/96 kHz Stereo -
Singers of the Century: Opera Recital
Oper - Erschienen bei Jube Classic am 05.08.2022
Verfügbar in24-Bit/48 kHz Stereo -
Singers of the Century: Opera Recital
Oper - Erschienen bei Jube Classic am 05.08.2022
Verfügbar in24-Bit/48 kHz Stereo -
Puccini: La Bohème by Thomas Schippers (2024 Remastered, Roma 1962-1963)
Thomas Schippers, Mirella Freni, Nicolai Gedda
Klassik - Erschienen bei Alexandre Bak - Classical Music Reference Recording am 02.01.2025
Verfügbar in24-Bit/96 kHz Stereo -
Puccini: Madame Butterfly (Mono Version)
Orchestra del Teatro della Scala di Milano, Herbert von Karajan, Maria Callas, Nicolai Gedda
Klassik - Erschienen bei BNF Collection am 01.01.1955
Verfügbar in24-Bit/96 kHz Stereo -
Delibes: Lakmé, extraits (Stereo Version)
Gianna d' Angelo, Nicolai Gedda, Georges Prêtre, Orchestre Du Theatre National De L'opera-comique
Verschiedenes - Erschienen bei BNF Collection am 01.01.1962
Verfügbar in24-Bit/96 kHz Stereo -
Bizet: Les pêcheurs de perles (Stereo Version)
Janine Micheau, Nicolai Gedda, Pierre Dervaux, Orchestre Du Theatre National De L'opera-comique
Verschiedenes - Erschienen bei BNF Collection am 01.01.1900
Verfügbar in24-Bit/96 kHz Stereo -
Rameau: Platée (Remastered, Mono Version)
Orchestre de la Société des Concerts du Conservatoire, Hans Rosbaud, Nicolai Gedda, Michel Sénéchal
Verschiedenes - Erschienen bei BNF Collection am 01.01.1961
Verfügbar in24-Bit/96 kHz Stereo -
Rameau: Platée (Collection trésors, mono version)
Orchestre de la Société des Concerts du Conservatoire, Hans Rosbaud, Nicolai Gedda, Michel Sénéchal
Klassik - Erschienen bei BNF Collection am 01.01.1961
Verfügbar in24-Bit/96 kHz Stereo -
Gounod: Faust (Mono Version)
Nicolai Gedda, Jerome Hines, Hilde Güden, Jean-Paul Morel
Verschiedenes - Erschienen bei BNF Collection am 01.01.1958
Verfügbar in24-Bit/96 kHz Stereo -
Delibes: Lakmé
Gianna d' Angelo, Nicolai Gedda, Jane Berbié, Ernest Blanc, Orchestre Du Theatre National De L'opera-comique, Georges Prêtre
Klassik - Erschienen bei Warner Classics am 22.12.2023
Verfügbar in16-Bit/44.1 kHz Stereo -
Massenet: Werther
Victoria de los Angeles, Nicolai Gedda, Orchestre de Paris, Georges Prêtre
Oper - Erschienen bei Warner Classics am 01.01.1969
Verfügbar in16-Bit/44.1 kHz Stereo -
Gluck: Alceste (Sung in French)
Oper - Erschienen bei Orfeo am 01.01.2016
Verfügbar in16-Bit/44.1 kHz Stereo -
Berlioz: La Damnation de Faust
Nicolai Gedda, Jules Bastin, Josephine Veasey, London Symphony Chorus, London Symphony Orchestra, Sir Colin Davis
Klassik - Erschienen bei Decca Music Group Ltd. am 01.12.1973
Verfügbar in16-Bit/44.1 kHz Stereo -
Mozart: Così Fan Tutte (Complete Mozart Edition)
Montserrat Caballé, (Dame) Janet Baker, Nicolai Gedda, Wladimiro Ganzarolli, Sir Colin Davis
Klassik - Erschienen bei Decca Music Group Ltd. am 01.01.1974
Verfügbar in16-Bit/44.1 kHz Stereo -
Rossini: The Barber of Seville
Beverly Sills, Nicolai Gedda, Sherrill Milnes, James Levine, London Symphony Orchestra
Oper - Erschienen bei Warner Classics am 01.01.1975
Verfügbar in16-Bit/44.1 kHz Stereo -
Gluck: Iphigénie en Tauride, Wq. 46
Rita Gorr, Nicolai Gedda, Ernest Blanc, Louis Quilico, Georges Prêtre, Orchestre de la Société des Concerts du Conservatoire
Klassik - Erschienen bei Warner Classics am 12.01.2024
Verfügbar in16-Bit/44.1 kHz Stereo -
Lehár: Paganini
Anneliese Rothenberger, Nicolai Gedda, Bayerisches Staatsorchester , Willi Boskovsky
Operette - Erschienen bei Warner Classics am 01.01.1977
Verfügbar in16-Bit/44.1 kHz Stereo -
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: The Magic Flute, K. 620
Klassik - Erschienen bei Chemodanov Production am 01.02.2016
Verfügbar in16-Bit/44.1 kHz Stereo