Frank Patterson (singer)

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Memorial statue for Frank Patterson in his hometown of Clonmel

Frank Patterson ( Irish Proinsias Mac Phaidín ; born October 5, 1938 in Clonmel , County Tipperary , Ireland ; † June 10, 2000 in New York City , New York , USA ) was an Irish singer ( tenor ) and actor .

life and career

Frank Patterson left school at the age of 14 to work in his family's print shop. He later began to study acting at the National Academy of Theater and Allied Arts , while from 1962 he took singing lessons from the German-born singing teacher Hans Waldemar Rosen. He became famous in 1964 when he took part in the renowned Irish singing competition Feis Ceoil , where he was awarded several important prizes. In the following years he received scholarships to London and the Netherlands, and finally studied singing with Janine Micheau in Paris for four years .

His nickname was "Ireland's Golden Tenor" and his clear, bright tenor voice has been compared to the legendary Irish singer John McCormack . He sang with famous orchestras such as the London Symphony Orchestra and the Orchester de Paris . Patterson sang many classical oratorios by Handel , Mozart , Bach , Schubert and Purcell . An appearance on BBC Radio earned him a contract with Philips Records and he released a total of 36 albums by his death. In addition to classical vocal pieces, he also recorded popular music from the 1980s, especially Irish folk songs . In particular, his CDs with traditional Irish chants found great sales in the English-speaking world, there in the 1990s even more than the recordings of Luciano Pavarotti .

The studied actor Frank Patterson stood in front of the camera in two films: In John Huston's James Joyce film adaptation The Dead (1987) he played the tenor singer Bartell D'Arcy, in Neil Jordan's historical film Michael Collins (1996) he made a small appearance as Tenor singing in the restaurant. The Hollywood films Miller's Crossing (1990) and Gangs of New York (2002) each contain vocal recordings by Patterson in the soundtrack of the films.

Frank Patterson moved his family to the United States in the mid-1980s, where he lived in Westchester County . He died of a brain tumor in New York City in June 2000 at the age of 61. In an obituary, US President Bill Clinton recognized him as one of "Ireland's greatest musical ambassadors". He had performed at concerts in the White House for Clinton and his predecessor Ronald Reagan . The avowed Catholic Patterson, who appeared in 1979 at a mass of John Paul II before a million people in Dublin, received the Order of Gregory from the Vatican .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ A b c tenor Frank Patterson dead of cancer at 61. In: Irish Echo. February 16, 2011, accessed September 1, 2019 .
  2. ^ Tribute to a golden voice: NCH to celebrate life of tenor Frank Patterson. June 5, 2019, accessed September 1, 2019 .
  3. ^ Frank Patterson - Ireland's Golden Tenor. Retrieved September 1, 2019 .
  4. ^ A b Tributes pour in for tenor Frank Patterson. Retrieved September 1, 2019 .
  5. ^ John McCormack - An Irish legend, then and now - World Cultures European. Retrieved September 1, 2019 .
personal data
SURNAME Patterson, Frank
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Irish singer
DATE OF BIRTH October 5, 1938
PLACE OF BIRTH Clonmel , County Tipperary , Ireland
DATE OF DEATH June 10, 2000
Place of death New York City , New York , USA