Jon Vickers
Jonathan Stewart Vickers , CC (born October 29, 1926 in Prince Albert , Saskatchewan , † July 10, 2015 in Ontario ) was a Canadian opera singer ( heroic tenor ).
Life
Vickers was trained in Toronto and made her debut in London ( Covent Garden ) in 1956 , then at the Bayreuth Festival in 1958 as Siegmund , one of his star roles. In the 1960s and 1970s he was considered the most sought-after singer in his field internationally. Since the 1980s he also worked as a teacher; His Canadian compatriot Ben Heppner is one of his best-known students , who is often referred to as his heir (not least because of the vocal similarity and the maintenance of roughly the same repertoire).
Jon Vickers' powerful and nuanced voice, his stocky, muscular appearance as well as his great ability for dramatic representation made him the ideal Siegmund, Tristan , Otello (Verdi), Samson from Samson et Dalila (Saint-Louis ) in the eyes of many conductors, directors and critics. Saëns) or Samson (Handel) as well as Äneas (Berlioz) of his time, he was also considered a first-class Florestan and Peter Grimes . For his expressive Wagner interpretations he received the " Anton Seidl Prize" ("Anton Seidl Award") from the Wagner Society of New York in 2002 .
For religious and philosophical reasons (Vickers was a professed Christian ) the tenor refused to portray the Tannhauser . Nor did he want to interpret Siegfried from the opera of the same name . The same role in Götterdämmerung , which he finally agreed to after much deliberation, never came about either.
Discography
- 4 times Die Walküre (Wagner), Hans Knappertsbusch , Erich Leinsdorf , Herbert von Karajan and Berislav Klobučar
- 3 times Tristan and Isolde (Wagner), Herbert von Karajan , Karl Böhm and Horst Stein
- 3 times Fidelio (Beethoven), Otto Klemperer (2 times) and Herbert von Karajan
- 2 times Medea (Cherubini), Nicola Rescigno and Thomas Schippers
- 2 times Otello (Verdi), Tullio Serafin and Herbert von Karajan
- Aida (Verdi), Georg Solti
- Les Troyens (Berlioz), Colin Davis
- Samson et Dalila (Saint-Saëns), Georges Prêtre
- Carmen (Bizet), Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos
- Pagliacci (Leoncavallo), Bruno Bartoletti
- Peter Grimes (Britten), Colin Davis
- Messa da Requiem (Verdi), John Barbirolli
- The Dream of Gerontius (Elgar), John Barbirolli
- Messiah (Handel), Thomas Beecham
Audio samples
- "Io l'ho perduta!" (MP3; 419 kB) (Verdi: Don Carlos - Tullio Serafin, 1961)
Web links
- Interview with Jon Vickers on bruceduffie.com
- Portrait of Jon Vickers on WDR3 key
- Manuel Brug: Jon Vickers is dead: the last real hero tenor. Obituary in the world .
Individual evidence
- ↑ J. Heffernan: Jon Vickers, 88, Heroic Canadian Tenor, Has Died. In: operanews.com. Metropolitan Opera Guild, July 11, 2015, accessed July 12, 2015 .
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Vickers, Jon |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Vickers, Jonathan Stewart (full name) |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Canadian opera singer (hero tenor) |
| DATE OF BIRTH | October 29, 1926 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Prince Albert , Saskatchewan |
| DATE OF DEATH | July 10, 2015 |
| Place of death | Ontario |