José van Dam
Joseph van Damme (born August 25, 1940 in Brussels ) is a Belgian opera and concert singer ( bass baritone ).
Life
José van Dam studied at the Royal Conservatory in Brussels and made his debut at the Paris Opera in 1961 , of which he remained a member until 1965. From 1965–1967 he was in Geneva, in the following decade in West Berlin, Cologne and Mannheim, and since the early 1990s he has mainly given guest performances or sings at the Théâtre de la Monnaie in his hometown .
José van Dam was one of Herbert von Karajan's favorite singers in the last decade of the conductor's life. He recorded with him, among other things, the Flying Dutchman , Ein deutsches Requiem , the Messa da Requiem , Il trovatore , Parsifal , Salome and Pelléas et Mélisande - the role of Golaud has been one of the singer's star roles for over a quarter of a century. As Hans Sachs ( Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg ) , van Dam enjoys worldwide renown, at least since the famous recording under the direction of Georg Solti (1995).
Another highlight is that of the Leporello from Don Giovanni , which he also embodied in the film adaptation by Joseph Losey . The Elias from Mendelssohn 's oratorio of the same name is also part of the repertoire of the Belgian bass baritone, as is the title role in Puccini's opera Gianni Schicchi . In 1983 he also sang the title role of Olivier Messiaens Saint François d'Assise at the premiere at the Paris Opera and in several other productions of this work a. a. at the Salzburg Festival and at the RuhrTriennale in Bochum.
In 1988 José van Dam played the role of the opera star Dallayrac in the film Maestro . The film was the directorial debut of Gérard Corbiau (also directed by Farinelli ) and received an Oscar nomination in 1988.
José van Dam has a warm, pleasant, very voluminous and flexible voice. He speaks French, German and Italian without an accent. His discography is correspondingly extensive.
In 1973 van Dam was awarded the German Critics' Prize. The Belgian king awarded him the honorary title of baron in 1998.
On May 8, 2010, van Dam said goodbye to the opera stage at the Théâtre de la Monnaie, in a role of Jules Massenet's Don Quichotte under the direction of Marc Minkowski .
Web links
- Literature by and about José van Dam in the catalog of the German National Library
Individual evidence
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Van Dam, José |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Van Damme, Joseph |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Belgian opera and concert singer (bass baritone) |
| DATE OF BIRTH | August 25, 1940 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Brussels |