Richard Cowan (singer)

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Richard Cowan (born December 24, 1957 in Euclid , Ohio , † November 16, 2015 in Pittsburgh , Pennsylvania ) was an American opera singer ( bass baritone ), opera director and festival director.

Life

Cowan studied opera singing and composition at the Indiana University School of Music , where he graduated in 1981 with a degree in both subjects. As a beginner, he then sang at the Central City Opera in Central City , Colorado, and at the Michigan Opera Theater. In 1983 he became a member of the Lyric Opera of Chicago 's Center for American Artists . In 1983 he made his debut at the Lyric Opera in Chicago with the small role of priest in the premiere of Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk . Until 1988 he sang small roles in Carmen , Arabella and Die Frau ohne Schatten there . In the 1988/89 season he appeared there as Masetto in Don Giovanni . In 1991 he sang the bullfighter Escamillo in Carmen there . He later appeared in two other premieres in Chicago. He sang Antony in Samuel Barber's opera Antony and Cleopatra (premiere: September 1991, with Catherine Malfitano as partner) and John Sorel in Der Konsul (season 1996/97; premiere: October 1996). In 1995 he sang Paolo in Simone Boccanegra there .

In 1985 he was a finalist at the singing competition of the Metropolitan Opera ( Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions ). In 1985 he made a guest appearance at the Miami Opera. In 1985 he sang the role of Valentin in Faust at Connecticut Opera . In 1985 he made his European debut at the invitation of Bruno Bartoletti ; he sang the roles of animal tamer and athlete in Lulu at the Maggio Musicale in Florence . In 1986 he sang Masetto in Don Giovanni at the Aix-en-Provence Festival ; In 1987 he sang in a concert at the Orange Festival . In 1987 he won the Paris International Singing Competition (Concours International de Chant de Paris). In March 1988 he was guest forester Kuno in the opera Der Freischütz at the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris . In May 1988 he appeared again at the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino; he sang Wolfgang in the world premiere of the opera L'Ispirazione by Sylvano Bussotti . Minister Don Fernando in Fidelio followed in November 1989 at the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris . Since 1988 he had a guest contract with the Bonn Opera . There he sang a. a. in the 1988/89 season (March – May 1989) Sharpless in a new production of Puccini's opera Madama Butterfly in Italian; In addition, he took over Harlequin in the 1988/89 season in a new production of the opera Ariadne auf Naxos (premiere: June 1989) in German. In May 1990 he sang Sharpless again at the Bonn Opera.

In September / October 1989 he sang the roles of animal tamer / athlete in Lulu at the San Francisco Opera . In the 1989/90 season he made his debut at La Scala in Milan . In the 1990/91 season he made his debut at the Metropolitan Opera in New York City. His first role there was Schaunard in La Bohème . Other roles at the MET were the title role in Don Giovanni (1990/91 season) and Guglielmo in Così fan tutte (1991/92 season).

In 1990 he sang the role of Guglielmo at the Santa Fé Opera Festival . In 1991 he sang the role of Ford in Falstaff in a concert performance at Carnegie Hall . In 1991 he made guest appearances at the Teatro Regio di Torino and at the Teatro Municipale in Rio de Janeiro (title role in Don Giovanni ). In 1992 he sang Don Giovanni in the Mozart / da Ponte cycle by director Nikolaus Lehnhoff with the Canadian Opera Company in Toronto . In March 1993 he made guest appearances at the Lausanne Opera House alongside Lucia Aliberti as the robbery count Ernesto in Il Pirata , where his role was "highly erotic due to his brutal physique". In 1994 he sang at the Komische Oper Berlin . In 1997 he took on the title role in Don Giovanni at the Opera Pacific in Costa Mesa .

Cowan's other main roles, who also advocated the music of the 20th century and the modern age, were the title role in Duke Bluebeard's Castle ( Deutsche Oper Berlin in the 1993/94 season, at the Grand Théâtre de Genève in 1991, in Melbourne , Liège and with the RAI Radio Symphony Orchestra in Turin), Jochanaan in Salome (Miami, Minneapolis , 1991 at the Vancouver Opera House ), Zurga in Les pêcheurs de perles (including 1992 at the Nancy Opera House ) and Nick Shadow in The Rake's Progress ( 1993 at the Spoleto Festival).

In 1998 he founded the opera festival “Lyrique en Mer” in Belle-Île , of which he was artistic director until his death. At the Citadel Vauban he staged numerous operas there on Belle-Île. a. Otello , Rigoletto , La traviata , Don Giovanni (2006), Così fan tutte (2010), Le nozze di Figaro (2005), Dido and Aeneas , La Cenerentola , and Carmen . He has taught singing at Roosevelt University in Chicago, Northern Kentucky University, and Carnegie Mellon University .

Cowan took part in two complete operatic recordings: as Schaunard in La Bohème (1988; with the Chœurs et Maîtrise de Radio France; the Orchester national de France; conductor: James Conlon ) for the Erato label and as Consul Sharpless in Madama Butterfly (1995; with den Chœurs et Maîtrise de Radio France; the Orchester national de France; conductor: James Conlon) on the Sony Classical label . Both productions are the soundtrack for the respective opera film.

Cowan's first marriage in 1990 was the American soprano Constance Hauman. He had suffered from a serious illness for several years and died on November 16, 2015 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Cowan left behind his second wife Uliana Kozhevnikova and a daughter.

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d Lyrique en mer. Richard Cowan, la cheville ouvrière . Obituary (French) in: Le Télégramme of November 21, 2015. Accessed November 26, 2015.
  2. ↑ a b Delacoma, Wynne: Deep-voiced Richard Cowan gets down to business ( Memento of the original from June 10, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. . In: Chicago Sun-Times, December 4, 1988. Top of article; last accessed on November 26, 2015. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.highbeam.com
  3. ^ Central Opera Service Bulletin (Spring / Summer 1987). Winners , Vol. 27, No. 4, p. 59.
  4. ↑ Der Freischütz . Cast and performance recording. Retrieved November 26, 2015.
  5. ↑ Fidelio . Cast and performance recording. Retrieved November 26, 2015.
  6. ↑ Appearances by Richard Cowan. San Francisco Opera Archives. Richard Cowan . Retrieved November 26, 2015.
  7. ↑ a b Richard Cowan's list of performances. Metropolitan Opera Archives. Cowan, Richard (bass-baritone) . Retrieved November 26, 2015.
  8. ↑ Matthew Gurewitsch: The love of geometry . Performance reviews of Don Giovanni and Così fan tutte . In: Opera world . Edition February 1993. Pages 47/48.
  9. ↑ Geerd Heinsen PACKING BELCANTO EVENING . Performance review. In: Orpheus . Issue May 5, 1993. Page 53.
  10. ↑ a b c d Sad news: Death of enterprising baritone and festival director, aged 57 . Obituary Slipped Disc, November 21, 2015. Retrieved November 26, 2015.
  11. ^ Sachs, Harvey: Stravinsky Tops Billing at Italian Festival . In: New York Times, July 21, 1993. Retrieved November 26, 2015.
  12. ^ Opera in the Raw . In: Chicago Reader, October 18, 2001. Retrieved November 26, 2015.
  13. ↑ Lyrique en mer. Richard Cowan, la cheville ouvrière . In: Le Télégramme (French) of August 22, 2013. Accessed November 26, 2015.
  14. ^ Carnegie Mellon University : Carnegie Mellon's College of Fine Arts Appoints New Faculty Members for 2008-2009 Academic Year . August 28, 2008.
personal data
SURNAME Cowan, Richard
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American opera singer (bass baritone)
DATE OF BIRTH December 24, 1957
PLACE OF BIRTH Euclid , Ohio , United States
DATE OF DEATH November 16, 2015
Place of death Pittsburgh , Pennsylvania , United States