Robert Nagy (singer)
Robert Nagy (born March 3, 1929 in Lorain , † November 7, 2008 in Lorain) was an American opera singer with a tenor voice .
Life
Youth and education
Nagy was born in 1929 to John and Helen Nagy in Lorain , Ohio , and grew up there. He only discovered his singing voice and musical talent at the age of 19 when he sang recordings by Mario Lanza . After school, he worked for the Lorain National Tube Co. and did his military service, eleven months of which in the Korean War . After the end of his military service he attended the Cleveland Institute of Music , received several scholarships, won a singing competition in Chicago , won the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions in 1956 and was engaged by the Metropolitan Opera in New York City as a member of the opera company from 1957 .
Career
Nagy made his Metropolitan Opera debut in 1957 in the role of Giuseppe in La traviata by Giuseppe Verdi . Then began a long collaboration with the opera house that lasted three decades. He sang and played mostly Comprimario roles. His most important role in the early days was the messenger in Verdi's Aida , a role he sang 172 times for the Met.
Although Nagy specialized in supporting roles, there were also numerous leading roles, including Florestan in Fidelio by Ludwig van Beethoven , Herodes in Salome by Richard Strauss and the drum major in Wozzeck by Alban Berg .
Nagy has appeared in numerous world premieres, including two operas by Samuel Barber : Vanessa (1958) and Antonius and Cleopatra (1966). He sang in many premieres, about 1966 in Die Frau ohne Schatten by Richard Strauss , 1978 in Billy Budd by Benjamin Britten and 1981 in L'enfant et les sortilèges of Maurice Ravel .
In the course of his work for the Metropolitan Opera, Nagy sang in more than 1000 different operas, including Carmen by Georges Bizet , Tosca by Giacomo Puccini , Die Fledermaus by Johann Strauss and Rigoletto by Giuseppe Verdi. He often shared the stage with well-known singers such as Placido Domingo and Luciano Pavarotti, as well as female singers such as Dame Joan Sutherland and Dame Kiri Te Kanawa . Nagy remained in the service of the Metropolitan Opera until the end of the 1987/88 season and had a total of 1,191 appearances in the thirty years of his engagement.
From 1969 to 1976 Nagy also sang for the New York City Opera . He made his debut there as Luigi in Il tabarro by Giacomo Puccini and his most important role was probably Faust in the opera Mefistofele by Arrigo Boito in a 1969 production by Tito Capobianco with Norman Treigle and Carol Neblett in the title roles.
After he left the stage in 1987/1988, Nagy returned to his hometown in Ohio with his wife. Here he continued to teach tenors, gave master classes and was a jury member at local colleges.
Personal
Robert Nagy married Vincenza Ianni on May 1, 1954. The marriage resulted in two daughters and a son.
Repertoire (selection)
Operas
| composer | Opera | roll |
|---|---|---|
| Samuel Barber | Antony and Cleopatra | Lepidus |
| Samuel Barber | Vanessa | Anatol |
| Ludwig van Beethoven | Fidelio | Florestan |
| Vincenzo Bellini | Norma | Pollione |
| Alban Berg | Lulu | the prince / valet / marquis |
| Alban Berg | Wozzeck | Drum major |
| Hector Berlioz | Les Troyens | Helenus |
| Georges Bizet | Carmen | Don José |
| Arrigo Boito | Mefistofele | fist |
| Benjamin Britten | Peter Grimes | Peter Grimes, Bob Boles |
| Benjamin Britten | Billy Budd | Red whiskers |
| Gaetano Donizetti | Lucia di Lammermoor | Normanno |
| Friedrich von Flotow | Martha | Lyonel |
| Umberto Giordano | Andrea Chénier | Andrea Chenier, Dept. |
| georg Friedrich Handel | Alceste | |
| Ruggero Leoncavallo | Pagliacci | Canio |
| Gian Carlo Menotti | The Last Savage | Scholar |
| Giacomo Meyerbeer | Le prophète | Jean de Leyde |
| Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart | The Magic Flute | |
| Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart | Le nozze di Figaro | Don Curzio |
| Modest Mussorgsky | Boris Godunov | Boyar Khrushchev |
| Jacques Offenbach | Hoffmann's stories | Nathanaël |
| Amilcare Ponchielli | La Gioconda | |
| Giacomo Puccini | Il tabarro | Luigi |
| Giacomo Puccini | La bohème | ? Officer? |
| Giacomo Puccini | La fanciulla del West | Dick Johnson, Harry |
| Giacomo Puccini | La rondine | Ruggero Lastouc |
| Giacomo Puccini | Madama Butterfly | Pinkerton, Lord Yamadori |
| Giacomo Puccini | Manon Lescaut | Lamp lighter |
| Giacomo Puccini | Tosca | Mario Cavaradossi |
| Giacomo Puccini | Turandot | Kalaf, Pang |
| Maurice Ravel | L'enfant et les sortilèges | The teapot, animal |
| Camille Saint-Saëns | Samson et Dalila | Messenger of the Philistines |
| Johann Strauss | The bat | Alfred |
| Richard Strauss | Arabella | Matteo, Count Elemer |
| Richard Strauss | Ariadne on Naxos | Scaramuccio, Bacchus |
| Richard Strauss | The Rosenkavalier | Valzacchi, steward |
| Richard Strauss | The woman without a shadow | The emperor |
| Richard Strauss | Elektra | Aegisth, a young servant |
| Richard Strauss | Daphne | Apollo |
| Richard Strauss | Salome | Herod, 1st Jew, 2nd Jew |
| Peter Tchaikovsky | Queen of Spades | German |
| Giuseppe Verdi | Aida | Radames, messenger |
| Giuseppe Verdi | Don Carlos | Lerma, herald |
| Giuseppe Verdi | Ernani | Don Riccardo |
| Giuseppe Verdi | Il trovatore | Manrico, Ruiz, messenger |
| Giuseppe Verdi | La traviata | Gastone |
| Giuseppe Verdi | Les vêpres siciliennes | Daniéli, Mainfroid |
| Giuseppe Verdi | Macbeth | Malcolm |
| Giuseppe Verdi | Otello | Otello, Cassio, Roderigo |
| Giuseppe Verdi | Rigoletto | Duke of Mantua, Borsa |
| Giuseppe Verdi | Simon Boccanegra | Captain of the crossbowmen |
| Giuseppe Verdi | Un ballo in maschera | Judge, servant of Amelia |
| Richard Wagner | the Rheingold | Glad |
| Richard Wagner | The Flying Dutchman | Erik, helmsman |
| Richard Wagner | The Mastersingers of Nuremberg | Kunz Vogelgesang, Ulrich Eißlinger |
| Richard Wagner | The Valkyrie | Siegmund |
| Richard Wagner | Lohengrin | Noble boy |
| Richard Wagner | Parsifal | Grail knight, squire |
| Richard Wagner | Tannhauser | Walther von der Vogelweide |
| Richard Wagner | Tristan and Isolde | Melot, voice of a young sailor |
| Kurt Weill | The rise and fall of the city of Mahagonny | Fatty |
Vocal works
| composer | plant | role |
|---|---|---|
| Arnold Schoenberg | Gurre songs | Waldemar |
Awards (selection)
1956: Winner of the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions
Recordings (selection)
CD
- Samuel Barber, Vanessa with Eleonor Steber, Rosalind Elias , Regina Resnik , Nicolai Gedda , Georgio Tozzi , Robert Nagy, the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra and Chorus, conducted by Dimitri Mitropoulos (RCA, 1977)
- Richard Strauss, Salome with Calvin Marsh, Louis Sgarro, Mack Harrell, Osie Hawkins, Lawrence Davidson, Norman Scott, William Wilderman, Blanche Thebom , Margaret Roggero, Inge Borkh , Mildred Allen, Alessio De Paolis, Gabor Carelli, Giulio Gari, Paul Franke , Ramón Vinay , Robert Nagy, the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra and Chorus, conducted by Dimitri Mitropoulos (Cetra, 1979)
- Giuseppe Verdi, Un ballo in maschera with Andrea Velis, Anneliese Rothenberger , Bonaldo Giaiotti , Calvin Marsh, Carlo Bergonzi , Jean Madeira, Leonie Rysanek , Luben Vichey, Robert Merrill , Robert Nagy, the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra And Chorus, conducted by Nello Santi ( Frequency, 1989)
- Giuseppe Verdi, Il trovatore with Mario Serenim , Calvin Marsh, Anselmo Colzani , William Wildermann, Carlo Tomanelli, Irene Dalis , Teresa Stratas , Leontyne Price , Lucine Amara, Franco Corelli , Franco Ghitti, Siegfried R. Frese, Robert Nagy, the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra And Chorus, conducted by Nello Santi (Myto, 1991)
- Giacomo Puccini, Turandot with Frank Guarrera , Calvin Marsh, Bonaldo Giaiotti, Anna Moffo , Birgit Nilsson , Franco Corelli, Alessio De Paolis, Robert Nagy, Charles Anthony , the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra and Chorus, conducted by Leopold Stokowski (date 1993)
DVD
- Richard Strauss, Ariadne on Naxos with Watson, Sills, Leinsdorf (VAI, 1969)
- Richard Strauss, Elektra with Nilsson, McIntyre, Levine, Graf (DG, 1980)
Web links
- Robert Nagy at robertnagy.com
- Robert Nagy at imdb.com
- Robert Nagy at metoperafamily.org
- Robert Nagy at discogs.com
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d e Robert David Nagy. In: tributes.com. Retrieved May 1, 2018 .
- ↑ a b c d Brie Zeltner: Robert Nagy, Metroplitan Opera's powerful tenor. In: cleveland.com. November 10, 2008, accessed May 1, 2018 .
- ^ Robert Nagy Biography. In: imdb.com. Accessed May 10, 2018 .
- ↑ a b c d Robert Nagy Tenor Metropolitan Opera. In: robertnagy.com. Retrieved May 1, 2018 .
- ↑ a b c Robert Nagy Has Passed Away. In: typepad.com. Retrieved May 1, 2018 .
- ↑ Audition of the Metropolitan Opera National Council. January 27, 2018, accessed May 11, 2018 .
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Nagy, Robert |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | American opera singer in the tenor voice range |
| DATE OF BIRTH | March 3, 1929 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Lorain |
| DATE OF DEATH | November 7, 2008 |
| Place of death | Lorain |