Singers on Singing: The Performer’s Perspective

Introduction to Singers on Singing: The Performer's Perspective

There is no substitute for the real-life experience of a performer who has embodied a role on stage or taken on the persona in a lied, chanson or song when it comes to a discussion of the most subtle living elements in a vocal composition. The performer’s perspective on opera and song does not replace or compete with the important works of writers and lecturers on music, but it does provide a dimension that, arising both from the artist’s in situ personification of the dramatic, poetic and psychological situation and his/her long years of study, is of irreplaceable instructive and intuitive value.

The Singers on Singing archive gives students and music-lovers a precious opportunity to share the unique insights and thoughts on opera and song of some of the very most highly acclaimed performers of the last several decades, supported by actual illustrations of their interpretations.

Within this framework, taken as a whole there are even some comparative instances where a specific opera, role or song is discussed and performed by different artists. So as to give the user of this facility an immediate overview of the repertoire that the artists in these features discuss and perform, we have compiled a database read-out of all the materials, below.

Part of

Singers on Singing: Great Artists in Conversation

Roles / Operas / Composers

Roles:

Abigaille (Nabucco): Renata Scotto
Adriana Lecouvreur (Adriana Lecouvreur): Renata Tebaldi, Renata Tebaldi: A Centenary Commemoration
Aida (Aida): Montserrat Caballé, Mirella Freni, Renata Tebaldi, Renata Tebaldi: A Centenary Commemoration
Alfredo (La Traviata): Giuseppe di Stefano
Amalia (I Masnadieri): Joan Sutherland
Amelia (Un Ballo in Maschera): Maria Callas
Amina (La Sonnambula): Renata Scotto
Amneris (Aida): Grace Bumbry discusses Amneris
Antonia (Les Contes d’Hoffmann): Joan Sutherland
Arabella (Arabella): Lotte Lehmann, Elisabeth Schwarzkopf
Arsace (Semiramide): Marilyn Horne
Arturo Talbot (I Puritani): Luciano Pavarotti
Billy Budd (Billy Budd): Peter Glossop
Blanche (Dialogues des Carmélites): Virginia Zeani
Bluebeard (Bluebeard’s Castle): Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, John Tomlinson
Boris Godunov (Boris Godunov): Ruggero Raimondi, John Tomlinson
Calaf (Turandot): Luciano Pavarotti
Canio (I Pagliacci): Saluting Caruso, Luciano Pavarotti
Carmen (Carmen): Grace Bumbry discusses Carmen, Angela Gheorghiu, Marilyn Horne, Sophie Koch
Chapelou (Le Postillon de Lonjumeau): Nicolai Gedda
Charlotte (Werther): Maria Callas, Angela Gheorghiu, Sophie Koch
Chorèbe (Les Troyens): Peter Glossop
Cio-Cio San (Madama Butterfly): Maria Callas, Mirella Freni, Angela Gheorghiu, Lotte Lehmann, Renata Scotto, Renata Scotto discusses Madama Butterfly, Renata Tebaldi
Claggart/Master-at-Arms (Billy Budd): John Tomlinson
Composer (Ariadne auf Naxos): Sophie Koch
Count Almaviva (Le Nozze di Figaro): Thomas Hampson
Dalila (Samson et Dalila): Angela Gheorghiu, Marilyn Horne
Didon (Les Troyens): Singing Berlioz
Der Holländer/The Dutchman (Die Fliegende Holländer): John Tomlinson
Der Wanderer (Siegfried): John Tomlinson
Desdemona (Otello): Mirella Freni, Renata Scotto, Renata Tebaldi, Renata Tebaldi: A Centenary Commemoration
Don Alvaro (La Forza del Destino): Saluting Caruso
Don Giovanni (Don Giovanni): Tito Gobbi, Thomas Hampson, Ruggero Raimondi
Don José (Carmen): Nicolai Gedda, Jon Vickers–A Memoir
Don Quichotte (Massenet’s Don Quichotte): José van Dam discusses Massenet’s ‘Don Quichotte’, Ruggero Raimondi
Donna Elvira (Don Giovanni): Elisabeth Schwarzkopf
Duke of Mantua (Rigoletto): Luciano Pavarotti
Edgardo (Lucia di Lammermoor): Luciano Pavarotti
Elektra (Elektra): Deborah Polaski discusses Elektra
Elisabeth (Tannhäuser): Lotte Lehmann
Elvira (Ernani): Joan Sutherland
Elvira (I Puritani): Maria Callas, Joan Sutherland
Énée/Aeneas (Les Troyens): Jon Vickers, Jon Vickers–A Memoir
Enzo Grimaldo (La Gioconda): Luciano Pavarotti
Esclarmonde (Esclarmonde): Joan Sutherland
Eva (Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg: Lotte Lehmann
Falstaff (Falstaff): Tito Gobbi
Faust (Faust): Giuseppe di Stefano
Federico (L’Arlesiana): Luciano Pavarotti, Giuseppe di Stefano
Florestan (Fidelio): Jon Vickers, Jon Vickers–A Memoir
Ford (Falstaff): Thomas Hampson
Fricka (Das Rheingold, Die Walküre): Sophie Koch
Germont [Giorgio] (La Traviata): Tito Gobbi, Thomas Hampson
Gianni Schicchi (Gianni Schicchi): Tito Gobbi
Gilda (Rigoletto): Renata Scotto
Goethe (Friederike): Nicolai Gedda
Golaud (Pelléas et Mélisande): Pelléas et Mélisande Feature, Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, Singing Debussy
Hagen (Götterdämmerung): John Tomlinson, John Tomlinson discusses Wotan
Hamlet (Hamlet): Thomas Hampson
Hans Sach (Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg): Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau
Hortense (Der Opernball): Joan Sutherland
Iago (Otello): Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, Tito Gobbi, Peter Glossop
Idomeneo (Idomeneo): Luciano Pavarotti
Isolde (Tristan und Isolde): Maria Callas, Renata Tebaldi: A Centenary Commemoration
Jocaste (Oedipus Rex): Marilyn Horne
Julie Jordan (Carousel): Renata Tebaldi: A Centenary Commemoration
King Lear (Lear): Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau
Kundry (Parsifal): Sophie Koch
La Gioconda (La Gioconda): Renata Scotto, Renata Tebaldi, Renata Tebaldi: A Centenary Commemoration
Lady Macbeth (Macbeth): Maria Callas
Laura (La Gioconda): Marilyn Horne
Leonora (Fidelio): Lotte Lehmann
Leonora (Il Trovatore): Renata Tebaldi
Leonora (La Forza del Destino): Maria Callas, Renata Tebaldi, Renata Tebaldi: A Centenary Commemoration
Lucia Lammermoor (Lucia di Lammermoor): Renata Scotto, Joan Sutherland
Lucrezia Borgia (Lucrezia Borgia): Montserrat Caballé
Macbeth (Macbeth): Thomas Hampson
Maddalena di Coigny (Andrea Chénier): Renata Tebaldi, Renata Tebaldi: A Centenary Commemoration
Magda (La Rondine): Angela Gheorghiu
Mandane (Artaxerxes: Joan Sutherland
Mandryka (Arabella): Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau
Manon (Manon): Angela Gheorghiu, Lotte Lehmann
Manon Lescaut (Manon Lescaut): Angela Gheorghiu, Virginia Zeani
Marguerite de Valois (Les Huguenots): Joan Sutherland
Marie (Wozzeck): Marilyn Horne
Mario Cavaradossi (Tosca): Luciano Pavarotti, Giuseppe di Stefano
Marschallin (Der Rosenkavalier): Lotte Lehmann
Medea (Medea): Maria Callas
Mélisande (Pelléas et Mélisande): Pelléas et Mélisande Feature, Singing Debussy
Méphistophélès (La damnation de Faust): Singing Berlioz
Mignon (Mignon): Sophie Koch
Mimi (La Bohème): Mirella Freni, Renata Tebaldi, Renata Tebaldi: A Centenary Commemoration
Minnie (La Fanciulla del West): Renata Tebaldi, Renata Tebaldi: A Centenary Commemoration
Nemorino (L’Elisir d’Amore): Nicolai Gedda
Norma (Norma): Maria Callas, Joan Sutherland
Octavian (Der Rosenkavalier): Sophie Koch
Otello (Otello): Saluting Caruso, Jon Vickers, Jon Vickers–A Memoir
Pelléas (Pelléas et Mélisande): Pelléas et Mélisande Feature, Singing Debussy
Peter Grimes (Peter Grimes): Jon Vickers, Jon Vickers–A Memoir
Philip II (Don Carlo): Ruggero Raimondi
Pinkerton [Benjamin] (Madama Butterfly): Nicolai Gedda, Giuseppe di Stefano
Radamès (Aida): Jon Vickers
Riccardo (Un Ballo in Maschera): Luciano Pavarotti, Giuseppe di Stefano
Rigoletto (Rigoletto): Tito Gobbi, Peter Glossop
Rinaldo (Rinaldo): Marilyn Horne
Rodolfo (La Bohème): Saluting Caruso, Luciano Pavarotti, Giuseppe di Stefano
Rodrigo, Marquis of Posa (Don Carlo): Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, Tito Gobbi, Thomas Hampson discusses Rodrigue in Verdi’s Don Carlos
Salomé (Hérodiade): Montserrat Caballé
Salome (Salome): Montserrat Caballé
Santuzza (Cavalleria Rusticana): Renata Scotto
Samson (Samson et Dalila): Jon Vickers–A Memoir
Scarpia (Tosca): Tito Gobbi, Ruggero Raimondi
Semiramide (Semiramide): Joan Sutherland
Sieglinde (Die Walküre): Lotte Lehmann
Siegmund (Die Walküre): Jon Vickers–A Memoir
Simon Boccanegra (Simon Boccanegra): Tito Gobbi
Suor Angelica (Suor Angelica): Renata Scotto, Renata Tebaldi
Tamino (Die Zauberflöte): Nicolai Gedda
Tatjana (Eugene Onegin): Mirella Freni
Thaïs (Thaïs): Virginia Zeani
Tonio (La Fille du Régiment): Luciano Pavarotti
Tosca (Tosca): Maria Callas, Renata Tebaldi, Renata Tebaldi: A Centenary Commemoration
Tristan (Tristan und Isolde): Jon Vickers, Jon Vickers–A Memoir
Turandot (Turandot): Montserrat Caballé
Violetta (La Traviata): Maria Callas, Angela Gheorghiu, Renata Scotto, Renata Tebaldi, Virginia Zeani
Wally (La Wally): Renata Scotto
Werther (Werther): Nicolai Gedda
Wotan (Das Rheingold, Die Walküre): John Tomlinson, John Tomlinson discusses Wotan
Wozzeck (Wozzeck): Tito Gobbi

Operas:

Composers:

Adam, Adolphe: Nicolai Gedda
Arne, Thomas: Joan Sutherland
Bartók, Béla: Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, John Tomlinson
Beethoven, Ludwig van: Lotte Lehmann, Jon Vickers, Jon Vickers–A Memoir
Bellini, Vincenzo: Maria Callas, Luciano Pavarotti, Renata Scotto, Joan Sutherland
Berg, Alban: Tito Gobbi, Marilyn Horne
Berlioz, Hector: Peter Glossop, Singing Berlioz, Jon Vickers
Bizet, Georges: Grace Bumbry discusses Carmen, Nicolai Gedda, Angela Gheorghiu, Marilyn Horne, Sophie Koch, Jon Vickers–A Memoir
Britten, Benjamin: Singing Britten Feature, Peter Glossop, John Tomlinson, Jon Vickers, Jon Vickers–A Memoir
Catalani, Alfredo: Renata Scotto
Cherubini, Luigi: Maria Callas
Cilèa, Francesco: Luciano Pavarotti, Giuseppe di Stefano, Renata Tebaldi, Renata Tebaldi: A Centenary Commemoration
Coward, Noël: Joan Sutherland
Debussy, Claude: Pelléas et Mélisande Feature, Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, Singing Debussy
Donizetti, Gaetano: Montserrat Caballé, Nicolai Gedda, Luciano Pavarotti, Renata Scotto, Joan Sutherland
Giordano, Umberto: Renata Tebaldi, Renata Tebaldi: A Centenary Commemoration
Gounod, Charles: Giuseppe di Stefano
Handel, George Frideric: Marilyn Horne
Heuberger, Richard: Joan Sutherland
Lehàr, Franz: Nicolai Gedda
Leoncavallo, Ruggiero: Saluting Caruso, Luciano Pavarotti
Mascagni, Pietro: Renata Scotto
Massenet, Jules: Montserrat Caballé, Maria Callas, José van Dam discusses Massenet’s ‘Don Quichotte’, Nicolai Gedda, Angela Gheorghiu, Sophie Koch, Lotte Lehmann, Ruggero Raimondi, Joan Sutherland, Virginia Zeani
Meyerbeer, Giacomo: Joan Sutherland
Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus: Nicolai Gedda, Tito Gobbi, Thomas Hampson, Luciano Pavarotti, Ruggero Raimondi, Elisabeth Schwarzkopf
Mussorgsky, Modest: Ruggero Raimondi, John Tomlinson
Offenbach, Jacques: Joan Sutherland
Ponchielli, Amilcare: Marilyn Horne, Luciano Pavarotti, Renata Scotto, Renata Tebaldi, Renata Tebaldi: A Centenary Commemoration
Poulenc, Francis: Virginia Zeani
Puccini, Giacomo: Montserrat Caballé, Maria Callas, Saluting Caruso, Mirella Freni, Nicolai Gedda, Angela Gheorghiu, Tito Gobbi, Lotte Lehmann, Luciano Pavarotti, Ruggero Raimondi, Renata Scotto, Renata Scotto discusses Madama Butterfly, Giuseppe di Stefano, Renata Tebaldi, Renata Tebaldi: A Centenary Commemoration, Virginia Zeani
Reimann, Aribert: Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau
Rodgers, Richard: Renata Tebaldi: A Centenary Commemoration
Rossini, Gioachino: Marilyn Horne, Joan Sutherland, Renata Tebaldi
Saint-Saëns, Camille: Angela Gheorghiu, Marilyn Horne, Jon Vickers–A Memoir
Strauss, Johann: Elisabeth Schwarzkopf
Strauss, Richard: Singing Strauss Feature, Montserrat Caballé, Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, Sophie Koch, Lotte Lehmann, Deborah Polaski discusses Elektra, Elisabeth Schwarzkopf
Stravinsky, Igor: Marilyn Horne
Tchaikovsky, Peter: Mirella Freni
Thomas, Ambroise: Thomas Hampson, Sophie Koch
Vaughan Williams, Ralph: Ralph Vaughan Williams: The Vocal Music
Verdi, Giuseppe: Grace Bumbry discusses Amneris, Montserrat Caballé, Maria Callas, Saluting Caruso, Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, Mirella Freni, Angela Gheorghiu, Tito Gobbi, Peter Glossop, Thomas Hampson, Thomas Hampson discusses Rodrigue in Verdi’s Don Carlos, Sophie Koch, Luciano Pavarotti, Ruggero Raimondi, Renata Scotto, Giuseppe di Stefano, Joan Sutherland, Renata Tebaldi, Renata Tebaldi: A Centenary Commemoration, Jon Vickers, Jon Vickers–A Memoir, Virginia Zeani
Wagner, Richard: Maria Callas, Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, Sophie Koch, Lotte Lehmann, Renata Tebaldi: A Centenary Commemoration, John Tomlinson, John Tomlinson discusses Wotan, Jon Vickers, Jon Vickers–A Memoir
Wolf, Hugo: Elisabeth Schwarzkopf

Hampsong Foundation

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Singers on Singing: The Performer’s Perspective

Introduction to Singers on Singing: The Performer's Perspective

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Part of

Singers on Singing: Great Artists in Conversation

Roles / Operas / Composers