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.
Roles / Operas / Composers
Roles:
Abigaille (Nabucco): Renata Scotto
Adriana Lecouvreur (Adriana Lecouvreur): Renata Tebaldi
Aida (Aida): Montserrat Caballé, Mirella Freni, Renata Tebaldi
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): 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
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
Jocaste (Oedipus Rex): Marilyn Horne
King Lear (Lear): Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau
Kundry (Parsifal): Sophie Koch
La Gioconda (La Gioconda): Renata Scotto, Renata Tebaldi
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
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
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
Minnie (La Fanciulla del West): Renata Tebaldi
Nemorino (L’Elisir d’Amore): Nicolai Gedda
Norma (Norma): Maria Callas, Joan Sutherland
Octavian (Der Rosenkavalier): Sophie Koch
Otello (Otello): 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): 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
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:
Adriana Lecouvreur: Renata Tebaldi
Aida: Grace Bumbry discusses Amneris, Montserrat Caballé, Mirella Freni, Renata Tebaldi, Jon Vickers
Arabella: Singing Strauss Feature, Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, Lotte Lehmann, Elisabeth Schwarzkopf
Ariadne auf Naxos: Singing Strauss Feature, Sophie Koch
L’Arlesiana: Luciano Pavarotti, Giuseppe di Stefano
Artaxerxes: Joan Sutherland
Billy Budd: Singing Britten Feature, Peter Glossop, John Tomlinson
Bluebeard’s Castle: Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, John Tomlinson
Boris Godunov: Ruggero Raimondi, John Tomlinson
Capriccio: Singing Strauss Feature
Carmen: Grace Bumbry discusses Carmen, Nicolai Gedda, Angela Gheorghiu, Marilyn Horne, Sophie Koch, Jon Vickers–A Memoir
Cavalleria Rusticana: Renata Scotto
Curlew River: Singing Britten Feature
Daphne: Singing Strauss Feature
Das Rheingold: Sophie Koch, John Tomlinson, John Tomlinson discusses Wotan
Death in Venice: Singing Britten Feature
Der Opernball: Joan Sutherland
Der Rosenkavalier: Singing Strauss Feature, Sophie Koch, Lotte Lehmann
Dialogues des Carmélites: Virginia Zeani
Die Fliegende Holländer: John Tomlinson
Die Frau ohne Schatten: Singing Strauss Feature
Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg: Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, Lotte Lehmann
Die Walküre: Sophie Koch, Lotte Lehmann, John Tomlinson, John Tomlinson discusses Wotan, Jon Vickers–A Memoir
Die Zauberflöte: Nicolai Gedda
Don Carlo: Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, Tito Gobbi, Thomas Hampson discusses Rodrigue in Verdi’s Don Carlos, Ruggero Raimondi
Don Giovanni: Tito Gobbi, Thomas Hampson, Ruggero Raimondi, Elisabeth Schwarzkopf
Don Quichotte: José van Dam discusses Massenet’s ‘Don Quichotte’, Ruggero Raimondi
Elektra: Singing Strauss Feature, Deborah Polaski discusses Elektra
Ernani: Joan Sutherland
Esclarmonde: Joan Sutherland
Eugene Onegin: Mirella Freni
Falstaff: Tito Gobbi, Thomas Hampson
Faust: Giuseppe di Stefano
Feuersnot: Singing Strauss Feature
Fidelio: Lotte Lehmann, Jon Vickers, Jon Vickers–A Memoir
Friederike: Nicolai Gedda
Gianni Schicchi: Tito Gobbi
Götterdämmerung: John Tomlinson, John Tomlinson discusses Wotan
Guntram: Singing Strauss Feature
Hamlet: Thomas Hampson
Hérodiade: Montserrat Caballé
I Masnadieri: Joan Sutherland
I Pagliacci: Luciano Pavarotti
I Puritani: Maria Callas, Luciano Pavarotti, Joan Sutherland
Idomeneo: Luciano Pavarotti
Il Trovatore: Renata Tebaldi
Intermezzo: Singing Strauss Feature
L’Elisir d’Amore: Nicolai Gedda
La Bohème: Mirella Freni, Luciano Pavarotti, Giuseppe di Stefano, Renata Tebaldi
La damnation de Faust: Singing Berlioz
La Fanciulla del West: Renata Tebaldi
La Fille du Régiment: Luciano Pavarotti
La Forza del Destino: Maria Callas, Renata Tebaldi
La Gioconda: Marilyn Horne, Luciano Pavarotti, Renata Scotto, Renata Tebaldi
La Rondine: Angela Gheorghiu
La Sonnambula: Renata Scotto
La Traviata: Maria Callas, Angela Gheorghiu, Tito Gobbi, Thomas Hampson, Renata Scotto, Giuseppe di Stefano, Renata Tebaldi, Virginia Zeani
La Wally: Renata Scotto
Le Nozze di Figaro: Thomas Hampson
Le Postillon de Lonjumeau: Nicolai Gedda
Lear: Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau
Les Contes d’Hoffmann: Joan Sutherland
Les Huguenots: Joan Sutherland
Les Troyens: Peter Glossop, Singing Berlioz, Jon Vickers, Jon Vickers–A Memoir
Lucia di Lammermoor: Luciano Pavarotti, Renata Scotto, Joan Sutherland
Lucrezia Borgia: Montserrat Caballé
Macbeth: Maria Callas, Thomas Hampson
Madama Butterfly: Maria Callas, Mirella Freni, Nicolai Gedda, Angela Gheorghiu, Lotte Lehmann, Renata Scotto, Renata Scotto discusses Madama Butterfly, Giuseppe di Stefano, Renata Tebaldi
Manon (Massenet): Angela Gheorghiu, Lotte Lehmann
Manon Lescaut: Angela Gheorghiu, Virginia Zeani
Medea: Maria Callas
Mignon: Sophie Koch
Mosè in Egitto: Renata Tebaldi
Nabucco: Renata Scotto
Norma: Maria Callas, Joan Sutherland
Oedipus Rex: Marilyn Horne
Otello: Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, Mirella Freni, Tito Gobbi, Peter Glossop, Renata Scotto, Renata Tebaldi, Jon Vickers, Jon Vickers–A Memoir
Owen Wingrave: Singing Britten Feature
Pacific 1860: Joan Sutherland
Parsifal: Sophie Koch
Pelléas et Mélisande: Pelléas et Mélisande Feature, Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, Singing Debussy
Peter Grimes: Singing Britten Feature, Jon Vickers, Jon Vickers–A Memoir
Rigoletto: Tito Gobbi, Peter Glossop, Luciano Pavarotti, Renata Scotto
Rinaldo: Marilyn Horne
Salome: Singing Strauss Feature, Montserrat Caballé
Samson et Dalila: Angela Gheorghiu, Marilyn Horne, Jon Vickers–A Memoir
Semiramide: Marilyn Horne, Joan Sutherland
Siegfried: John Tomlinson, John Tomlinson discusses Wotan
Simon Boccanegra: Tito Gobbi
Suor Angelica: Renata Scotto, Renata Tebaldi
Tannhäuser: Lotte Lehmann
Thaïs: Virginia Zeani
The Rape of Lucretia: Singing Britten Feature
The Turn of the Screw: Singing Britten Feature
Tosca: Maria Callas, Tito Gobbi, Luciano Pavarotti, Ruggero Raimondi, Giuseppe di Stefano, Renata Tebaldi
Tristan und Isolde: Maria Callas, Jon Vickers, Jon Vickers–A Memoir
Turandot: Montserrat Caballé, Luciano Pavarotti
Un Ballo in Maschera: Maria Callas, Luciano Pavarotti, Giuseppe di Stefano
Werther: Maria Callas, Nicolai Gedda, Angela Gheorghiu, Sophie Koch
Wiener Blut: Elisabeth Schwarzkopf
Wozzeck: Tito Gobbi, Marilyn Horne
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
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
Gounod, Charles: Giuseppe di Stefano
Handel, George Frideric: Marilyn Horne
Heuberger, Richard: Joan Sutherland
Lehàr, Franz: Nicolai Gedda
Leoncavallo, Ruggiero: 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
Poulenc, Francis: Virginia Zeani
Puccini, Giacomo: Montserrat Caballé, Maria Callas, 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, Virginia Zeani
Reimann, Aribert: Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau
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
Verdi, Giuseppe: Grace Bumbry discusses Amneris, Montserrat Caballé, Maria Callas, 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, Jon Vickers, Jon Vickers–A Memoir, Virginia Zeani
Wagner, Richard: Maria Callas, Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, Sophie Koch, Lotte Lehmann, John Tomlinson, John Tomlinson discusses Wotan, Jon Vickers, Jon Vickers–A Memoir
Wolf, Hugo: Elisabeth Schwarzkopf