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John Alexander (October 21, 1923 – December 8, 1990) was an American operatic tenor who had a substantial career during the 1950s through the 1980s. He had a longstanding relationship with the Metropolitan Opera in New York City, singing with that company every year between 1961 and 1987 for a total of 379 performances. He also periodically performed at the New York City Opera during his career and was a frequent presence at the Philadelphia Lyric Opera Company during the late 1950s and 1960s. Although he spent most of his career in New York City, Alexander occasionally traveled to perform as a guest artist with many of the world's leading opera houses, both in the United States and Europe. He was also an active concert singer throughout his career. While most of Alexander's career was spent in lyric roles from the Italian and French repertory, Alexander had enough heft in his voice to successfully tackle some of the lighter Heldentenor roles of Richard Wagner and Richard Strauss. Aside from a handful of these roles, however, his repertoire at the Metropolitan did not include heavier parts. Rather, he was known there for an expansive lyric repertoire that encompassed the works of Mozart, Puccini, Verdi, and Donizetti among others. His signature roles included Alfredo in ''La traviata'', Arbace in ''Idomeneo'', Belmonte in ''Die Entführung aus dem Serail'', the Duke of Mantua in ''Rigoletto'', Edgardo from ''Lucia di Lammermoor'', Ferrando in ''Così fan tutte'', Hoffman in ''Les contes d'Hoffmann'', Lieutenant B. F. Pinkerton in ''Madama Butterfly'', Rodolfo in ''La bohème'', and the title roles in ''Don Carlos'' and ''Faust''. ==Early life and career== Alexander was born and raised in Meridian, Mississippi. He attended the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, earning a Bachelor of Music in Vocal Performance. Many years later, while still working regularly for the Metropolitan Opera, he returned to the conservatory as a member of the voice faculty. In 1951 Alexander moved to New York City to begin studying voice further under Robert Weede and with the intent of pursuing a performance career. That same year he auditioned for and was accepted as a member of the Charles Wagner Opera Company, a touring company which traveled throughout North America. He traveled widely with the company during the Fall of 1951, notably portraying Alfredo in Giuseppe Verdi's ''La traviata'' opposite a young Beverly Sills as Violetta. In the spring of 1952 he made his first appearance with at an actual opera house as the title hero in Charles Gounod's ''Faust'' with Cincinnati Opera. The following fall he once again traveled with the Charles Wagner Opera Company, this time singing Don José in Bizet's ''Carmen'' opposite Sill's Micaëla. Over the next five years he appeared in several houses throughout the United States including the Baltimore Opera Company and the Houston Grand Opera. In 1957 Alexander made his debut with the Philadelphia Grand Opera Company as Lieutenant Pinkerton in Puccini's ''Madama Butterfly'' opposite Dorothy Kirsten as Cio-Cio San. That same year he made his first appearance with the New York City Opera singing the role of Alfredo. The following year he returned to the New York City Opera to portray the role of Henry Morosus for the United States premiere of Richard Strauss's ''Die schweigsame Frau''. He continued to perform periodically at the New York City Opera up through the 1970s, notably excelling as Walther in Wagner's ''Die Meistersinger'' and as Bacchus in Richard Strauss's ''Ariadne auf Naxos''. In 1958 he created the role of Lucentio is the first staged performance of Vittorio Giannini's ''The Taming of the Shrew''. On February 10, 1958, Alexander portrayed the role of Rodolfo opposite Elaine Malbin's Mimì in Giacomo Puccini's ''La bohème'' for the very first opera performance given by the Philadelphia Lyric Opera Company. He returned several more times for performances with that company, including portrayals of Vicomte Camille de Jolidon in ''Die lustige Witwe'' (1958), Lieutenant Pinkerton (1959, 1962, 1963), Sir Edgardo di Ravenswood in ''Lucia di Lammermoor'' (1960, 1961), Ferrando in ''Così fan tutte'' (1960), Alfredo (1961, 1963, 1972), Faust (1967), Gennaro in ''Lucrezia Borgia'' (1969), and Roberto, conte di Leicester in ''Maria Stuarda'' (1974). 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア(Wikipedia)』 ■ウィキペディアで「John Alexander (tenor)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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