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Richard Fredricks (born August 15, 1933, Los Angeles, California) is an American opera singer, and was one of the leading dramatic baritones of both the New York City Opera and the Metropolitan Opera. He has also appeared on network television, performing a number of times on NBC's The Tonight Show and guest-starred once in a 1971 episode of ABC's The Odd Couple . [1] [2]
Fredricks debuted with the New York City Opera on October 1, 1960 as Schaunard in La bohème , with Chester Ludgin and Norman Treigle in the cast. He went on to perform leading baritone roles in The Consul (with Patricia Neway), Le nozze di Figaro (as Count Almaviva), The Ballad of Baby Doe (as Horace Tabor), Lizzie Borden (as Captain Jason MacFarlane, in the world premiere of Beeson's opera), Carmen (as Escamillo), Tosca (as Baron Scarpia, with Plácido Domingo), Cavalleria rusticana (as Alfio), Manon (as Lescaut, with Beverly Sills, conducted by Julius Rudel), Gianni Schicchi (title role), La traviata (as Germont), Lucia di Lammermoor (as Enrico), L'heure espagnole (as Mulateer), Roberto Devereux (as Nottingham), La cenerentola (Dandini), Il barbiere di Siviglia (as Figaro), Un ballo in maschera (as Renato), Maria Stuarda (as Talbot), Rigoletto (title role), Don Giovanni (title role, directed by Frank Corsaro), I puritani (as Sir Richard Forth), Manon Lescaut (as Lescaut), Pagliacci (as Tonio), Lucrezia Borgia (as Alfonzo d'Este), Andrea Chénier (as Gerard), Falstaff (as Ford) and Attila (as Ezio).
Fredricks made his first appearance with the Met in 1976 at Wolf Trap National Park as Don Carlo in John Dexter's production of La forza del destino . The following year, he was seen at the Metropolitan Opera House in La traviata with Rita Shane. His in-house debut was as Athanael in Thaïs (with Sills), followed by Don Giovanni in Don Giovanni, Barnaba in La gioconda, the Four Villains in Les contes d'Hoffmann, Escamillio in Carmen, Sharpless in Madama Butterfly and Ostasio in Francesca da Rimini with Renata Scotto.
Fredricks appeared at most of the major theatres in the Americas, as well as in Hamburg, Frankfurt, Venice, Israel, Brussels and Mexico. In Canada, he sang the part of the Count de Luna in Il trovatore (Montreal), Rigoletto (Toronto and Quebec City), Scarpia in Tosca (Winnipeg) and as Demetrius in A Midsummer Night's Dream (Vancouver). His recordings include contributions to The Treasury of Great Operettas, The Tender Land, Lizzie Borden and Duruflé's Requiem. He directed La bohème with both the Michigan Opera and the Duluth Opera, as well as singing Lescaut and directing the production of Manon with the Honolulu Opera.
He appeared as himself in the November 5, 1971 episode titled, "Does Your Mother Know You're Out, Rigoletto", of The Odd Couple in which he sang selections from La traviata and Camelot ("If Ever I Would Leave You").
Beverly Sills was an American operatic soprano whose peak career was between the 1950s and 1970s.
Louis Quilico, was a Canadian opera singer. One of the leading dramatic baritones of his day, he was an ideal interpreter of the great Italian and French composers, especially Giuseppe Verdi. He was often referred to as "Mr Rigoletto" in reference to the Verdi opera. During his 45-year-long career he shared performing credits with opera's greatest stars. He spent 25 consecutive years at the Metropolitan Opera in New York City. After his retirement from the stage in 1998 he continued to perform and record, most often with his second wife, pianist Christina Petrowska Quilico,, with whom he made four CDs. The couple also toured together extensively in concerts until Quilico's death in 2000. Quilico received the Governor General's Performing Arts Award, Canada's highest honour in the performing arts, in November 1999 for his lifetime contribution to classical music.
Live from the Metropolitan Opera later renamed The Metropolitan Opera Presents was an American television program that presented performances of complete operas from the Metropolitan Opera in New York City on the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) network.
Susanne Marsee is an American mezzo-soprano of note, particularly acclaimed as a singing-actress.
Harry Theyard is an American operatic tenor.
Giuseppe Taddei was an Italian baritone, who, during his career, performed multiple operas composed by numerous composers.
Tito Capobianco was an Argentine American stage director and general manager of several opera companies.
John Alexander 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.
Carol Lee Neblett was an American operatic soprano.
Karl Gustaf Ingvar Wixell was a Swedish baritone who had an active international career in operas and concerts from 1955 to 2003. He mostly sang roles from the Italian repertory, and, according to The New York Times, "was best known for his steady-toned, riveting portrayals of the major baritone roles of Giuseppe Verdi — among them Rigoletto, Simon Boccanegra, Amonasro in Aida, and Germont in La traviata".
Vicente (Vicenç) Sardinero, né Sardinero-Puerto, was a Spanish operatic lyric baritone. Born in Barcelona, he made his debut at the Gran Teatre del Liceu in his native city in the 1964–65 season, as Escamillo in Carmen. His first appearance at the Teatro alla Scala was in 1967, as Enrico in Lucia di Lammermoor, opposite Renata Scotto, subsequently appearing there in Il trovatore (1978), I due Foscari (1980), and Falstaff. Sardinero also sang at London's Covent Garden and was often heard in zarzuela.
Enrico Di Giuseppe was a celebrated American operatic tenor who had an active performance career from the late 1950s through the 1990s. He spent most of his career performing in New York City, juggling concurrent performance contracts with both the New York City Opera and the Metropolitan Opera during the 1970s and 1980s. In the latter part of his career, he was active with the New York Grand Opera.
Henry Price III is a well-known American operatic tenor, who was a pupil of the tenor Eugene Conley. He made his formal debut with the Goldovsky Opera Theater in 1970, as Alfredo Germont in La traviata.
Armando Agnini was a successful Italian stage director of opera.
Maralin Niska was an American operatic soprano. Well known as a singing-actress, she was a mainstay of the New York City Opera during the 1960s and 1970s. She was also a regular performer at the Metropolitan Opera from 1970 to 1977.
Giovanni Polese was an Italian operatic baritone who had an active international singing career from 1894-1928. He achieved the height of his success in the United States in the years 1908-1916 in the cities of Boston, Chicago, New York, and Philadelphia, and again from 1926-1928 in Chicago. While he sang a broad repertoire from the French, German, and Italian repertoires, he was most celebrated for his performances in the operas of Giuseppe Verdi. His voice is preserved on more than 20 recordings made by Edison Records.
Knud D. Andersson was a German-born American conductor. He enjoyed a long association with the New Orleans Opera where he served as first assistant conductor and choral director from 1953 to 1965 and then music director and resident conductor from 1965 until his retirement in 1983. The city of New Orleans, honored him with certificates of merit in 1957 and 1967.
Vasile Moldoveanu is a Romanian tenor.
David Morelock is an American stage director of opera.
The soprano Renata Scotto made many recordings, some of complete operas, others of collections of arias. Some of her performances can be seen on video, recorded live, especially in Metropolitan Opera broadcasts.
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