Philip Langridge

Philip Langridge, CBE, ( born December 16, 1939 in Hawkhurst, Kent, † March 5, 2010 in Guildford ) was a British opera and oratorio singer in the vocal category lyric tenor.

Life

He first studied violin until 1958 at the Royal Academy of Music in London and until 1964 was also active as a violinist. From 1962, he studied in London singing with Bruce Boys and Celia Bizoni. He made his debut as a concert singer in the oratorio The Messiah by George Frideric Handel. In 1964 he sang at the Glyndebourne Festival in the choir, where he also took first small solo parts, including Capriccio by Richard Strauss. Later, he sang Don Ottavio in, among others, the Don Giovanni (1977-1978), the title role in Idomeneo (1983-1985), the Laca in Jenufa (1989 ) and the title role in La Clemenza di Tito (1991). In 1990, he appeared in the opera New Year by Michael Tippett at Glyndebourne. 1994 he was there with the premiere of the opera The Second Mrs Kong by Harrison Birtwistle.

1973 Long Ridge resigned as Flimann in the opera Il borgomastro di Saardam by Gaetano Donizetti at the Holland Festival. In 1993 he joined there again as Pelléas in Pelléas et Mélisande on. In 1979, he debuted at the Welsh National Opera in Cardiff. Since 1983, Langridge appeared regularly at the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden. In 1989 he sang the title role in Idomeneo, the 1992 Gustav von Aschenbach in Death in Venice, 1996, Loge in Das Rheingold and 2001, the title role in the opera Palestrina by Hans Pfitzner.

Frequently Langridge performed works by Harrison Birtwistle. In 1986 he sang the title role of Orpheus in his opera The Mask of Orpheus. In 1989 he took over the role of the lawyer in the world premiere of the opera Punch and Judy. 2008 at the Covent Garden Opera was followed by the role of hiereus in the world premiere of the opera The Minotaur. 2009 Birtwistle composed to Long Ridge's 70th Birthday specifically a song that brought Langridge in November 2009 at a concert at the Wigmore Hall for the world premiere.

Multiple Langridge appeared at the Salzburg Festival. He sang the 1987-1988 Aron Moses und Aron, 1990 the title role of Idomeneo, 1992 Skuratov in House of the Dead, 1993 Nerone in L' incoronazione di Poppea and 1998 the Idrisi in the opera King Roger by Karol Szymanowski. At the Salzburg Easter Festival in 1994 he sang the Schiuski in Boris Godunov.

He also guested at the English National Opera in London (1990 title roles in Oedipus Rex and Peter Grimes ), at La Scala (1985 debut in the opera Orfeo by Luigi Rossi, 1989 title role in Oberon, 2000 title role in Peter Grimes ), at the Metropolitan Opera in New York ( 1984 as Ferrando, 1997 as Captain Vere, 1997 title role in Peter Grimes, 1999 Aron, 2000 as Loge ), the Zurich Opera House ( 1984 Monteverdi cycle, 1987 as Don Ottavio ), at the Cologne Opera House ( 1993 as Captain Vere in Billy Budd ), at the Bavarian State Opera (1998 in the Midsummer Marriage by Michael Tippett ) and at the Lyric Opera in Chicago (1981 U.S. debut ).

Langridge was appointed in 1994 by Queen Elizabeth II as Commander of the Order of the British Empire. He was married to the renowned Irish mezzo -soprano Ann Murray ( b. 1949 ).

Voice

Langridge was an extremely versatile tenor who excelled both in baroque repertoire and as an interpreter of Benjamin Britten, Gerald Finzi and Michael Tippett and has probably the most virtuosic and wohlklingendsten Aron recorded ( under the baton of Georg Solti ). As an interpreter of Mozart, but also in general, one can compare it with Nicolai Gedda: a similar youthful charm in timbre, even into old age, and also playing mastery of technical hurdles, all boundaries in terms of vocal range and volume.

Philip Langridge, who is also the Slavic repertoire sang ( Mussorgsky, Janacek, Szymanowski ... ), was next to Peter Pears and Robert Tear of the most important British tenors of the 20th century.