Met Assistant General Manager Robert Rattray has passed away at the age of 67. Per sources, he suffered a stroke on Sunday, Jan. 28, 2018. He was appointed to the position in 2014, replacing Sarah Billinghurst. Prior to that appointment, he had already accumulated over 40 years of experience in the world of classical music management. He had been Joint {…}
The renowned Italian mezzo Claudia Carbi has died. The mezzo, who was born in Cremona in 1923, sang at most leading Italian opera houses and specialized in early music, chamber music, and oratorio. Among the theaters, she sang at were the Teatro Comunale di Bologna, Carlo Felice di Genoa and the Teatro Manzoni di Milano. Throughout her career, Carbi recorded a {…}
The Philippine tenor Otoniel Gonzaga has passed away at 76. The Wiener Volksoper reported the news that on Jan. 13, 2018, the acclaimed tenor passed away. The tenor, who trained at Curtis, started his career by winning first-prize of the Marian Anderson Singing Competition and won the ARD Singing Competition, where he took third place. He went on to perform at {…}
The Bolshoi Theatre has announced the death of Alexander Vedernikov. The company announced that the bass died at the age of 90 after being a household name with the company throughout the second half of the 20th century. Throughout his career the bass won numerous awards including the World Festival of Youth and Students (2nd Prize, 1953), the Robert Schumann International {…}
American soprano Marilyn Tyler has passed away on Dec. 21, 2017. Her career spanned 25 years, during which time she performed with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, the New York Philharmonic, the Cologne Radio Symphony, the Vienna Philharmonic, and the Boston Symphony. As a soloist, she sang under the baton of conductors such as Bernard Haitink, Sir Colin Davis, Georg Solti, {…}
Tenor Bruce Rankin has died at the age of 65. A member of the Deutsche Oper am Rhein for almost 20 years, Rankin died of an unidentified cause. He was described by Christoph Meyer as excellent character tenor and he was to have celebrated his 20th anniversary in Düsseldorf next year where he performed since 1998. The company noted, “We are {…}
Nicoletta Panni, the niece of baritone Giuseppe de Luca, passed away on Sept. 12 in Rome, the city of her birth. Her career lasted twenty years, during which time she performed on many of Italy’s most famous stages such as Teatro alla Scala, Teatro dell’Opera di Roma, and Teatro Grande di Brescia. She also performed at the Metropolitan Opera, Lyric Opera {…}
The Vienna State Opera has announced the death of tenor William Blankenship, a member of the company from 1967 to 1969. The company announced that the tenor died on Dec. 2 at the age of 89. Born in Gatesville, Texas, his first roles came in Europe at Klagenfurt, Braunschweig, Mannheim, and Bern. He would make his Vienna Opera debut in {…}
José Razador, a Belgian-Walloon tenor of Italian descent died on Nov. 14 at the age of 82. The tenor started out as a soloist at the Liège Opéra in 1970 and went on to sing with Belgian and French companies for three decades. The tenor was well known for a wide variety of repertoire including leading roles in “Faust” and {…}
Soprano Carol Neblett has passed away as of November 23 2017. The cause of death has not yet been disclosed. Carol was born in Modesto, California, and attended University of California, Los Angeles. She made her debut at the age of 23 in the role of Musetta in “La Bohème.” She performed with City Opera company for the next decade until {…}
Baritone Dmitri Hvorostovsky has died at the age of 55. After being diagnosed with a brain tumor is 2015, Hvorostovsky had retired from the opera stage as he battled the disease. A year ago he announced that he would continue singing in recital and would continue recording. Born in Siberia, he made his debut at Krasnoyarsk Opera House, in the {…}