The twentieth century was marked by the rapid development of opera. Throughout the century, new names of stage geniuses have appeared on the “starry horizon”, striking opera connoisseurs around the world not only with their vocal abilities, but also with artistic talent.
They shone on the best stages, popularizing their art among the masses. The names of these singers have always remained in history, and their creative heritage has become the basis for the "maturation" of a worthy change.
Introducing the 10 most famous opera singers and singers in the world.
10. Elizabeth Schwarzkopf (1915-2006)
Outstanding German singer Elizabeth Schwarzkopfpossessing a marvelous soprano, it was primarily famous for its inspired interpretations of the operas of Mozart and Richard Strauss, as well as German chamber lyrics.
Despite the fact that history knows many examples of how singers with very modest vocal abilities managed to achieve incredible creative heights, still the example of Schwarzkopf even against their background looks really unique.
In 1938, this singer graduated from the Berlin Higher School of Music. She delighted the audience on the stage of the London Theater "Covent Garden" in Mozart's operas "The Marriage of Figaro" and "Don Giovanni".
English viewers and experts unanimously called the singer a real “discovery” of the Vienna opera. It was then that Schwarzkopf became world famous.
Until the end of her life, the singer devoted herself to vocal pedagogy. In various European cities, she led seminars and courses, which young talents from around the world considered to be honored.
9. Nikolai Gedda (1925-)
Nikolay Gedda - famous Swedish tenor. For more than 20 years, since the mid-1950s, Gedda has been the lead singer in the New York Metropolitan Opera.
Over the entire period, he performed almost the entire tenor repertoire both in classical musical works (Duke in Rigoletto, Elvino in Somnambul and others) and modern productions (for example, Menotti in The Last Savage).
His masterly performance of opera parts of a wide variety of repertoire, ranging from opera arias to melodic romances or Russian folk songs, deservedly earned him a reputation as a universal vocal master.
8. Leontina Price (1927-)
Leontina Price - The American opera singer is famous not only for her unique vocal abilities, but also for being able to become the first black opera vocalist in history to perform on the Metropolitan Opera.
The real glory came to Price after she performed the part of Tosca in a television production. After that, all connoisseurs of the opera realized that from this moment a real star appeared.
Then there was “The Magic Flute”, “Don Giovanni”, and later a new debut in San Francisco, where the singer performed the part in F. Pulenka’s opera “Conversations of the Carmelites”.
The temperamental, passionate singer literally conquered Europe with the full timbre of her strong soprano, and her incredible ability to reach exciting dramatic climaxes, not only with vocals, but with the ease of acting filling the image.
7. Fritz Wunderlich (1930-1966)
Fritz Wunderlich - German singer. This vocalist became famous primarily for the performance of parts in Mozart's operas.
While still a student, Wunderlich first performed on the opera stage, it was the legendary “Magic Flute”.
An outstanding achievement of the singer was a performance in the party of Don Ottavio in “Don Giovanni” in 1966. He also brilliantly performed the part of Tamino at the Edinburgh Festival, Belmont in “Abduction from the Seraglio” by Mozart and Enik in Smetana’s opera “The Sold Bride”.
6. Kirsten Flagstad (1895-1962)
Kirsten Flagstad - a Norwegian opera singer with a dramatic soprano, experts recognized as one of the best vocalists performing parts in Wagner's musical dramas. Her beautiful voice was distinguished by incredible strength, plasticity, timbre filling with saturation and rare lyricism.
Outward pathos was alien to her stage images. A few phrases sung by Flagstad were enough for the viewer's imagination to draw a clear character of her heroine.
Each note taken by the artist impressed the audience with fullness, roundness, and her timbre, as if absorbing the elegance characteristic of northern women, gave the vocals of the opera diva an indescribable charm.
5. Luciano Pavarotti (1935-2007)
Luciano Pavarotti - The famous Italian opera singer, one of the most famous vocalists of the second half of the XX century.
Experts note that thanks to virtuoso voice possession, inherent only in his ease of sound production, combined with a bright personality, as if radiating light and the joy of being, Pavarotti became one of the most recognizable artists of the 20th century opera.
His growing fame every year was facilitated by the systematic appearance in the media and broadcasting of the vocalist's appearances on television.
Pavarotti entered pop culture after singing the Nessun Dorma aria at the opening ceremony of the FIFA World Cup held in Italy in 1990.
Then he began working together with Placido Domingo and Jose Carreras in the famous project “Three Tenors”, whose goal was to popularize opera among the general population.
4. Joan Sutherland (1926-2010)
Joan Alston Sutherland - famous opera singer from Australia. At first, she appeared before the ruble as a mezzo-soprano, after - as a dramatic soprano, and even later - as a coloratura.
Sutherland's unmatched voice, combining coloratura virtuosity with dramatic content, an abundance of timbre colors with clarity of voice, has fascinated opera connoisseurs for many years.
3. Placido Domingo (1941-)
Spanish singer Placido Domingo is one of the most famous living opera singers. His stunning lyric-dramatic tenor fascinated more than one generation of grateful listeners.
Over his nearly half-century creative career, Domingo has performed more than 150 leading opera parts on the most famous stages of the world. Together with no less famous singers - Luciano Pavarotti and Jose Carreras - Domingo is one of the three most recognized tenors in the world.
Loud fame came to Domingo in the 60s of the last century, when he began performing on the stages of the Metropolitan Opera.
In 1968, he was invited to perform the opera at the opening of the season in the legendary “La Scala”. From that moment, he is considered one of the best “decorations” of this theater.
In addition, Domingo continues to perform at all world-famous opera venues.
2. Maria Callas (1923-1977)
Maria Callas - one of the greatest opera singers of the XX century. At the beginning of her career, she acted as a dramatic coloratura, and later as a lyrical-dramatic soprano. At the end of her singing career, Callam began to perform mezzo-soprano parts.
The singer was not limited to only virtuoso colorings in the operas of Bellini, Rossini and Donizetti, but was able to turn her ligaments into a well-functioning expressive instrument.
With her work, she achieved the almost absolute universality of her professional capabilities. Her range contained classic parts such as the Vestals of Spontini and Verdi's latest operas.
1. Dietrich Fischer-Discau (1925-)
The widest range of vocal capabilities of a talented opera singer Dietrich Fischer-Discau allowed him to execute almost a program of any level of complexity, to appear in almost any part intended for baritone. He was favorably distinguished by a scrupulous approach to a wide variety of opera compositions.
This famous vocalist gained world fame after virtuoso performances of the works of Bach, Gluck, Schubert, Berg, Wolf, Schoenberg, Britten and Hentze.