The James King Page

James King

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{ index . biography . discography . repertoire . acknowledgements }

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B i o g r a p h y ]

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BORN IN DODGE CITY, Kansas, in May, 22, 1925, James King studied music in Lousiana State University , receiving later a master's degree in music in 1952 in the Kansas City University. He began singing as a baritone and, during a performance of Handel’s Messiah in 1955, started to notice he was in the wrong Fach. He retrained himself into the tenor repertoire with Martial Singher and won the American Opera Auditions in Cincinnati in 1961. In this year, he debuted as a tenor as Don José at the San Francisco Opera next to Marilyn Horne and made his international début as 'Cavaradossi' in Puccini's Tosca at the Teatro della Pergola, in Florence, in 1961. Joining the Berlin Deutsche Oper, he sang there French and Italian repertoire from 1962 to 1965. In his Salzburg début in 1962, he sang Achilles opposite to Christa Ludwig in Glück's Iphigénie en Aulide, under Karl Böhm's direction. Under Böhm's direction at the Salzburg Festival, he sang Florestan in Beethoven's Fidelio, the Emperor in R.Strauss's Frau ohne Schatten and Bacchus in R.Strauss's Ariadne auf Naxos. King and Böhm later collaborated on recordings of many of these operas.
Bachus was again his début role at the Vienna State Opera in 1963, where he sang mainly Wagner and Strauss roles. From 1965 to 1975, he sang at the Bayreuth Festival, as Lohengrin, Siegmund and Parsifal.
Not until 1966 was his magnificent voice heard at New York's Metropolitan Opera House. His main roles there were Florestan and Lohengrin. He has also sang in the Paris Opera (Calaf, Marico,...), the Royal Opera House (Manrico, the Emperor,...) and the Teatro alla Scala, Milan as Siegmund, Florestan, the Emperor, Bacchus...
James King was awarded the title of Kammersänger for the cities of Berlin, Munich, and Vienna and stared four German film productions of opera, television and radio productions. His last recorded appearance was in the 25th anniversary of James Levine at the Metropolitan Opera, in 1996. He was a music and voice teacher in the Indiana University School of Music from 1984 to 2002.
At the age of 80, he died of natural causes on November 20th, 2005 in Naples, Florida.
James King’s biography "Nun sollt Ihr mich befragen" is published by Henschel Verlag, from Berlin.

{ index . biography . discography . repertoire . acknowledgements }

	*James King*		+
	{ index . biography . discography . repertoire . acknowledgements }
[	B i o g r a p h y ]		+
+	+	BORN IN DODGE CITY, Kansas, in May, 22, 1925, James King studied music in Lousiana State University , receiving later a master's degree in music in 1952 in the Kansas City University. He began singing as a baritone and, during a performance of Handel’s Messiah in 1955, started to notice he was in the wrong Fach. He retrained himself into the tenor repertoire with Martial Singher and won the American Opera Auditions in Cincinnati in 1961. In this year, he debuted as a tenor as Don José at the San Francisco Opera next to Marilyn Horne and made his international début as 'Cavaradossi' in Puccini's Tosca at the Teatro della Pergola, in Florence, in 1961. Joining the Berlin Deutsche Oper, he sang there French and Italian repertoire from 1962 to 1965. In his Salzburg début in 1962, he sang Achilles opposite to Christa Ludwig in Glück's Iphigénie en Aulide, under Karl Böhm's direction. Under Böhm's direction at the Salzburg Festival, he sang Florestan in Beethoven's Fidelio, the Emperor in R.Strauss's Frau ohne Schatten and Bacchus in R.Strauss's Ariadne auf Naxos. King and Böhm later collaborated on recordings of many of these operas. Bachus was again his début role at the Vienna State Opera in 1963, where he sang mainly Wagner and Strauss roles. From 1965 to 1975, he sang at the Bayreuth Festival, as Lohengrin, Siegmund and Parsifal. Not until 1966 was his magnificent voice heard at New York's Metropolitan Opera House. His main roles there were Florestan and Lohengrin. He has also sang in the Paris Opera (Calaf, Marico,...), the Royal Opera House (Manrico, the Emperor,...) and the Teatro alla Scala, Milan as Siegmund, Florestan, the Emperor, Bacchus... James King was awarded the title of Kammersänger for the cities of Berlin, Munich, and Vienna and stared four German film productions of opera, television and radio productions. His last recorded appearance was in the 25th anniversary of James Levine at the Metropolitan Opera, in 1996. He was a music and voice teacher in the Indiana University School of Music from 1984 to 2002. At the age of 80, he died of natural causes on November 20th, 2005 in Naples, Florida. James King’s biography "Nun sollt Ihr mich befragen" is published by Henschel Verlag, from Berlin.
		{ index . biography . discography . repertoire . acknowledgements }