Stefan Zucker

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Stefan Zucker (b. 1949) is an American singer, expert on Italian opera and self-described "opera fanatic." He was listed in the 1980 Guinness Book of Records as the "world's highest tenor" for having hit and sustained an A above high C for 3.8 seconds at The Town Hall in New York City on September 12, 1972.

[edit] Life and career

Zucker was the editor of Opera Fanatic magazine and hosted the radio interview program "Opera Fanatic" on WKCR-FM radio in New York City. In the 1998 documentary film of the same name, Zucker travels around Italy interviewing opera divas from the 1950s. His interview style and deportment in the film has been much criticized, although his radio show is remembered fondly for its in-depth discussions, diva dishing and many famous singers interviewed, including Franco Corelli, Grace Bumbry, Alfredo Kraus and Jerome Hines. Zucker has contributed to the International Dictionary of Opera, Opera News, American Record Guide, Opera Quarterly, Professione Musica and Globe & Mail, among others.

After Columbia University, which is the owner of WKCR-FM radio, dropped Zucker as the host of "Opera Fanatic" in 1994, he turned his efforts to preserving early opera recordings and films through his nonprofit Bel Canto Society. He talks and sings in the film series "The Tenors of the 78 Era" and has lectured at The Mannes College of Music in New York City. Zucker has written a number of articles about singing and singers, four of which are collected as The Origins of Modern Tenor Singing, a 16-page booklet consisting of four articles that were originally published in Opera News from 1981 to 1986. The articles focus on Gioachino Rossini, castratos and florid singing; the David family of tenors plus Andrea Nozzari; Giovanni Battista Rubini; Gilbert Duprez and the high C "from the chest." These articles trace the development, as understood by Zucker, of tenor singing from the 1770s through the mid-19th century to Enrico Caruso.

Zucker and his mother, soprano Rosina Wolf, claim to be the last in a line of singers using the method of singing style taught by Giovanni Battista Rubini. Many people have criticized Zucker's singing, which has a pronounced "bleat" sound. The critic Donal Henahan wrote in The New York Times, reviewing Zucker in a performance of Bellini's opera Adelson e Salvini, that his high notes were like "the scratching of a fingernail on a blackboard." Zucker and his mother produced the first performance of the 1829 final version of that opera.

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