Gary Lehman

Gary Lehman is an American operatic tenor, specialising in the Heldentenor repertoire

He initially trained as a baritone at Youngstown State University, continued his studies at Indiana University, and as a member of the Lyric Opera Center for American Artists gave 90 performances with the Lyric Opera of Chicago.[1] In 1995 he sang the lead tenor role of Herman in The Queen of Spades.[2] From the 1990s into the next decade he sang baritone roles such as the Count in The Marriage of Figaro[3] and Ford in Falstaff.[4]

He made his debut in the Heldentenor fach in 2005, replacing Placido Domingo as the title role in Parsifal for Los Angeles Opera.[5] The following year he sang Samson in Samson et Dalila.[6]

Lehman's next Wagner performances were in the title role in Tannhauser in March 2007.[7] A year later he made his both his Metropolitan Opera and role debuts in Tristan und Isolde.[8] He repeated the role with the Mariinsky Opera in June 2008, with Leipzig Opera in January 2009 and gave concert performances with the Philharmonia Orchestra throughout Europe in August and September 2010.[9] Further Wagner roles have been Siegmund in Die Walküre, also at the Met,[10] and a recording of the title role in Parsifal.[11]

After Ben Heppner dropped out of the ongoing Metropolitan Opera Ring Cycle it was announced in February 2011 that Lehman will sing Siegfried in both Siegfried in October 2011 and Götterdämmerung in January 2012.[12][13]

His repertoire also includes Canio in Pagliacci, the title role in Peter Grimes, Florestan in Fidelio, and Alwa in Lulu.[14]

References

  1. ^ www.garylehmantenor.com. "Biography". http://www.garylehmantenor.com/biography.asp. 
  2. ^ Giffin, Glen (9 December 1995), "Tchaikovsky: Queen of Spades.(Central City, Colorado)", Opera News, http://business.highbeam.com/3766/article-1G1-17808368/tchaikovsky-queen-spades 
  3. ^ Peter Bates. "Boston Lyric Opera: Le Nozze di Figaro by Wolfgang Amadé Mozart; April 4, 1999". http://www.stylus.batescommunications.net/performreviews98_2006.htm. 
  4. ^ Reichel, Edward (6 March 2000), "Utah Opera's Falstaff is first-rate, fabulous", Deseret News, http://www.deseretnews.com/article/810964/Utah-Operas-Falstaff-is-first-rate-fabulous.html 
  5. ^ Swed, Mark (21 December 2005), "Some performances save the best for last", The Los Angeles Time, http://articles.latimes.com/2005/dec/21/entertainment/et-notebook21 
  6. ^ Warfield, Scott (19 November 2006), "Orlando Opera's Samson hits high note with Graves", Orlando Sentinel, http://articles.orlandosentinel.com/2006-11-19/news/SAMSON_1_orlando-opera-samson-dalila-saint-saens-samson 
  7. ^ Wagneropera.net. "Salvation for Tannhäuser?". http://www.wagneropera.net/Articles/Herheim-Tannhauser-Oslo.htm. 
  8. ^ Holland, Bernard (20 March 2008), "Tristan and the Furious Stage", New York Times, http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/20/arts/music/20tris.html?scp=1&sq=lehman%20tristan&st=cse 
  9. ^ Bredin, Henrietta (21 September 2010), "Tristan und Isolde in widescreen", The Guardian, http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2010/sep/21/tristan-und-isolde-viola-philharmonia 
  10. ^ Itzkoff, Dave (14 April 2009), "Cast for Met’s Ring Goes Round and Round", The New York Times, http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/04/14/cast-for-mets-ring-goes-round-and-round/ 
  11. ^ Christiansen, Rupert (17 September 2010), "Wagner: Parsifal, CD review", The Daily Telegraph, http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/music/classicalcdreviews/8009983/Wagner-Parsifal-CD-review.html 
  12. ^ Wakin, Daniel J. (8 February 2011), "Ben Heppner Drops Out of the Met’s Ring", The New York Times, http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/02/08/ben-heppner-drops-out-of-the-mets-ring/ 
  13. ^ The Metropolitan Opera. "The 2011-12 Season". http://www.metoperafamily.org/metopera/season/index.aspx?nav=top. 
  14. ^ www.garylehmantenor.com. "Repertoire". http://www.garylehmantenor.com/repertoire.asp.