George London (baritone)
Encyclopedia
George London born George Burnstein, was a Montreal
-born concert and operatic bass-baritone
.
In the summer of 1945 Antal Doráti
invited his long time friend, the Hungarian bass Mihály Székely
, to sing at the first concert of the newly reorganized Dallas Symphony Orchestra
. Because of travel difficulties Székely was unable to arrive in time, so Doráti called upon young George London as a substitute.
After performing widely with tenor Mario Lanza
and soprano Frances Yeend
as part of the Bel Canto Trio
in 1947-48, London was engaged by the Vienna State Opera
, where he scored his first major success in 1949.
In 1950 he sang the role of Pater Profundis in Mahler's Eighth Symphony
, conducted by Leopold Stokowski
.
He was among the most famous exponents of his five signature roles: Don Giovanni, Boris Godunov, Wotan, Scarpia and Amfortas. He never recorded any role in Meistersinger
, although recital performances of Hans Sach's monologues exist on record.
In 1951 he sang at Bayreuth as Amfortas in Parsifal
, and reappeared frequently in the 1950s and '60s as Amfortas, the title role of The Flying Dutchman
, and Wotan in Der Ring des Nibelungen
. He made his debut with the Metropolitan Opera
in 1951 as Amonasro in Aida
, and sang over 270 performances, both baritone and bass-baritone roles, in such operas as Le nozze di Figaro, The Magic Flute
, Arabella
, Tosca
, Don Giovanni
, Boris Godunov
, Carmen
, Otello
, Parsifal
, Tannhäuser
, The Tales of Hoffman, Pelléas et Mélisande
, and Faust
. In 1964, he created the role of Abdul in the American premiere of Menotti's The Last Savage; Gabriel Bacquier had created it in Paris. He was the first American to sing the title role of Boris Godunov at the Bolshoi Theatre
in Moscow, at the height of the Cold War
in 1960.
He frequently performed in English: Broadway show tunes and "negro spirituals". Recordings of both are available.
He recorded the Verdi Requiem with Richard Tucker
and Lucine Amara
, under Eugene Ormandy
.
During his Met career, in 1956, he appeared on Ed Sullivan
's television program in an abridged version of Act II of Tosca, opposite Maria Callas
, conducted by Dimitri Mitropoulos. A kinescope
of that performance was preserved. Another black-and-white videotape of him in the same role, opposite Renata Tebaldi
in a complete performance, is sometimes available. It was made late in his career and the paralysis of half his face is clearly visible.
He recorded many of his roles for RCA Victor, Columbia Records
, and Decca
.
In 1958, London performed the leading role of Wotan, in the groundbreaking recording of Richard Wagner
's opera Das Rheingold
, conducted by Sir Georg Solti
, and produced by John Culshaw
for Decca
.
He was preparing to unveil his Wotan for Bayreuth in the early 1960's by singing the"Rheingold" Wotan in a 1961 Cologne production supervised by Wieland Wagner.
A paralyzed vocal cord ended his singing career prematurely in 1967.
, creating its "Pacific Northwest Wagner Festival."
From 1975 until 1977 he was general director of the Washington Opera (later the Washington National Opera
).
The immense talent of George London was celebrated twice before his death. In the Carnegie Hall Concert of 1981, introduced by Beverly Sills
performances were given by a long list of colleagues. In Vienna, 1984, the world's greatest singers of that era assembled to honor this great artist.
, after a third heart attack.
Montreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
-born concert and operatic bass-baritone
Bass-baritone
A bass-baritone is a high-lying bass or low-lying "classical" baritone voice type which shares certain qualities with the true baritone voice. The term arose in the late 19th century to describe the particular type of voice required to sing three Wagnerian roles: the Dutchman in Der fliegende...
.
Biography
George London was born to a Russian Jewish family, and grew up in Los Angeles.In the summer of 1945 Antal Doráti
Antal Doráti
Antal Doráti, KBE was a Hungarian-born conductor and composer who became a naturalized American citizen in 1947.-Biography:...
invited his long time friend, the Hungarian bass Mihály Székely
Mihály Székely
Mihály Székely was a Hungarian bass singer famous for Mozartian roles.He debuted as Ferrando in 1920 at the Budapest Opera, where he remained a principal singer until his death. His Metropolitan Opera debut was as Hunding in 1947...
, to sing at the first concert of the newly reorganized Dallas Symphony Orchestra
Dallas Symphony Orchestra
The Dallas Symphony Orchestra is an American orchestra. It performs its concerts in the Meyerson Symphony Center in the Arts District of downtown Dallas, Texas, United States....
. Because of travel difficulties Székely was unable to arrive in time, so Doráti called upon young George London as a substitute.
After performing widely with tenor Mario Lanza
Mario Lanza
right|thumb|[[MGM]] still, circa 1949Mario Lanza was an American tenor and Hollywood movie star of the late 1940s and the 1950s. The son of Italian emigrants, he began studying to be a professional singer at the age of 16....
and soprano Frances Yeend
Frances Yeend
Frances Yeend was an American classical soprano who had an active international career as a concert and opera singer during the 1940s through the 1960s...
as part of the Bel Canto Trio
Bel Canto Trio
The Bel Canto Trio, consisting of tenor Mario Lanza, soprano Frances Yeend and bass-baritone George London, was created by Columbia Artists Management in 1947. The Bel Canto Trio performed 86 concerts throughout the United States, Canada and Mexico between July 1947 and May 1948....
in 1947-48, London was engaged by the Vienna State Opera
Vienna State Opera
The Vienna State Opera is an opera house – and opera company – with a history dating back to the mid-19th century. It is located in the centre of Vienna, Austria. It was originally called the Vienna Court Opera . In 1920, with the replacement of the Habsburg Monarchy by the First Austrian...
, where he scored his first major success in 1949.
In 1950 he sang the role of Pater Profundis in Mahler's Eighth Symphony
Symphony No. 8 (Mahler)
The Symphony No. 8 in E-flat major by Gustav Mahler is one of the largest-scale choral works in the classical concert repertoire. Because it requires huge instrumental and vocal forces it is frequently called the "Symphony of a Thousand", although the work is often performed with fewer than a...
, conducted by Leopold Stokowski
Leopold Stokowski
Leopold Anthony Stokowski was a British-born, naturalised American orchestral conductor, well known for his free-hand performing style that spurned the traditional baton and for obtaining a characteristically sumptuous sound from many of the great orchestras he conducted.In America, Stokowski...
.
He was among the most famous exponents of his five signature roles: Don Giovanni, Boris Godunov, Wotan, Scarpia and Amfortas. He never recorded any role in Meistersinger
Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg
Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg is an opera in three acts, written and composed by Richard Wagner. It is among the longest operas still commonly performed today, usually taking around four and a half hours. It was first performed at the Königliches Hof- und National-Theater in Munich, on June 21,...
, although recital performances of Hans Sach's monologues exist on record.
In 1951 he sang at Bayreuth as Amfortas in Parsifal
Parsifal
Parsifal is an opera in three acts by Richard Wagner. It is loosely based on Wolfram von Eschenbach's Parzival, the 13th century epic poem of the Arthurian knight Parzival and his quest for the Holy Grail, and on Chrétien de Troyes' Perceval, the Story of the Grail.Wagner first conceived the work...
, and reappeared frequently in the 1950s and '60s as Amfortas, the title role of The Flying Dutchman
The Flying Dutchman (opera)
Der fliegende Holländer is an opera, with music and libretto by Richard Wagner.Wagner claimed in his 1870 autobiography Mein Leben that he had been inspired to write "The Flying Dutchman" following a stormy sea crossing he made from Riga to London in July and August 1839, but in his 1843...
, and Wotan in Der Ring des Nibelungen
Der Ring des Nibelungen
Der Ring des Nibelungen is a cycle of four epic operas by the German composer Richard Wagner . The works are based loosely on characters from the Norse sagas and the Nibelungenlied...
. He made his debut with the Metropolitan Opera
Metropolitan Opera
The Metropolitan Opera is an opera company, located in New York City. Originally founded in 1880, the company gave its first performance on October 22, 1883. The company is operated by the non-profit Metropolitan Opera Association, with Peter Gelb as general manager...
in 1951 as Amonasro in Aida
Aida
Aida sometimes spelled Aïda, is an opera in four acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Antonio Ghislanzoni, based on a scenario written by French Egyptologist Auguste Mariette...
, and sang over 270 performances, both baritone and bass-baritone roles, in such operas as Le nozze di Figaro, The Magic Flute
The Magic Flute
The Magic Flute is an opera in two acts composed in 1791 by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart to a German libretto by Emanuel Schikaneder. The work is in the form of a Singspiel, a popular form that included both singing and spoken dialogue....
, Arabella
Arabella
Arabella is a lyric comedy or opera in 3 acts by Richard Strauss to a German libretto by Hugo von Hofmannsthal, their sixth and last operatic collaboration. It was first performed on 1 July 1933, at the Dresden Sächsisches Staatstheater....
, Tosca
Tosca
Tosca is an opera in three acts by Giacomo Puccini to an Italian libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa. It premiered at the Teatro Costanzi in Rome on 14 January 1900...
, Don Giovanni
Don Giovanni
Don Giovanni is an opera in two acts with music by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and with an Italian libretto by Lorenzo Da Ponte. It was premiered by the Prague Italian opera at the Teatro di Praga on October 29, 1787...
, Boris Godunov
Boris Godunov (opera)
Boris Godunov is an opera by Modest Mussorgsky . The work was composed between 1868 and 1873 in Saint Petersburg, Russia. It is Mussorgsky's only completed opera and is considered his masterpiece. Its subjects are the Russian ruler Boris Godunov, who reigned as Tsar during the Time of Troubles,...
, Carmen
Carmen
Carmen is a French opéra comique by Georges Bizet. The libretto is by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy, based on the novella of the same title by Prosper Mérimée, first published in 1845, itself possibly influenced by the narrative poem The Gypsies by Alexander Pushkin...
, Otello
Otello
Otello is an opera in four acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Arrigo Boito, based on Shakespeare's play Othello. It was Verdi's penultimate opera, and was first performed at the Teatro alla Scala, Milan, on February 5, 1887....
, Parsifal
Parsifal
Parsifal is an opera in three acts by Richard Wagner. It is loosely based on Wolfram von Eschenbach's Parzival, the 13th century epic poem of the Arthurian knight Parzival and his quest for the Holy Grail, and on Chrétien de Troyes' Perceval, the Story of the Grail.Wagner first conceived the work...
, Tannhäuser
Tannhäuser (opera)
Tannhäuser is an opera in three acts, music and text by Richard Wagner, based on the two German legends of Tannhäuser and the song contest at Wartburg...
, The Tales of Hoffman, Pelléas et Mélisande
Pelléas et Mélisande (opera)
Pelléas et Mélisande is an opera in five acts with music by Claude Debussy. The French libretto was adapted from Maurice Maeterlinck's Symbolist play Pelléas et Mélisande...
, and Faust
Faust (opera)
Faust is a drame lyrique in five acts by Charles Gounod to a French libretto by Jules Barbier and Michel Carré from Carré's play Faust et Marguerite, in turn loosely based on Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's Faust, Part 1...
. In 1964, he created the role of Abdul in the American premiere of Menotti's The Last Savage; Gabriel Bacquier had created it in Paris. He was the first American to sing the title role of Boris Godunov at the Bolshoi Theatre
Bolshoi Theatre
The Bolshoi Theatre is a historic theatre in Moscow, Russia, designed by architect Joseph Bové, which holds performances of ballet and opera. The Bolshoi Ballet and Bolshoi Opera are amongst the oldest and most renowned ballet and opera companies in the world...
in Moscow, at the height of the Cold War
Cold War
The Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...
in 1960.
He frequently performed in English: Broadway show tunes and "negro spirituals". Recordings of both are available.
He recorded the Verdi Requiem with Richard Tucker
Richard Tucker
Richard Tucker was an American operatic tenor.-Early life:Tucker was born Rivn Ticker in Brooklyn, New York, into a family of Romanian immigrants from Bessarabia. His father, Shmul Ticker, and mother Fanya-Tsipa Ticker had already adopted the surname "Tucker" by the time their son entered first...
and Lucine Amara
Lucine Amara
Lucine Amara is an American soprano who was largely based at the Metropolitan Opera in New York.-Biography:Amara was born Lucine Armaganian in Hartford, Connecticut, of Armenian heritage, before moving to San Francisco where she was raised.She studied at the San Francisco's Community Music School...
, under Eugene Ormandy
Eugene Ormandy
Eugene Ormandy was a Hungarian-born conductor and violinist.-Early life:Born Jenő Blau in Budapest, Hungary, Ormandy began studying violin at the Royal National Hungarian Academy of Music at the age of five...
.
During his Met career, in 1956, he appeared on Ed Sullivan
Ed Sullivan
Edward Vincent "Ed" Sullivan was an American entertainment writer and television host, best known as the presenter of the TV variety show The Ed Sullivan Show. The show was broadcast from 1948 to 1971 , which made it one of the longest-running variety shows in U.S...
's television program in an abridged version of Act II of Tosca, opposite Maria Callas
Maria Callas
Maria Callas was an American-born Greek soprano and one of the most renowned opera singers of the 20th century. She combined an impressive bel canto technique, a wide-ranging voice and great dramatic gifts...
, conducted by Dimitri Mitropoulos. A kinescope
Kinescope
Kinescope , shortened to kine , also known as telerecording in Britain, is a recording of a television program made by filming the picture from a video monitor...
of that performance was preserved. Another black-and-white videotape of him in the same role, opposite Renata Tebaldi
Renata Tebaldi
Renata Tebaldi was an Italian lirico-spinto soprano popular in the post-war period...
in a complete performance, is sometimes available. It was made late in his career and the paralysis of half his face is clearly visible.
He recorded many of his roles for RCA Victor, Columbia Records
Columbia Records
Columbia Records is an American record label, owned by Japan's Sony Music Entertainment, operating under the Columbia Music Group with Aware Records. It was founded in 1888, evolving from an earlier enterprise, the American Graphophone Company — successor to the Volta Graphophone Company...
, and Decca
Decca Records
Decca Records began as a British record label established in 1929 by Edward Lewis. Its U.S. label was established in late 1934; however, owing to World War II, the link with the British company was broken for several decades....
.
In 1958, London performed the leading role of Wotan, in the groundbreaking recording of Richard Wagner
Richard Wagner
Wilhelm Richard Wagner was a German composer, conductor, theatre director, philosopher, music theorist, poet, essayist and writer primarily known for his operas...
's opera Das Rheingold
Das Rheingold
is the first of the four operas that constitute Richard Wagner's Der Ring des Nibelungen . It was originally written as an introduction to the tripartite Ring, but the cycle is now generally regarded as consisting of four individual operas.Das Rheingold received its premiere at the National Theatre...
, conducted by Sir Georg Solti
Georg Solti
Sir Georg Solti, KBE, was a Hungarian-British orchestral and operatic conductor. He was a major classical recording artist, holding the record for having received the most Grammy Awards, having personally won 31 as a conductor, including the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. In addition to his...
, and produced by John Culshaw
John Culshaw
John Royds Culshaw OBE was a pioneering English classical record producer for Decca Records. He recorded a wide range of music, but is best known for masterminding the first studio recording of Wagner's Der Ring des Nibelungen, begun in 1958.Largely self-educated musically, Culshaw worked for...
for Decca
Decca Records
Decca Records began as a British record label established in 1929 by Edward Lewis. Its U.S. label was established in late 1934; however, owing to World War II, the link with the British company was broken for several decades....
.
He was preparing to unveil his Wotan for Bayreuth in the early 1960's by singing the"Rheingold" Wotan in a 1961 Cologne production supervised by Wieland Wagner.
A paralyzed vocal cord ended his singing career prematurely in 1967.
George London Foundation
In 1971, London established the George London Foundation for Singers, Inc., which gives grants to young opera singers early in their careers. $80,000 is given each year to the winners of an annual competition.Directing
In 1975, he directed the first Ring Cycle produced by Seattle OperaSeattle Opera
The Seattle Opera is an opera company located in Seattle, Washington. Founded in 1963 by Glynn Ross, who served as the company's first general director through 1983, Seattle Opera's season runs from August to late May, with five or six operas offered and with eight to ten performances each, often...
, creating its "Pacific Northwest Wagner Festival."
From 1975 until 1977 he was general director of the Washington Opera (later the Washington National Opera
Washington National Opera
The Washington National Opera is an opera company in Washington, D.C., USA. Formerly the Opera Society of Washington and the Washington Opera, the company received Congressional designation as the National Opera Company in 2000. Performances are now given in the Opera House of the John F...
).
Vocal signature
His voice was dark and powerful, larger-than-life, with penetrating high resonances. His musicianship and acting won him acclaim on three continents. He was tall and devilishly handsome.The immense talent of George London was celebrated twice before his death. In the Carnegie Hall Concert of 1981, introduced by Beverly Sills
Beverly Sills
Beverly Sills was an American operatic soprano whose peak career was between the 1950s and 1970s. In her prime she was the only real rival to Joan Sutherland as the leading bel canto stylist...
performances were given by a long list of colleagues. In Vienna, 1984, the world's greatest singers of that era assembled to honor this great artist.
Health issues
In 1977, a massive heart attack with brain damage left him half paralyzed. After the first heart attack, his health inexorably declined. A few years later, he managed to survive a second heart attack. On March 24, 1985, he died in Armonk, New YorkArmonk, New York
Armonk is a hamlet and census-designated place located in the town of North Castle in Westchester County, New York. As of the 2010 census, the CDP population was 4,330....
, after a third heart attack.