William Pell
Encyclopedia
William Pell was an American opera
singer who had a major international career during the 1980s and 1990s. He began his career as a baritone
in the early 1970s before transitioning into the dramatic tenor
repertoire in 1975. He was particularly admired for his interpretations of the works of Richard Wagner
.
, Pell studied at the Peabody Conservatory (1965-1967) and the Jacobs School of Music
at Indiana University
(1967-1970). While at IU he performed in student productions of Andrea Chénier
(Roucher), Deidamia
(Fenice), L'italiana in Algeri
(Haly), and Love on Trial (Count Asdrubale). After graduating, he pursued graduate studies at the Manhattan School of Music
. While studying at the Manhattan School of Music in the mid-1970s, Pell sang as a baritone with the professional choir of nearby Riverside Church
, under the direction of Frederick Swann
.
's The Marriage of Figaro
with the Canadian Opera Company
and Germont in Giuseppe Verdi
's La Traviata
in San Francisco. In 1975 he made his first foray into the tenor repertoire with a portrayal of Rodolfo in in Giacomo Puccini
's La bohème
. In 1977 he became an Affiliate Artist at San Francisco Opera
where he sang the role of the officer in Richard Strauss
's Ariadne auf Naxos
and Procolo in Gaetano Donizetti
's Le convenienze ed inconvenienze teatrali
.
In the late 1970s he went to Europe where his career thrived. From 1982-1989 he was a principal tenor at the Deutsche Oper Berlin
where he was much admired in Wagner roles. He notably starred in the world premiere of Wolfgang Rihm
's Oedipus on October 4, 1987. He also performed with the company in performances of Rudolf Kelterborn
's Ophelia at the Schwetzingen Festival
. He had two major triumphs with the company in 1988 as Siegfried in The Ring Cycle and Váňa Kudrjáš in Leoš Janáček
's Káťa Kabanová
.
Pell was also highly active as a guest artist with opera companies on the international stage. In 1980 he returned to the Canadian Opera Company to sing Laca Klemeň in Janáček's Jenůfa
and in 1981 he returned to the San Francisco Opera to portray Romeo in Charles Gounod
's Roméo et Juliette
. At Oper Frankfurt he sang in the world premiere of Hans Zender
's Stephen Climax on April 16, 1986. He had a major triumph at the Festival dei Due Mondi
in the title role of Wagner's Parsifal
in 1987, returning there the following year to sing Laca Klemeň. In 1988 he was an admired Bacchus in Ariadne auf Naxos at the Teatro Lirico Giuseppe Verdi in Trieste and gave successful performances of Alwa in Alban Berg
's Lulu
at the Teatro Carlo Felice
and Staatsoper Hannover
.
Pell gave several performances at the Bayreuth Festival
where he was heard as Parsifal (1989) and as Walther in Tannhäuser
(1989-1991). In 1990 he sang Florestan in Ludwig van Beethoven
's Fidelio
in Trieste and returned to Frankfurt to perform in York Höller
's The Master and Margarita. He also made several guest appearances at the De Nederlandse Opera
, Staatsoper Stuttgart
, La Fenice
, and the Teatro dell'Opera di Roma
during his career.
Having never retired, Pell died in Nashville, Tennessee
in 2003 at the age of 55. Other roles in his extensive repertoire included Desportes in Bernd Alois Zimmermann
's Die Soldaten
, Jean in Antonio Bibalo
's Miss Julie, Matteo in Strauss's Arabella
, and Zinoviy Borisovich Izmailov in Dmitri Shostakovich
's Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District
. His voice is preserved on a complete opera recording of Tannhäuser made in 1988 under the direction of Giuseppe Sinopoli
.
Opera
Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...
singer who had a major international career during the 1980s and 1990s. He began his career as a baritone
Baritone
Baritone is a type of male singing voice that lies between the bass and tenor voices. It is the most common male voice. Originally from the Greek , meaning deep sounding, music for this voice is typically written in the range from the second F below middle C to the F above middle C Baritone (or...
in the early 1970s before transitioning into the dramatic tenor
Tenor
The tenor is a type of male singing voice and is the highest male voice within the modal register. The typical tenor voice lies between C3, the C one octave below middle C, to the A above middle C in choral music, and up to high C in solo work. The low extreme for tenors is roughly B2...
repertoire in 1975. He was particularly admired for his interpretations of the works 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...
.
Early years
Born in Denver, ColoradoColorado
Colorado is a U.S. state that encompasses much of the Rocky Mountains as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the Great Plains...
, Pell studied at the Peabody Conservatory (1965-1967) and the Jacobs School of Music
Jacobs School of Music
The Jacobs School of Music of Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana, is a music conservatory established in 1921. Until 2005, it was known as the Indiana University School of Music...
at Indiana University
Indiana University
Indiana University is a multi-campus public university system in the state of Indiana, United States. Indiana University has a combined student body of more than 100,000 students, including approximately 42,000 students enrolled at the Indiana University Bloomington campus and approximately 37,000...
(1967-1970). While at IU he performed in student productions of Andrea Chénier
Andrea Chénier
Andrea Chénier is a verismo opera in four acts by the composer Umberto Giordano, set to an Italian libretto by Luigi Illica. It is based loosely on the life of the French poet, André Chénier , who was executed during the French Revolution....
(Roucher), Deidamia
Deidamia (opera)
Deidamia was George Frideric Handel's last Italian opera. The Italian text was by Paolo Antonio Rolli.-Performance history:The opera was first performed on 10 January 1741 at Lincoln's Inn Fields Theatre, London. The opera received only three performances, at a time when the public was becoming...
(Fenice), L'italiana in Algeri
L'italiana in Algeri
L'italiana in Algeri is an operatic dramma giocoso in two acts by Gioachino Rossini to an Italian libretto by Angelo Anelli, based on his earlier text set by Luigi Mosca...
(Haly), and Love on Trial (Count Asdrubale). After graduating, he pursued graduate studies at the Manhattan School of Music
Manhattan School of Music
The Manhattan School of Music is a major music conservatory located on the Upper West Side of New York City. The school offers degrees on the bachelors, masters, and doctoral levels in the areas of classical and jazz performance and composition...
. While studying at the Manhattan School of Music in the mid-1970s, Pell sang as a baritone with the professional choir of nearby Riverside Church
Riverside Church
The Riverside Church in the City of New York is an interdenominational church in New York City, famous for its elaborate Neo-Gothic architecture—which includes the world's largest tuned carillon bell...
, under the direction of Frederick Swann
Frederick Swann
Frederick L. Swann is a prominent American church and concert organist, recording artist, choral conductor, and former president of the American Guild of Organists . During his career spanning more than a half-century, he has performed on most of the well-known pipe organs in the world and made...
.
Career in opera
Pell began performing in professional operas with mostly secondary houses throughout North America during the early 1970s as a baritone. He notably sang Figaro in Wolfgang Amadeus MozartWolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart , baptismal name Johannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart , was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical era. He composed over 600 works, many acknowledged as pinnacles of symphonic, concertante, chamber, piano, operatic, and choral music...
's The Marriage of Figaro
The Marriage of Figaro
Le nozze di Figaro, ossia la folle giornata , K. 492, is an opera buffa composed in 1786 in four acts by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, with Italian libretto by Lorenzo Da Ponte, based on a stage comedy by Pierre Beaumarchais, La folle journée, ou le Mariage de Figaro .Although the play by...
with the Canadian Opera Company
Canadian Opera Company
The Canadian Opera Company is an opera company in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is the largest opera company in Canada and the third largest producer of opera in North America. The COC performs in its own opera house, the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts.-History:For 40 years until...
and Germont in Giuseppe Verdi
Giuseppe Verdi
Giuseppe Fortunino Francesco Verdi was an Italian Romantic composer, mainly of opera. He was one of the most influential composers of the 19th century...
's La Traviata
La traviata
La traviata is an opera in three acts by Giuseppe Verdi set to an Italian libretto by Francesco Maria Piave. It is based on La dame aux Camélias , a play adapted from the novel by Alexandre Dumas, fils. The title La traviata means literally The Fallen Woman, or perhaps more figuratively, The Woman...
in San Francisco. In 1975 he made his first foray into the tenor repertoire with a portrayal of Rodolfo in in Giacomo Puccini
Giacomo Puccini
Giacomo Antonio Domenico Michele Secondo Maria Puccini was an Italian composer whose operas, including La bohème, Tosca, Madama Butterfly, and Turandot, are among the most frequently performed in the standard repertoire...
's La bohème
La bohème
La bohème is an opera in four acts,Puccini called the divisions quadro, a tableau or "image", rather than atto . by Giacomo Puccini to an Italian libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa, based on Scènes de la vie de bohème by Henri Murger...
. In 1977 he became an Affiliate Artist at San Francisco Opera
San Francisco Opera
San Francisco Opera is an American opera company, based in San Francisco, California.It was founded in 1923 by Gaetano Merola and is the second largest opera company in North America...
where he sang the role of the officer in Richard Strauss
Richard Strauss
Richard Georg Strauss was a leading German composer of the late Romantic and early modern eras. He is known for his operas, which include Der Rosenkavalier and Salome; his Lieder, especially his Four Last Songs; and his tone poems and orchestral works, such as Death and Transfiguration, Till...
's Ariadne auf Naxos
Ariadne auf Naxos
Ariadne auf Naxos is an opera by Richard Strauss with a German libretto by Hugo von Hofmannsthal. Bringing together slapstick comedy and consuming beautiful music, the opera's theme is the competition between high and low art for the public's attention.- First version :The opera was originally...
and Procolo in Gaetano Donizetti
Gaetano Donizetti
Domenico Gaetano Maria Donizetti was an Italian composer from Bergamo, Lombardy. His best-known works are the operas L'elisir d'amore , Lucia di Lammermoor , and Don Pasquale , all in Italian, and the French operas La favorite and La fille du régiment...
's Le convenienze ed inconvenienze teatrali
Le convenienze ed inconvenienze teatrali
Le convenienze ed inconvenienze teatrali , also known as Viva la mamma, is a dramma giocoso, or opera, in two acts by Gaetano Donizetti...
.
In the late 1970s he went to Europe where his career thrived. From 1982-1989 he was a principal tenor at the Deutsche Oper Berlin
Deutsche Oper Berlin
The Deutsche Oper Berlin is an opera company located in the Charlottenburg district of Berlin, Germany. The resident building is also home to the Berlin State Ballet.-History:...
where he was much admired in Wagner roles. He notably starred in the world premiere of Wolfgang Rihm
Wolfgang Rihm
Wolfgang Rihm is a German composer.Rihm is Head of the Institute of Modern Music at the Karlsruhe Conservatory of Music and has been composer in residence at the Lucerne Festival and the Salzburg Festival...
's Oedipus on October 4, 1987. He also performed with the company in performances of Rudolf Kelterborn
Rudolf Kelterborn
Rudolf Kelterborn is a Swiss musician and composer.-Life:Kelterborn studied in Basel, Detmold, Salzburg, and Zürich, among other places, with the composers Walther Geiser, Willy Burkhard, Boris Blacher, Günter Bialas, and Wolfgang Fortner...
's Ophelia at the Schwetzingen Festival
Schwetzingen Festival
The Schwetzingen Festival is an early summer festival of opera and other classical music presented each year from May to early June in Schwetzingen, Germany....
. He had two major triumphs with the company in 1988 as Siegfried in The Ring Cycle and Váňa Kudrjáš in Leoš Janáček
Leoš Janácek
Leoš Janáček was a Czech composer, musical theorist, folklorist, publicist and teacher. He was inspired by Moravian and all Slavic folk music to create an original, modern musical style. Until 1895 he devoted himself mainly to folkloristic research and his early musical output was influenced by...
's Káťa Kabanová
Káta Kabanová
Káťa Kabanová is an opera in three acts, with music by Leoš Janáček to a libretto by Vincenc Červinka, based on The Storm, a play by Alexander Ostrovsky. The opera was also largely inspired by Janáček's love for Kamila Stösslová...
.
Pell was also highly active as a guest artist with opera companies on the international stage. In 1980 he returned to the Canadian Opera Company to sing Laca Klemeň in Janáček's Jenůfa
Jenufa
Jenůfa is an opera in three acts by Leoš Janáček to a Czech libretto by the composer, based on the play Její pastorkyňa by Gabriela Preissová. It was first performed at the Brno Theater, Brno, 21 January 1904...
and in 1981 he returned to the San Francisco Opera to portray Romeo in Charles Gounod
Charles Gounod
Charles-François Gounod was a French composer, known for his Ave Maria as well as his operas Faust and Roméo et Juliette.-Biography:...
's Roméo et Juliette
Roméo et Juliette
Roméo et Juliette is an opéra in five acts by Charles Gounod to a French libretto by Jules Barbier and Michel Carré, based on The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare. It was first performed at the Théâtre Lyrique , Paris on 27 April 1867...
. At Oper Frankfurt he sang in the world premiere of Hans Zender
Hans Zender
Johannes Wolfgang Zender is a German conductor and composer.-Life:From 1956 to 1959 Zender studied piano, conducting, and composition at the Hochschule für Musik Frankfurt and at the Hochschule für Musik Freiburg.From 1959 to 1963 he was Kapellmeister of the Municipal Theatres in Freiburg im...
's Stephen Climax on April 16, 1986. He had a major triumph at the Festival dei Due Mondi
Festival dei Due Mondi
The Festival dei Due Mondi ' is an annual summer music and opera festival held each June to early July in Spoleto, Italy, since its founding by composer Gian Carlo Menotti in 1958...
in the title role of Wagner's 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...
in 1987, returning there the following year to sing Laca Klemeň. In 1988 he was an admired Bacchus in Ariadne auf Naxos at the Teatro Lirico Giuseppe Verdi in Trieste and gave successful performances of Alwa in Alban Berg
Alban Berg
Alban Maria Johannes Berg was an Austrian composer. He was a member of the Second Viennese School with Arnold Schoenberg and Anton Webern, and produced compositions that combined Mahlerian Romanticism with a personal adaptation of Schoenberg's twelve-tone technique.-Early life:Berg was born in...
's Lulu
Lulu (opera)
Lulu is an opera by the composer Alban Berg. The libretto was adapted by Berg himself from Frank Wedekind's plays Erdgeist and Die Büchse der Pandora .-Composition history:...
at the Teatro Carlo Felice
Teatro Carlo Felice
The Teatro Carlo Felice is the principal opera house of Genoa, Italy, used for performances of opera, ballet, orchestral music, and recitals. It is located on the Piazza De Ferrari....
and Staatsoper Hannover
Staatsoper Hannover
Staatsoper Hannover is an opera house and opera company in Hanover. It is one of the leading opera companies in Germany.During the course of its season from September to June, Staatsoper Hannover mounts productions of a variety of operas from the standard operatic repertoire as well as 20th century...
.
Pell gave several performances at the Bayreuth Festival
Bayreuth Festival
The Bayreuth Festival is a music festival held annually in Bayreuth, Germany, at which performances of operas by the 19th century German composer Richard Wagner are presented...
where he was heard as Parsifal (1989) and as Walther in 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...
(1989-1991). In 1990 he sang Florestan in Ludwig van Beethoven
Ludwig van Beethoven
Ludwig van Beethoven was a German composer and pianist. A crucial figure in the transition between the Classical and Romantic eras in Western art music, he remains one of the most famous and influential composers of all time.Born in Bonn, then the capital of the Electorate of Cologne and part of...
's Fidelio
Fidelio
Fidelio is a German opera in two acts by Ludwig van Beethoven. It is Beethoven's only opera. The German libretto is by Joseph Sonnleithner from the French of Jean-Nicolas Bouilly which had been used for the 1798 opera Léonore, ou L’amour conjugal by Pierre Gaveaux, and for the 1804 opera Leonora...
in Trieste and returned to Frankfurt to perform in York Höller
York Höller
York Höller is a German composer and Professor of composition at the Hochschule für Musik Köln.-Biography:Between 1963 and 1970 Höller studied at the Cologne Musikhochschule: composition with Joachim Blume and Bernd Alois Zimmermann, piano with Else Schmitz-Gohrand Alfons Kontarsky, and orchestral...
's The Master and Margarita. He also made several guest appearances at the De Nederlandse Opera
De Nederlandse Opera
De Nederlandse Opera , in Amsterdam, is a Dutch opera company based in Amsterdam, Netherlands. Its present home base is the Het Muziektheater, a modern building designed by Cees Dam which opened in 1986....
, Staatsoper Stuttgart
Staatsoper Stuttgart
The Staatsoper Stuttgart is a German opera company based in Stuttgart, Germany.-History:The Stuttgart Staatsoper forms part of the Stuttgart State Theatre , which is a a three-branch-theatre complex and represents the largest theatre of its kind in Europe...
, La Fenice
La Fenice
Teatro La Fenice is an opera house in Venice, Italy. It is one of the most famous theatres in Europe, the site of many famous operatic premieres. Its name reflects its role in permitting an opera company to "rise from the ashes" despite losing the use of two theatres...
, and the Teatro dell'Opera di Roma
Teatro dell'Opera di Roma
The Teatro dell'Opera di Roma is an opera house in Rome, Italy. Originally opened in November 1880 as the 2,212 seat Costanzi Theatre, it has undergone several changes of name as well modifications and improvements...
during his career.
Having never retired, Pell died in Nashville, Tennessee
Tennessee
Tennessee is a U.S. state located in the Southeastern United States. It has a population of 6,346,105, making it the nation's 17th-largest state by population, and covers , making it the 36th-largest by total land area...
in 2003 at the age of 55. Other roles in his extensive repertoire included Desportes in Bernd Alois Zimmermann
Bernd Alois Zimmermann
Bernd Alois Zimmermann was a post-WWII West German composer. He is perhaps best known for his opera Die Soldaten which is regarded as one of the most important operas of the 20th century...
's Die Soldaten
Die Soldaten
Die Soldaten is a four act opera in German by German composer Bernd Alois Zimmermann, based on the 1776 play by Jakob Michael Reinhold Lenz. It is dedicated to Hans Rosbaud. Zimmermann himself faithfully adapted the play into the libretto, the only changes to the text being repeats and small cuts...
, Jean in Antonio Bibalo
Antonio Bibalo
Antonio Gino Bibalo was an Italian-Norwegian pianist and composer of contemporary classical music, primarily operas.-Biography:...
's Miss Julie, Matteo in Strauss's 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....
, and Zinoviy Borisovich Izmailov in Dmitri Shostakovich
Dmitri Shostakovich
Dmitri Dmitriyevich Shostakovich was a Soviet Russian composer and one of the most celebrated composers of the 20th century....
's Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District
Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District (opera)
Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District is an opera in four acts by Dmitri Shostakovich, his Op.29. The libretto was written by Alexander Preis and the composer, and is based on the story Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk District by Nikolai Leskov. The opera is sometimes referred to informally as Lady Macbeth...
. His voice is preserved on a complete opera recording of Tannhäuser made in 1988 under the direction of Giuseppe Sinopoli
Giuseppe Sinopoli
-Biography:Sinopoli was born in Venice, Italy, and later studied at the Benedetto Marcello Conservatory in Venice under Ernesto Rubin de Cervin and at Darmstadt, including being mentored in composition with Karlheinz Stockhausen...
.