Neil Rosenshein
Encyclopedia
Neil Rosenshein is an American operatic tenor
, who sang leading tenor roles in the major American and European opera houses. He created the roles of Aspern in Dominick Argento
's The Aspern Papers and Léon in Corigliano
's The Ghosts of Versailles
.
, Covent Garden
(Lenski in Eugene Onegin, and Števa in Jenůfa), Paris Opéra
, Hamburg Opera, The Netherlands Opera, Teatro alla Scala, Santa Fe Opera
, Dallas Opera
(world premiere of The Aspern Papers), and the New Israeli Opera. He also sang with many of the great orchestras, under Leonard Bernstein
, Sir Colin Davis
, Seiji Ozawa
, James Levine
, Nikolaus Harnoncourt
, and Riccardo Muti
.
Rosenshein made his debut with the Metropolitan Opera
in 1987, as Alfredo Germont in La traviata, opposite Diana Soviero
and Sherrill Milnes
, conducted by Thomas Fulton
. He was also seen there in Die Fledermaus (as Alfred, conducted by Julius Rudel
), Salome (as Narraboth), Werther, Faust (with Soviero and James Morris, later Samuel Ramey
), the world premiere of The Ghosts of Versailles (with Teresa Stratas
, Gino Quilico
, and Marilyn Horne
), La traviata (conducted by Plácido Domingo
), Rusalka (as the Prince), Peter Grimes (conducted by James Conlon
), and Die Fledermaus (now as Eisenstein), which was his last performance with the company, in 1999.
The tenor's recordings include Bernstein's Songfest, Die Schöpfung, and Eugene Onegin (with Dame Kiri Te Kanawa
and Thomas Hampson, with Nicolai Gedda
as M.Triquet, conducted by Sir Charles Mackerras
, 1992). As of 1997, he is on the voice faculty of the Manhattan School of Music
.
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...
, who sang leading tenor roles in the major American and European opera houses. He created the roles of Aspern in Dominick Argento
Dominick Argento
Dominick Argento is an American composer, best known as a leading composer of lyric opera and choral music...
's The Aspern Papers and Léon in Corigliano
John Corigliano
John Corigliano is an American composer of classical music and a teacher of music. He is a distinguished professor of music at Lehman College in the City University of New York.-Biography:...
's The Ghosts of Versailles
The Ghosts of Versailles
The Ghosts of Versailles is an opera in two acts, with music by John Corigliano to an English libretto by William M. Hoffman. The Metropolitan Opera had commissioned the work from Corigliano in 1980 in celebration of its 100th anniversary, with the premiere scheduled for 1983...
.
Biography
Following studies in his native city, he made his debut as Count Almaviva in Il barbiere di Siviglia, with Florida Opera in 1972. Noted particularly for his musicianship and abilities as a singing-actor, he went on to appear with the Chicago Lyric Opera, San Francisco OperaSan 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...
, Covent Garden
Covent Garden
Covent Garden is a district in London on the eastern fringes of the West End, between St. Martin's Lane and Drury Lane. It is associated with the former fruit and vegetable market in the central square, now a popular shopping and tourist site, and the Royal Opera House, which is also known as...
(Lenski in Eugene Onegin, and Števa in Jenůfa), Paris Opéra
Paris Opera
The Paris Opera is the primary opera company of Paris, France. It was founded in 1669 by Louis XIV as the Académie d'Opéra and shortly thereafter was placed under the leadership of Jean-Baptiste Lully and renamed the Académie Royale de Musique...
, Hamburg Opera, The Netherlands Opera, Teatro alla Scala, Santa Fe Opera
Santa Fe Opera
The Santa Fe Opera is an American opera company, located north of Santa Fe in the U.S. state of New Mexico, headquartered on a former guest ranch of .-General history:...
, Dallas Opera
Dallas Opera
The Dallas Opera is an opera company located in Dallas, Texas . The company was founded in 1957 as the Dallas Civic Opera by Laurence Kelly and Nicolà Rescigno, both of whom had been active with the Lyric Opera of Chicago, the first as administrator, the second as artistic director.-The company's...
(world premiere of The Aspern Papers), and the New Israeli Opera. He also sang with many of the great orchestras, under Leonard Bernstein
Leonard Bernstein
Leonard Bernstein August 25, 1918 – October 14, 1990) was an American conductor, composer, author, music lecturer and pianist. He was among the first conductors born and educated in the United States of America to receive worldwide acclaim...
, Sir Colin Davis
Colin Davis
Sir Colin Rex Davis, CH, CBE is an English conductor. His repertoire is broad, but among the composers with whom he is particularly associated are Mozart, Berlioz, Elgar, Sibelius, Stravinsky and Tippett....
, Seiji Ozawa
Seiji Ozawa
is a Japanese conductor, particularly noted for his interpretations of large-scale late Romantic works. He is most known for his work as music director of the Boston Symphony Orchestra and principal conductor of the Vienna State Opera.-Early years:...
, James Levine
James Levine
James Lawrence Levine is an American conductor and pianist. He is currently the music director of the Metropolitan Opera and former music director of the Boston Symphony Orchestra. Levine's first performance conducting the Metropolitan Opera was on June 5, 1971, and as of May 2011 he has...
, Nikolaus Harnoncourt
Nikolaus Harnoncourt
Nikolaus Harnoncourt is an Austrian conductor, particularly known for his historically informed performances of music from the Classical era and earlier. Starting out as a classical cellist, he founded his own period instrument ensemble in the 1950s, and became a pioneer of the Early Music movement...
, and Riccardo Muti
Riccardo Muti
Riccardo Muti, Cavaliere di Gran Croce OMRI is an Italian conductor and music director of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.-Childhood and education:...
.
Rosenshein 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 1987, as Alfredo Germont in La traviata, opposite Diana Soviero
Diana Soviero
Diana Soviero is an American operatic soprano of international stature, a recipient of the Richard Tucker Award in 1979....
and Sherrill Milnes
Sherrill Milnes
Sherrill Milnes is an American operatic baritone most famous for his Verdi roles. From 1965 until 1997 he was associated with the Metropolitan Opera....
, conducted by Thomas Fulton
Thomas Fulton
Thomas Fulton , was an American conductor.Noted primarily for his work in opera, Fulton debuted at the Metropolitan Opera of New York City in 1979 and remained with the company until his death. He conducted 192 performances at the Met of over 20 operas in the Italian, French and German repertoires...
. He was also seen there in Die Fledermaus (as Alfred, conducted by Julius Rudel
Julius Rudel
Julius Rudel is an American opera and orchestra conductor who emigrated to the United States from Austria at the age of 17 and studied conducting at the Mannes College of Music in New York City. He then forged a 35-year career with the New York City Opera, from 1944 to 1979, and was the Music...
), Salome (as Narraboth), Werther, Faust (with Soviero and James Morris, later Samuel Ramey
Samuel Ramey
Samuel Edward Ramey is an American operatic bass with a long, distinguished career.During his best years, he was greatly admired for his range and versatility, having possessed a sufficiently accomplished bel canto technique to enable him to sing the music of Handel, Mozart, Rossini, yet power...
), the world premiere of The Ghosts of Versailles (with Teresa Stratas
Teresa Stratas
Teresa Stratas, OC , is a retired Canadian operatic soprano. She is especially well-known for her award-winning recording of Alban Berg's Lulu.-Early life and career:...
, Gino Quilico
Gino Quilico
Gino Quilico, OC is a Canadian lyric baritone of Italian descent and the son of Canadian baritone Louis Quilico and Lina Pizzolongo.-Early life:...
, and Marilyn Horne
Marilyn Horne
Marilyn Horne is an American mezzo-soprano opera singer. She specialized in roles requiring a large sound, beauty of tone, excellent breath support, and the ability to execute difficult coloratura passages....
), La traviata (conducted by Plácido Domingo
Plácido Domingo
Plácido Domingo KBE , born José Plácido Domingo Embil, is a Spanish tenor and conductor known for his versatile and strong voice, possessing a ringing and dramatic tone throughout its range...
), Rusalka (as the Prince), Peter Grimes (conducted by James Conlon
James Conlon
James Conlon is an American conductor and the current Music Director of the Los Angeles Opera.-Early years:Conlon grew up in a family of five children on Cherry Street in Douglaston, Queens, New York. His mother, Angeline L. Conlon, was a freelance writer. His father was an assistant to the New...
), and Die Fledermaus (now as Eisenstein), which was his last performance with the company, in 1999.
The tenor's recordings include Bernstein's Songfest, Die Schöpfung, and Eugene Onegin (with Dame Kiri Te Kanawa
Kiri Te Kanawa
Dame Kiri Jeanette Te Kanawa, ONZ, DBE, AC is a New Zealand / Māori soprano who has had a highly successful international opera career since 1968. Acclaimed as one of the most beloved sopranos in both the United States and Britain she possesses a warm full lyric soprano voice, singing a wide array...
and Thomas Hampson, with Nicolai Gedda
Nicolai Gedda
Nicolai Gedda is a Swedish operatic tenor. Having made some two hundred recordings, Gedda is said to be the most widely recorded tenor in history...
as M.Triquet, conducted by Sir Charles Mackerras
Charles Mackerras
Sir Alan Charles Maclaurin Mackerras, AC, CH, CBE was an Australian conductor. He was an authority on the operas of Janáček and Mozart, and the comic operas of Gilbert and Sullivan...
, 1992). As of 1997, he is on the voice faculty of 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...
.
Videography
- Verdi: La traviata [as Gastone] (Sills, H.Price, Fredricks; Rudel, Capobianco, 1976) [live]
- Stravinsky: Œdipus rex (Palmer; Haitink, Wich, 1984) [live]
- Corigliano: The Ghosts of Versailles [as Léon] (Stratas, Horne, Hagegård, G.Quilico; Levine, Graham, 1992) [live]
Sources
- Cummings, Favid (ed). "Rosenshein, Neil", International Who's Who in Classical Music 2003. Routledge, 2003, p. 673. ISBN 185743174X
- Holland, Bernard, "In Dallas, a Turn on James's 'Aspern Papers'", New York Times (November 21, 1988)
- Metropolitan OperaMetropolitan OperaThe 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...
. http://archives.metoperafamily.org/archives/scripts/cgiip.exe/WService=BibSpeed/gisrch2k.r?Term=Rosenshein,%20Neil%20%5BTenor%5D&limit=5000&vsrchtype=no&xBranch=ALL&xmtype=&Start=&End=&theterm=%52os%65nsh%65in,%20N%65il%20%5B%54%65no%72%5D&srt=&x=0&xHome=http://archives.metoperafamily.org/archives/bibpro.htm&xHomePath=http://archives.metoperafamily.org/archives/Performance archives: Rosenshein, Neil (Tenor)]. MetOpera Database. - Slonimsky, Nicolas and Kuhn, Laura Diane. "Rosenshein, Neil", Baker's Biographical Dictionary of Musicians Volume 6. Schirmer Books, 2001. ISBN 0028655710