Peter Sliker
Encyclopedia
Peter Sliker was an American opera
tic bass-baritone
who had a lengthy career performing at the Metropolitan Opera
from 1961 through 1989. He specialized in portraying comprimario
roles and was admired for his comic timing. He has appeared on several Live from the Metropolitan Opera broadcasts and Metropolitan Opera radio broadcasts
.
to Harry and Ella Sliker, Sliker started studying music at a young age and began singing on local radio programs at the age of 7. After graduating from Henry Snyder High School
, he enlisted in the United States Navy
in 1942. He spent the majority of World War II
serving in the Mumansk Run in the Northern part of the Atlantic Ocean. After the war, he took a job as a purser
for the United States Lines
shipping company; notably serving on the SS United States
when it captured the trans-Atlantic speed record on 4 July 1952. In 1948 he married Myra Warren whom he later divorced.
While working for the United States Line, Sliker pursued university studies; first at Rutgers University
and then Harvard University
where he graduated Phi Beta Kappa with a bachelor's degree in languages in 1950. He concurrently studied music at the New England Conservatory where he graduated with a bachelors degree in vocal performance in 1951. He then lived in Cuba for a year to study languages further, by this time already having mastered six languages.
in a sold out concert of Bach
chamber music
where he performed cantata Tritt auf die Glaubensbahn, BWV 152 under the baton of Václav Nelhýbel
. He returned to the recital hall at that concert house for his New York City recital debut on March 7, 1959 where he performed a program of Bach, Joseph Haydn
, and Johann Rosenmüller
works. The New York Times
music critic John Briggs wrote of his performance:
In 1959 Sliker joined the roster of singers at the New York City Opera
where he appeared in a number of comprimario
roles through 1961. He notably portrayed one of the Seven Deadly Sins in the world premiere of Hugo Weisgall
's Six Characters in Search of an Author
on April 26, 1959 and sang in the 1959 production and cast recording of Douglas Moore's The Ballad of Baby Doe
with Beverly Sills
in the title role. In 1960 Sliker was a soloist in a performance of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
's Litaniae de venerabili altaris sacramento with the Boston Symphony Orchestra
under conductor Hugh Ross
at the Tanglewood Music Festival
.
In 1961 Sliker was invited by Rudolf Bing to join the roster of singers at the Metropolitan Opera
. He made his debut with the company on November 29, 1961 as one of the noblemen in Richard Wagner
's Lohengrin
with Sándor Kónya
in the title role, Ingrid Bjoner
as Elsa, Margaret Harshaw
as Ortrud, Randolph Symonette as Telramund, Jerome Hines
as King Heinrich, and Joseph Rosenstock
conducting. He appeared annually at the Met through 1989 in a large number of character roles, including Ambrogio in The Barber of Seville
, a Croupier in Manon
, Forester in Don Carlo, the Gardener in La traviata
, the Guard in Rigoletto
, Handsome in La Fanciulla del West
, Jankel in Arabella
, a Lackey in Der Rosenkavalier
, the Sergeant in La Bohème
, the Steersman in La Gioconda
, and a Villager in Pagliacci
. On September 16, 1966 he appeared as the Sentinel in the world premiere of Samuel Barber
's Antony and Cleopatra
for the opening of the new Metropolitan Opera House
with Leontyne Price
as Cleopatra and Justino Díaz
as Anthony. On March 18, 1977 he sang the role of the Physician in the Met's first staging of Alban Berg
's Lulu
with Carole Farley
in the title role. His final and 509th Met appearance was as Guccio in Puccini's Gianni Schicchi
on December 16, 1989 with Bruno Pola in the title role, Hei-Kyung Hong
as Lauretta, and James Levine
conducting.
at the Waterford retirement community. His last public performance was in Helena during the mid 1990s when he performed for a benefit concert at the Myrna Loy Center for the Performing and Media Arts. He died at the age of 86 in Helena and is buried at the Lower Valley Union Cemetery in Califon, New Jersey
.
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...
tic 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...
who had a lengthy career performing at 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...
from 1961 through 1989. He specialized in portraying comprimario
Comprimario
A Comprimario is a supporting role in an opera. Derived from the Italian "con primario", or "with the primary", the term refers to a performer who sings small role pieces....
roles and was admired for his comic timing. He has appeared on several Live from the Metropolitan Opera broadcasts and Metropolitan Opera radio broadcasts
Metropolitan Opera radio broadcasts
The Metropolitan Opera radio broadcasts are a regular series of weekly broadcasts on network radio of full-length opera performances. They are transmitted live from the stage of the Metropolitan Opera in New York City...
.
Early life and education
Born in Jersey City, New JerseyJersey City, New Jersey
Jersey City is the seat of Hudson County, New Jersey, United States.Part of the New York metropolitan area, Jersey City lies between the Hudson River and Upper New York Bay across from Lower Manhattan and the Hackensack River and Newark Bay...
to Harry and Ella Sliker, Sliker started studying music at a young age and began singing on local radio programs at the age of 7. After graduating from Henry Snyder High School
Henry Snyder High School
Henry Snyder High School is a four-year performing arts public high school located in the Greenville section of Jersey City, New Jersey, United States, operating as part of the Jersey City Public Schools...
, he enlisted in the United States Navy
United States Navy
The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...
in 1942. He spent the majority of World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
serving in the Mumansk Run in the Northern part of the Atlantic Ocean. After the war, he took a job as a purser
Purser
The purser joined the warrant officer ranks of the Royal Navy in the early fourteenth century and existed as a Naval rank until 1852. The development of the warrant officer system began in 1040 when five English ports began furnishing warships to King Edward the Confessor in exchange for certain...
for the United States Lines
United States Lines
United States Lines was a transatlantic shipping company that operated cargo services from 1921 to 1989, and ocean liners until 1969—most famously the SS United States.-1920s:...
shipping company; notably serving on the SS United States
SS United States
SS United States is a luxury passenger liner built in 1952 for the United States Lines designed to capture the trans-Atlantic speed record....
when it captured the trans-Atlantic speed record on 4 July 1952. In 1948 he married Myra Warren whom he later divorced.
While working for the United States Line, Sliker pursued university studies; first at Rutgers University
Rutgers University
Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey , is the largest institution for higher education in New Jersey, United States. It was originally chartered as Queen's College in 1766. It is the eighth-oldest college in the United States and one of the nine Colonial colleges founded before the American...
and then Harvard University
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
where he graduated Phi Beta Kappa with a bachelor's degree in languages in 1950. He concurrently studied music at the New England Conservatory where he graduated with a bachelors degree in vocal performance in 1951. He then lived in Cuba for a year to study languages further, by this time already having mastered six languages.
Singing career
In 1958 Sliker made his debut at Carnegie HallCarnegie Hall
Carnegie Hall is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City, United States, located at 881 Seventh Avenue, occupying the east stretch of Seventh Avenue between West 56th Street and West 57th Street, two blocks south of Central Park....
in a sold out concert of Bach
Johann Sebastian Bach
Johann Sebastian Bach was a German composer, organist, harpsichordist, violist, and violinist whose sacred and secular works for choir, orchestra, and solo instruments drew together the strands of the Baroque period and brought it to its ultimate maturity...
chamber music
Chamber music
Chamber music is a form of classical music, written for a small group of instruments which traditionally could be accommodated in a palace chamber. Most broadly, it includes any art music that is performed by a small number of performers with one performer to a part...
where he performed cantata Tritt auf die Glaubensbahn, BWV 152 under the baton of Václav Nelhýbel
Václav Nelhýbel
Václav Nelhýbel was a Czech-American composer, mainly of works for student performers. He is considered one of the most prolific composers of the 20th century....
. He returned to the recital hall at that concert house for his New York City recital debut on March 7, 1959 where he performed a program of Bach, Joseph Haydn
Joseph Haydn
Franz Joseph Haydn , known as Joseph Haydn , was an Austrian composer, one of the most prolific and prominent composers of the Classical period. He is often called the "Father of the Symphony" and "Father of the String Quartet" because of his important contributions to these forms...
, and Johann Rosenmüller
Johann Rosenmüller
Johann Rosenmüller , was a German Baroque composer, who played a part in transmitting Italian musical styles to the north....
works. The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
music critic John Briggs wrote of his performance:
"Mr. Sliker revealed a resonant voice of good range and power, well in focus most of the time, smoothly and expressively handled, and with sufficient agility to negotiate the florid passages of the baroque music he performed. He made it evident that he is a performer with imagination, who understood quite well what the music on his program was about, and showed considerable skill in communicating it to his audience."
In 1959 Sliker joined the roster of singers at the New York City Opera
New York City Opera
The New York City Opera is an American opera company located in New York City.The company, called "the people's opera" by New York Mayor Fiorello La Guardia, was founded in 1943 with the aim of making opera financially accessible to a wide audience, producing an innovative choice of repertory, and...
where he appeared in a number of comprimario
Comprimario
A Comprimario is a supporting role in an opera. Derived from the Italian "con primario", or "with the primary", the term refers to a performer who sings small role pieces....
roles through 1961. He notably portrayed one of the Seven Deadly Sins in the world premiere of Hugo Weisgall
Hugo Weisgall
Hugo David Weisgall was an American composer and conductor, known chiefly for his opera and vocal music compositions...
's Six Characters in Search of an Author
Six Characters in Search of an Author (opera)
Six Characters in Search of an Author is an opera in three acts by composer Hugo Weisgall. The work uses an English libretto by Denis Johnston that is based on the play of the same name by Luigi Pirandello. The opera was commissioned by the New York City Opera under the leadership Julius Rudel...
on April 26, 1959 and sang in the 1959 production and cast recording of Douglas Moore's The Ballad of Baby Doe
The Ballad of Baby Doe
The Ballad of Baby Doe is an opera by the American composer Douglas Moore that uses an English-language libretto by John Latouche. It is Moore's most famous opera and one of the few American operas to be in the standard repertory...
with 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...
in the title role. In 1960 Sliker was a soloist in a performance of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Wolfgang 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 Litaniae de venerabili altaris sacramento with the Boston Symphony Orchestra
Boston Symphony Orchestra
The Boston Symphony Orchestra is an orchestra based in Boston, Massachusetts. It is one of the five American orchestras commonly referred to as the "Big Five". Founded in 1881, the BSO plays most of its concerts at Boston's Symphony Hall and in the summer performs at the Tanglewood Music Center...
under conductor Hugh Ross
Hugh Ross (musician)
Hugh C. M. Ross , was a choral director and conductor of the Schola Cantorum of New York....
at the Tanglewood Music Festival
Tanglewood Music Festival
The Tanglewood Music Festival is a music festival held every summer on the Tanglewood estate in Lenox, Massachusetts in the Berkshire Hills in western Massachusetts....
.
In 1961 Sliker was invited by Rudolf Bing to join the roster of singers at 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...
. He made his debut with the company on November 29, 1961 as one of the noblemen in 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 Lohengrin
Lohengrin (opera)
Lohengrin is a romantic opera in three acts composed and written by Richard Wagner, first performed in 1850. The story of the eponymous character is taken from medieval German romance, notably the Parzival of Wolfram von Eschenbach and its sequel, Lohengrin, written by a different author, itself...
with Sándor Kónya
Sándor Kónya
Sándor Kónya was an Hungarian tenor, particularly associated with German and Italianroles, especially Lohengrin and Calaf.- Biography :...
in the title role, Ingrid Bjoner
Ingrid Bjoner
Ingrid Kristine Bjoner Pierpoint was a Norwegian soprano who had a prolific international opera career between 1956 and 1990. She was particularly celebrated for her portrayal of Wagnerian heroines and for her performances in operas by Richard Strauss...
as Elsa, Margaret Harshaw
Margaret Harshaw
Margaret Harshaw was an American opera singer and voice teacher who sang for 22 consecutive seasons at the Metropolitan Opera from November 1942 to March 1964. She began her career as a mezzo-soprano in the early 1930s but then began performing roles from the soprano repertoire in 1951...
as Ortrud, Randolph Symonette as Telramund, Jerome Hines
Jerome Hines
The American Jerome A. Hines was a basso opera singer who performed at the Metropolitan Opera from 1946 to 1987...
as King Heinrich, and Joseph Rosenstock
Joseph Rosenstock
Joseph Rosenstock was a Polish Jewish conductor.-Early years:He worked at the State Opera in Wiesbaden before being brought into the Metropolitan Opera in New York to replace Artur Bodanzky in 1928...
conducting. He appeared annually at the Met through 1989 in a large number of character roles, including Ambrogio in The Barber of Seville
The Barber of Seville
The Barber of Seville, or The Futile Precaution is an opera buffa in two acts by Gioachino Rossini with a libretto by Cesare Sterbini. The libretto was based on Pierre Beaumarchais's comedy Le Barbier de Séville , which was originally an opéra comique, or a mixture of spoken play with music...
, a Croupier in Manon
Manon
Manon is an opéra comique in five acts by Jules Massenet to a French libretto by Henri Meilhac and Philippe Gille, based on the 1731 novel L’histoire du chevalier des Grieux et de Manon Lescaut by the Abbé Prévost...
, Forester in Don Carlo, the Gardener in 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...
, the Guard in Rigoletto
Rigoletto
Rigoletto is an opera in three acts by Giuseppe Verdi. The Italian libretto was written by Francesco Maria Piave based on the play Le roi s'amuse by Victor Hugo. It was first performed at La Fenice in Venice on March 11, 1851...
, Handsome in La Fanciulla del West
La fanciulla del West
La fanciulla del West is an opera in three acts by Giacomo Puccini to an Italian libretto by Guelfo Civinini and Carlo Zangarini, based on the play The Girl of the Golden West by the American author David Belasco. Its highly-publicised premiere occurred in New York City in 1910...
, Jankel in 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....
, a Lackey in Der Rosenkavalier
Der Rosenkavalier
Der Rosenkavalier is a comic opera in three acts by Richard Strauss to an original German libretto by Hugo von Hofmannsthal. It is loosely adapted from the novel Les amours du chevalier de Faublas by Louvet de Couvrai and Molière’s comedy Monsieur de Pourceaugnac...
, the Sergeant in 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...
, the Steersman in La Gioconda
La Gioconda (opera)
La Gioconda is an opera in four acts by Amilcare Ponchielli set to an Italian libretto by Arrigo Boito, based on Angelo, tyran de Padoue, a play in prose by Victor Hugo, dating from 1835...
, and a Villager in Pagliacci
Pagliacci
Pagliacci , sometimes incorrectly rendered with a definite article as I Pagliacci, is an opera consisting of a prologue and two acts written and composed by Ruggero Leoncavallo. It recounts the tragedy of a jealous husband in a commedia dell'arte troupe...
. On September 16, 1966 he appeared as the Sentinel in the world premiere of Samuel Barber
Samuel Barber
Samuel Osborne Barber II was an American composer of orchestral, opera, choral, and piano music. His Adagio for Strings is his most popular composition and widely considered a masterpiece of modern classical music...
's Antony and Cleopatra
Antony and Cleopatra (opera)
Antony and Cleopatra is an opera in three acts by American composer Samuel Barber. The libretto was prepared by Franco Zeffirelli based on the play Antony and Cleopatra by Shakespeare...
for the opening of the new Metropolitan Opera House
Metropolitan Opera House (Lincoln Center)
The Metropolitan Opera House is an opera house located on Broadway at Lincoln Square in the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City. Part of the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, the theater opened in 1966. It replaced the former Metropolitan Opera House at Broadway and 39th St...
with Leontyne Price
Leontyne Price
Mary Violet Leontyne Price is an American soprano. Born and raised in the Deep South, she rose to international acclaim in the 1950s and 1960s, and was one of the first African Americans to become a leading artist at the Metropolitan Opera.One critic characterized Price's voice as "vibrant",...
as Cleopatra and Justino Díaz
Justino Díaz
Justino Díaz is an internationally renowned bass-baritone opera singer. In 1963, Díaz won an annual contest held at the Metropolitan Opera of New York, becoming the "first" Puerto Rican to obtain such an honor and as a consequence, made his Metropolitan debut on October 1963 in Verdi's Rigoletto...
as Anthony. On March 18, 1977 he sang the role of the Physician in the Met's first staging of 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:...
with Carole Farley
Carole Farley
Carole Farley is an American soprano.Farley was born in Le Mars, Iowa. She married conductor José Serebrier in 1969.-Discography and Videography:...
in the title role. His final and 509th Met appearance was as Guccio in Puccini's Gianni Schicchi
Gianni Schicchi
Gianni Schicchi is a comic opera in one act by Giacomo Puccini to an Italian libretto by Giovacchino Forzano, composed in 1917–18. The libretto is based on an incident mentioned in Dante's Divine Comedy. The work is the third and final part of Puccini's Il trittico —three one-act operas with...
on December 16, 1989 with Bruno Pola in the title role, Hei-Kyung Hong
Hei-Kyung Hong
Hong Hei-Kyung is a South Korean-American operatic lyric soprano.Hong studied at Yea Won Music School in Seoul and through scholarships went to the United States alone at age 15 to study at the Juilliard School of Music in New York and its American Opera Center...
as Lauretta, and 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...
conducting.
Later life
Sliker lived in retirement in Helena, MontanaHelena, Montana
Helena is the capital city of the U.S. state of Montana and the county seat of Lewis and Clark County. The 2010 census put the population at 28,180. The local daily newspaper is the Independent Record. The Helena Brewers minor league baseball and Helena Bighorns minor league hockey team call the...
at the Waterford retirement community. His last public performance was in Helena during the mid 1990s when he performed for a benefit concert at the Myrna Loy Center for the Performing and Media Arts. He died at the age of 86 in Helena and is buried at the Lower Valley Union Cemetery in Califon, New Jersey
Califon, New Jersey
Califon is a borough in Hunterdon County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the borough population was 1,076.The town was to originally be called California, but was shortened to Califon in order to fit on the welcome sign...
.