Rod Gilfry
Encyclopedia
Rodney Gilfry is a leading American
opera
baritone
. After launching his career at Frankfurt Opera in 1987, Gilfry quickly established a reputation for stylish singing and acting. A renowned Mozart specialist, he has given acclaimed performances as Don Giovanni
, Count Almaviva, Guglielmo, and Papageno, and is also known for his work in rôles from the standard baritone repertoire (Pelleas, Valentin, Orestes, Belcore, Billy Budd
).
, California
, and grew up in West Covina and Claremont. He received a bachelor's degree in music education from Cal State Fullerton
and a master's degree in voice from the Thornton School of Music
at the University of Southern California
. He also studied privately for six years with renowned French
baritone Martial Singher
. In 1999 he sought further refinement of his technique and studied in Manhattan with Armen Boyajian, teacher of Samuel Ramey
and Gerald Finley
.
at Los Angeles Opera
in 1986. After seven years as a principal baritone at Frankfurt Opera and Zurich Opera
, he returned to the U.S. and originated rôles at major houses such as the Metropolitan Opera
, Lyric Opera of Chicago
, Dallas Opera
, San Diego Opera
, and Los Angeles Opera
.
On November 25, 1996, Gilfry made his debut with the Metropolitan Opera
as Demetrius in the company's premiere of Britten's
A Midsummer Night's Dream
, a role he sang eight times that season. He returned in the 2000-2001 season for six performances each as Marcello in Puccini's
La bohème
and as Guglielmo in Mozart's
Così fan tutte
.
In recent years Rod Gilfry has specialized in new music, introducing rôles in many new operas. The baritone is probably best known for his portrayal of Stanley Kowalski in Andre Previn
's A Streetcar Named Desire
at San Francisco Opera
which premiered in 1998. He also created the role of Nathan in Sophie's Choice
at Royal Opera House Covent Garden
in 2002, a role he will reprise at Washington National Opera
in September 2006. He originated the role of Tsar Nicholas in Drattell's Nicholas and Alexandra at Los Angeles Opera in 2003. During the 2005-2006 season he played plantation owner, Edward Gaines, in the groundbreaking opera, Margaret Garner
, at Opera Company of Philadelphia, Cincinnati Opera, and Michigan Opera Theatre. During August 2006 he won raves for his portrayal of Prospero in Thomas Ades
' The Tempest
with the Santa Fe Opera
, one of the few rôles in new opera that he did not originate. In November 2006 he created the role of Jack London in Libby Larsen's Every Man Jack for Sonoma City Opera. In 2008 he sang the principal role of Falke in a Japanese tour of Die Fledermaus
and the title role in the Dutch/British production of Olivier Messiaen
's opera Saint François d'Assise. At the Zürich Opera
he performed the part of the composer in the "domestic comedy" Intermezzo
of Richard Strauss, conducted by Peter Schneider
and staged by Jens-Daniel Herzog
, with Christiane Kohl
as Christine.
Gilfry's vocal excellence has been repeatedly praised by many leading music critics. One reviewer said of him recently in the San Francisco Chronicle
: "Even within the embarrassment of riches that is today's crop of baritones, Gilfry surely stands out as one of the few to treasure. Here is a lusciously shaded lyric voice with real dramatic possibilities, with phrasing full of rhythmic vitality and a stage presence many a non-musical actor might envy."
He has sung on 25 recordings including his 1995 Don Giovanni
CD which was nominated for a Grammy.
. He has sung Curly in Oklahoma!
, Billy Bigelow in Carousel
, and Joe in The Most Happy Fella
, all in Los Angeles. In New York he played Robert in the City Center Encores!
production of The New Moon
, a role he also recorded. He has told interviewers that he hopes to do a run on Broadway in a new musical or revival. In June 2009 he launched the Ravinia Festival season, starring as Lancelot opposite Sylvia McNair's Guenevere in a concert version of Camelot
. As of September 2009, Gilfry is staring as Emile de Becque in the national tour South Pacific
. In the summer of 2011, he played Frank Butler opposite the Annie Oakley of diva Deborah Voigt in Annie Get Your Gun
at the Glimmerglass Festival in Cooperstown, New York, a production directed by Glimmerglass general director, Francesca Zambello.
In tandem with the late actor/director Charles Nelson Reilly
, he developed a one-man cabaret show that he takes on the road when he is not performing opera or musicals. He also made a DVD and enhanced CD of his cabaret show.
On Sunday 22nd August 2010, he appeared at the Royal Albert Hall, London alongside Kim Criswell in a BBC Prom celebrating the music of Rodgers & Hammerstein. The concert was broadcast on the BBC on Saturday 28th August 2010.
Gilfry was also featured in a 2004 episode of the PBS children's television show Arthur, called "Lights, Camera...Opera!" as himself.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
opera
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...
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...
. After launching his career at Frankfurt Opera in 1987, Gilfry quickly established a reputation for stylish singing and acting. A renowned Mozart specialist, he has given acclaimed performances as 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...
, Count Almaviva, Guglielmo, and Papageno, and is also known for his work in rôles from the standard baritone repertoire (Pelleas, Valentin, Orestes, Belcore, Billy Budd
Billy Budd
Billy Budd is a short novel by Herman Melville.Billy Budd can also refer to:*Billy Budd , a 1962 film produced, directed, and co-written by Peter Ustinov, based on Melville's novel...
).
Early years and training
Rod Gilfry was born in 1959 in CovinaCovina, California
Covina is a small city in Los Angeles County, California about east of downtown Los Angeles, in the San Gabriel Valley region. The population was 47,796 at the 2010 census, up from 46,837 at the 2000 census...
, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
, and grew up in West Covina and Claremont. He received a bachelor's degree in music education from Cal State Fullerton
California State University, Fullerton
California State University, Fullerton is a public university located in Fullerton, California. It is the largest institution in the CSU System by enrollment, it offers long-distance education and adult-degree programs...
and a master's degree in voice from the Thornton School of Music
USC Thornton School of Music
The University of Southern California Thornton School of Music, founded in 1884 and dedicated in 1999, is one of the premier music schools in the United States...
at the University of Southern California
University of Southern California
The University of Southern California is a private, not-for-profit, nonsectarian, research university located in Los Angeles, California, United States. USC was founded in 1880, making it California's oldest private research university...
. He also studied privately for six years with renowned French
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
baritone Martial Singher
Martial Singher
Martial Singher was a French baritone opera singer born in Oloron-Sainte-Marie, Pyrénées-Atlantiques.Initially singing only as a hobby, he was encouraged by then French education minister Édouard Herriot to pursue singing professionally...
. In 1999 he sought further refinement of his technique and studied in Manhattan with Armen Boyajian, teacher of 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...
and Gerald Finley
Gerald Finley
-Career:He was born in Montreal and received his musical education in St. Matthew's Anglican Church, Ottawa, the University of Ottawa, King's College, Cambridge and the Royal College of Music in London, England...
.
Opera career
Gilfry made his opera debut as a comprimario in OtelloOtello
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....
at Los Angeles Opera
Los Angeles Opera
The Los Angeles Opera is an opera company in Los Angeles, California. It is the fourth largest opera company in the United States. The company's home base is the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, part of the Los Angeles Music Center.-Current leadership:...
in 1986. After seven years as a principal baritone at Frankfurt Opera and Zurich Opera
Zurich Opera
Oper Zürich is an opera company based in Zurich, Switzerland. The company gives performances in the Opernhaus Zürich which has been the company’s home for fifty years.-History:...
, he returned to the U.S. and originated rôles at major houses such as 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...
, Lyric Opera of Chicago
Lyric Opera of Chicago
Lyric Opera of Chicago is one of the leading opera companies in the United States. It was founded in Chicago in 1952, under the name 'Lyric Theatre of Chicago' by Carol Fox, Nicolà Rescigno and Lawrence Kelly, with a season that included Maria Callas's American debut in Norma...
, 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...
, San Diego Opera
San Diego Opera
The San Diego Opera Association is a professional opera company located in the city of San Diego, California and is a member of OPERA America. It was founded in 1950 to present productions by San Francisco Opera in the San Diego area...
, and Los Angeles Opera
Los Angeles Opera
The Los Angeles Opera is an opera company in Los Angeles, California. It is the fourth largest opera company in the United States. The company's home base is the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, part of the Los Angeles Music Center.-Current leadership:...
.
On November 25, 1996, Gilfry 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...
as Demetrius in the company's premiere of Britten's
Benjamin Britten
Edward Benjamin Britten, Baron Britten, OM CH was an English composer, conductor, and pianist. He showed talent from an early age, and first came to public attention with the a cappella choral work A Boy Was Born in 1934. With the premiere of his opera Peter Grimes in 1945, he leapt to...
A Midsummer Night's Dream
A Midsummer Night's Dream (opera)
A Midsummer Night's Dream is an opera with music by Benjamin Britten and set to a libretto adapted by the composer and Peter Pears from William Shakespeare's play, A Midsummer Night's Dream...
, a role he sang eight times that season. He returned in the 2000-2001 season for six performances each as Marcello in Puccini's
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...
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...
and as Guglielmo in Mozart's
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...
Così fan tutte
Così fan tutte
Così fan tutte, ossia La scuola degli amanti K. 588, is an opera buffa by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart first performed in 1790. The libretto was written by Lorenzo Da Ponte....
.
In recent years Rod Gilfry has specialized in new music, introducing rôles in many new operas. The baritone is probably best known for his portrayal of Stanley Kowalski in Andre Previn
André Previn
André George Previn, KBE is an American pianist, conductor, and composer. He is considered one of the most versatile musicians in the world, and is the winner of four Academy Awards for his film work and ten Grammy Awards for his recordings. -Early Life:Previn was born in...
's A Streetcar Named Desire
A Streetcar Named Desire (opera)
A Streetcar Named Desire is an opera composed by André Previn with a libretto by Philip Littell in 1995. It is based on the play by Tennessee Williams and received its premiere at the San Francisco Opera during the 1998-99 season.-Cast:...
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...
which premiered in 1998. He also created the role of Nathan in Sophie's Choice
Sophie's Choice (novel)
Sophie's Choice is a novel by William Styron published in 1979. It concerns a young American Southerner, an aspiring writer, who befriends the Jewish Nathan Landau and his beautiful lover Sophie, a Polish survivor of the Nazi concentration camps...
at Royal Opera House Covent Garden
Royal Opera House
The Royal Opera House is an opera house and major performing arts venue in Covent Garden, central London. The large building is often referred to as simply "Covent Garden", after a previous use of the site of the opera house's original construction in 1732. It is the home of The Royal Opera, The...
in 2002, a role he will reprise at 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...
in September 2006. He originated the role of Tsar Nicholas in Drattell's Nicholas and Alexandra at Los Angeles Opera in 2003. During the 2005-2006 season he played plantation owner, Edward Gaines, in the groundbreaking opera, Margaret Garner
Margaret Garner (opera)
Margaret Garner is an American opera loosely based on actual events in the life of runaway slave Margaret Garner. It was co-commissioned by the Michigan Opera Theatre, Cincinnati Opera and Opera Company of Philadelphia. The music was composed by Richard Danielpour with a libretto in English by...
, at Opera Company of Philadelphia, Cincinnati Opera, and Michigan Opera Theatre. During August 2006 he won raves for his portrayal of Prospero in Thomas Ades
Thomas Adès
Thomas Adès is a British composer, pianist and conductor.-Biography:Adès studied piano with Paul Berkowitz and later composition with Robert Saxton at Guildhall School of Music and Drama, London...
' The Tempest
The Tempest
The Tempest is a play by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written in 1610–11, and thought by many critics to be the last play that Shakespeare wrote alone. It is set on a remote island, where Prospero, the exiled Duke of Milan, plots to restore his daughter Miranda to her rightful place,...
with the 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:...
, one of the few rôles in new opera that he did not originate. In November 2006 he created the role of Jack London in Libby Larsen's Every Man Jack for Sonoma City Opera. In 2008 he sang the principal role of Falke in a Japanese tour of Die Fledermaus
Die Fledermaus
Die Fledermaus is an operetta composed by Johann Strauss II to a German libretto by Karl Haffner and Richard Genée.- Literary sources :...
and the title role in the Dutch/British production of Olivier Messiaen
Olivier Messiaen
Olivier Messiaen was a French composer, organist and ornithologist, one of the major composers of the 20th century. His music is rhythmically complex ; harmonically and melodically it is based on modes of limited transposition, which he abstracted from his early compositions and improvisations...
's opera Saint François d'Assise. At the Zürich Opera
Zurich Opera
Oper Zürich is an opera company based in Zurich, Switzerland. The company gives performances in the Opernhaus Zürich which has been the company’s home for fifty years.-History:...
he performed the part of the composer in the "domestic comedy" Intermezzo
Intermezzo (opera)
Intermezzo is an opera in two acts by Richard Strauss to his own German libretto, described as a Bürgerliche Komödie mit sinfonischen Zwischenspielen . It premiered at the Dresden Semperoper on November 4, 1924, with sets that reproduced Strauss' home in Garmisch...
of Richard Strauss, conducted by Peter Schneider
Peter Schneider (conductor)
Peter Schneider is an Austrian conductor and opera administrator.Schneider served as kapellmeister of the Deutsche Oper am Rhein, Düsseldorf-Duisburg from 1961 to 1968; general music director of the Bremer Philharmoniker from 1978 to 1985; opera director and general music director of...
and staged by Jens-Daniel Herzog
Jens-Daniel Herzog
Jens-Daniel Herzog is a German stage director for play and opera, and a theater manager.-Professional career:Jens-Daniel Herzog was born in Berlin, the son of the actor Peter Herzog. He studied Philosophy at the FU Berlin....
, with Christiane Kohl
Christiane Kohl
- Professional career :Christiane Kohl grew up in Idstein. After her Abitur at the Pestalozzi-Gymnasium she studied at the Mozarteum in Salzburg with Lilian Sukis and Elisabeth Wilke. She received her diploma with distinction in 2003....
as Christine.
Gilfry's vocal excellence has been repeatedly praised by many leading music critics. One reviewer said of him recently in the San Francisco Chronicle
San Francisco Chronicle
thumb|right|upright|The Chronicle Building following the [[1906 San Francisco earthquake|1906 earthquake]] and fireThe San Francisco Chronicle is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of the U.S. state of California, but distributed throughout Northern and Central California,...
: "Even within the embarrassment of riches that is today's crop of baritones, Gilfry surely stands out as one of the few to treasure. Here is a lusciously shaded lyric voice with real dramatic possibilities, with phrasing full of rhythmic vitality and a stage presence many a non-musical actor might envy."
He has sung on 25 recordings including his 1995 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...
CD which was nominated for a Grammy.
Crossover to musicals
Gilfry fell in love with musicals when he starred in his high school production of Li'l AbnerLi'l Abner
Li'l Abner is a satirical American comic strip that appeared in many newspapers in the United States, Canada and Europe, featuring a fictional clan of hillbillies in the impoverished town of Dogpatch, Kentucky. Written and drawn by Al Capp , the strip ran for 43 years, from August 13, 1934 through...
. He has sung Curly in Oklahoma!
Oklahoma!
Oklahoma! is the first musical written by composer Richard Rodgers and librettist Oscar Hammerstein II. The musical is based on Lynn Riggs' 1931 play, Green Grow the Lilacs. Set in Oklahoma Territory outside the town of Claremore in 1906, it tells the story of cowboy Curly McLain and his romance...
, Billy Bigelow in Carousel
Carousel (musical)
Carousel is the second stage musical by the team of Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II . The work premiered in 1945 and was adapted from Ferenc Molnár's 1909 play Liliom, transplanting its Budapest setting to the Maine coastline...
, and Joe in The Most Happy Fella
The Most Happy Fella
The Most Happy Fella is a 1956 musical with a book, music, and lyrics by Frank Loesser. The story, about a romance between an older man and younger woman, is based on the play They Knew What They Wanted by Sidney Howard...
, all in Los Angeles. In New York he played Robert in the City Center Encores!
Encores!
Encores! Great American Musicals in Concert is a program that has been presented by New York City Center since 1994. Encores! is dedicated to performing the full score of musicals that rarely are heard in New York City...
production of The New Moon
The New Moon
The New Moon is the name of an operetta with music by Sigmund Romberg and book and lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II, Frank Mandel, and Laurence Schwab. The show was the third and last in a string of Broadway hits for Romberg written in the style of Viennese operetta...
, a role he also recorded. He has told interviewers that he hopes to do a run on Broadway in a new musical or revival. In June 2009 he launched the Ravinia Festival season, starring as Lancelot opposite Sylvia McNair's Guenevere in a concert version of Camelot
Camelot (musical)
Camelot is a musical by Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe . It is based on the King Arthur legend as adapted from the T. H. White tetralogy novel The Once and Future King....
. As of September 2009, Gilfry is staring as Emile de Becque in the national tour South Pacific
South Pacific (musical)
South Pacific is a musical with music by Richard Rodgers, lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II and book by Hammerstein and Joshua Logan. The story draws from James A. Michener's Pulitzer Prize-winning 1947 book Tales of the South Pacific, weaving together characters and elements from several of its...
. In the summer of 2011, he played Frank Butler opposite the Annie Oakley of diva Deborah Voigt in Annie Get Your Gun
Annie Get Your Gun
Annie Get Your Gun may refer to:*Annie Get Your Gun , a 1946 musical play*Annie Get Your Gun , a 1950 film version of the 1946 musical*Annie Get Your Gun , 1946, with Ethel Merman and Ray Middleton...
at the Glimmerglass Festival in Cooperstown, New York, a production directed by Glimmerglass general director, Francesca Zambello.
In tandem with the late actor/director Charles Nelson Reilly
Charles Nelson Reilly
Charles Nelson Reilly was an American actor, comedian, director and drama teacher known for his comedic roles in theater, movies, children's television, animated cartoons, and as a panelist on the game show Match Game....
, he developed a one-man cabaret show that he takes on the road when he is not performing opera or musicals. He also made a DVD and enhanced CD of his cabaret show.
On Sunday 22nd August 2010, he appeared at the Royal Albert Hall, London alongside Kim Criswell in a BBC Prom celebrating the music of Rodgers & Hammerstein. The concert was broadcast on the BBC on Saturday 28th August 2010.
Personal
Married with three children, Gilfry makes his home in suburban Los Angeles. Gilfry shortened his performing name from Rodney to Rod in 2005, and he celebrated his 20th year as a professional opera singer in 2006.Gilfry was also featured in a 2004 episode of the PBS children's television show Arthur, called "Lights, Camera...Opera!" as himself.
External links
- Official site
- MetOpera database
- Rod Gilfry Zürich Opera
- Rod Gilfry interview by Bruce Duffie