William Lewis (tenor)
Encyclopedia
William L. Lewis is an American opera
tic tenor
and academic.
, Texas Christian University
and New York University
. He began his career as a writer and an athlete before deciding to pursue a career in opera. He began his voice training under Karl Kritz
and Arthur Faguy Coté in Fort Worth, followed by studies with Susan Seton and Hulda and Luigi Rossini in New York. He made his professional opera debut in 1953 with Fort Worth Opera
as Rinuccio in Puccini's Gianni Schicchi
. Two years later he won the Metropolitan Opera
's Audition of the Air competition (pre-cursor to the National Council Auditions). Lewis made his debut at the Metropolitan Opera
as Narraboth in Salome
on March 1, 1958 and subsequently sang in 234 performances in his 35 years with the company. In 1975 he made his debut at San Francisco Opera
as Steuermann and Erik in The Flying Dutchman
and has sung in sixteen different productions with the company in subsequent seasons. In 1981 he made his debut at the Salzburg Festival
in the title role of Offenbach
's The Tales of Hoffmann, returning there for the following four years in such roles as Arbace in Idomeneo
and the First Geharnischter in The Magic Flute
. In 1990 he made his debut at the Teatro Lirico
in the world premiere of Azio Corghi
's Blimunda.
Although he sang a wide operatic repertory ranging from Mozart to Wagner, Lewis often sang in 20th century works. At the Met he was Andres and Drum Major in Wozzeck
(1959, 1974) Aegisth in Elektra
(1970), Steva in Jenůfa
(1974), Alwa in Lulu
(1977), Oedipus in Oedipus Rex
(1983), and Red Whiskers in Billy Budd
(1989). At San Francisco Opera
he was Steva in Jenůfa, Albert Gregor in The Makropulos Affair, Boris in Katya Kabanova, Frank Sargeant in Angle of Repose, and Sergei in Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk
. He also sang Pollux in Richard Stauss' rarely performed 1940 opera Die Liebe der Danae
in a concert performance at Lincoln Center in January 2000. Amongst the roles he has created are Bill in Samuel Barber
's A Hand of Bridge
(Spoleto
, 7 June 1959), Riccardo III in Flavio Testi
's Riccardo III (La Scala
, 27 January 1987), and Frank Sargeant in Andrew Imbrie
's Angle of Repose (San Francisco Opera
, November 6, 1976). William Lewis wrote the libretto for Earl Wild
's Easter oratorio
Revelations as well as singing the role of St. John in its world premiere, conducted by the composer. Broadcast on ABC
on April 22, 1962, Revelations was the first oratorio commissioned by a television company.
Lewis holds the Frank C. Erwin, Jr. Centennial Professorship in Opera at the University of Texas, Austin where he is also the director of the Studio Ensemble of the Butler Opera Center. He also teaches at the Austrian-American Mozart Academy in Salzburg
, which he founded in 1995, and at the Franco-American Vocal Academy in Périgord
, France.
Lewis can be seen on DVD in the Metropolitan's 1984 production of Zandonai's Francesca da Rimini, opposite Renata Scotto
, Plácido Domingo
, and Cornell MacNeil
.
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 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...
and academic.
Biography
William Lewis was educated at the University of ColoradoUniversity of Colorado at Boulder
The University of Colorado Boulder is a public research university located in Boulder, Colorado...
, Texas Christian University
Texas Christian University
Texas Christian University is a private, coeducational university located in Fort Worth, Texas, United States and founded in 1873. TCU is affiliated with, but not governed by, the Disciples of Christ...
and New York University
New York University
New York University is a private, nonsectarian research university based in New York City. NYU's main campus is situated in the Greenwich Village section of Manhattan...
. He began his career as a writer and an athlete before deciding to pursue a career in opera. He began his voice training under Karl Kritz
Karl Kritz
Karl Kritz was an Austrian conductor. Born in Vienna, he sang in the Vienna Boys Choir as a child. He studied with Franz Schmidt at the University of Music and Performing Arts, Vienna. After graduating, he pursued further studies in conducting in Nuremberg and Berlin...
and Arthur Faguy Coté in Fort Worth, followed by studies with Susan Seton and Hulda and Luigi Rossini in New York. He made his professional opera debut in 1953 with Fort Worth Opera
Fort Worth Opera
According to the company, Fort Worth Opera is the oldest, continually performing opera company in the state of Texas and among the oldest in the United States. While originally presenting operas one at a time over a fall/winter season, it changed to a "festival" format in 2007...
as Rinuccio 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...
. Two years later he won 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...
's Audition of the Air competition (pre-cursor to the National Council Auditions). Lewis made his debut 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...
as Narraboth in Salome
Salome (opera)
Salome is an opera in one act by Richard Strauss to a German libretto by the composer, based on Hedwig Lachmann’s German translation of the French play Salomé by Oscar Wilde. Strauss dedicated the opera to his friend Sir Edgar Speyer....
on March 1, 1958 and subsequently sang in 234 performances in his 35 years with the company. In 1975 he made his debut 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...
as Steuermann and Erik in 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 has sung in sixteen different productions with the company in subsequent seasons. In 1981 he made his debut at the Salzburg Festival
Salzburg Festival
The Salzburg Festival is a prominent festival of music and drama established in 1920. It is held each summer within the Austrian town of Salzburg, the birthplace of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart...
in the title role of Offenbach
Jacques Offenbach
Jacques Offenbach was a Prussian-born French composer, cellist and impresario. He is remembered for his nearly 100 operettas of the 1850s–1870s and his uncompleted opera The Tales of Hoffmann. He was a powerful influence on later composers of the operetta genre, particularly Johann Strauss, Jr....
's The Tales of Hoffmann, returning there for the following four years in such roles as Arbace in Idomeneo
Idomeneo
Idomeneo, re di Creta ossia Ilia e Idamante is an Italian language opera by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. The libretto was adapted by Giambattista Varesco from a French text by Antoine Danchet, which had been set to music by André Campra as Idoménée in 1712...
and the First Geharnischter in 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....
. In 1990 he made his debut at the Teatro Lirico
Teatro Lirico (Milan)
The Teatro Lirico is a theatre in Milan, Italy. In the 19th and early 20th centuries it was particularly notable for opera performances, including the world premieres of Donizetti's L'elisir d'amore and Giordano's Fedora. The theatre, located on Via Rastrelli, closed in 1998...
in the world premiere of Azio Corghi
Azio Corghi
Azio Corghi is an Italian opera composer, also a teacher and musicologist. He was born at Cirié, in the Province of Turin, studied at the Turin and Milan conservatories and was a pupil of Bruno Bettinelli...
's Blimunda.
Although he sang a wide operatic repertory ranging from Mozart to Wagner, Lewis often sang in 20th century works. At the Met he was Andres and Drum Major in Wozzeck
Wozzeck
Wozzeck is the first opera by the Austrian composer Alban Berg. It was composed between 1914 and 1922 and first performed in 1925. The opera is based on the drama Woyzeck left incomplete by the German playwright Georg Büchner at his death. Berg attended the first production in Vienna of Büchner's...
(1959, 1974) Aegisth in Elektra
Elektra (opera)
Elektra is a one-act opera by Richard Strauss, to a German-language libretto by Hugo von Hofmannsthal, which he adapted from his 1903 drama Elektra. The opera was the first of many collaborations between Strauss and Hofmannsthal...
(1970), Steva in 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...
(1974), Alwa in 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:...
(1977), Oedipus in Oedipus Rex
Oedipus rex (opera)
Oedipus rex is an "Opera-oratorio after Sophocles" by Igor Stravinsky, scored for orchestra, speaker, soloists, and male chorus. The libretto, based on Sophocles's tragedy, was written by Jean Cocteau in French and then translated by Abbé Jean Daniélou into Latin...
(1983), and Red Whiskers in Billy Budd
Billy Budd (opera)
Billy Budd is an opera by Benjamin Britten, from a libretto by E. M. Forster and Eric Crozier, was first performed at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, London on 1 December 1951. It is based on the short novel Billy Budd by Herman Melville....
(1989). 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...
he was Steva in Jenůfa, Albert Gregor in The Makropulos Affair, Boris in Katya Kabanova, Frank Sargeant in Angle of Repose, and Sergei in Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk
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...
. He also sang Pollux in Richard Stauss' rarely performed 1940 opera Die Liebe der Danae
Die Liebe der Danae
Die Liebe der Danae is an opera in three acts by Richard Strauss to a February 1937 German libretto by Joseph Gregor, based on an outline written in 1920, "Danae, or The Marriage of Convenience", by Hugo Hofmannsthal...
in a concert performance at Lincoln Center in January 2000. Amongst the roles he has created are Bill in 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 A Hand of Bridge
A Hand of Bridge
A Hand of Bridge, opus 35, is an opera composed by Samuel Barber with libretto by Gian Carlo Menotti, is possibly the shortest opera that is regularly performed - it lasts about ten minutes. It consists of two couples playing a hand of bridge, during which each character has a short arietta in...
(Spoleto
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...
, 7 June 1959), Riccardo III in Flavio Testi
Flavio Testi
Flavio Testi is an Italian composer of contemporary classical music and musicologist. He studied with Gedda and Peracchio at the Turin Conservatory, and took an arts degree at Milan University . He then worked for Suvini Zerboni and Ricordi while also composing, pursuing his interest in music...
's Riccardo III (La Scala
La Scala
La Scala , is a world renowned opera house in Milan, Italy. The theatre was inaugurated on 3 August 1778 and was originally known as the New Royal-Ducal Theatre at La Scala...
, 27 January 1987), and Frank Sargeant in Andrew Imbrie
Andrew Imbrie
Andrew Welsh Imbrie was an American composer of contemporary classical music.-Career:Imbrie was born in New York on April 6, 1921, and began his musical training as a pianist when he was 4. In 1937, he went to Paris to study briefly with Nadia Boulanger...
's Angle of Repose (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...
, November 6, 1976). William Lewis wrote the libretto for Earl Wild
Earl Wild
Royland Earl Wild was an American pianist widely recognized as a leading virtuoso of his generation. Harold C. Schonberg called him a "super-virtuoso in the Horowitz class". He was known as well for his transcriptions of classical music and jazz...
's Easter oratorio
Oratorio
An oratorio is a large musical composition including an orchestra, a choir, and soloists. Like an opera, an oratorio includes the use of a choir, soloists, an ensemble, various distinguishable characters, and arias...
Revelations as well as singing the role of St. John in its world premiere, conducted by the composer. Broadcast on ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
on April 22, 1962, Revelations was the first oratorio commissioned by a television company.
Lewis holds the Frank C. Erwin, Jr. Centennial Professorship in Opera at the University of Texas, Austin where he is also the director of the Studio Ensemble of the Butler Opera Center. He also teaches at the Austrian-American Mozart Academy in Salzburg
Salzburg
-Population development:In 1935, the population significantly increased when Salzburg absorbed adjacent municipalities. After World War II, numerous refugees found a new home in the city. New residential space was created for American soldiers of the postwar Occupation, and could be used for...
, which he founded in 1995, and at the Franco-American Vocal Academy in Périgord
Périgord
The Périgord is a former province of France, which corresponds roughly to the current Dordogne département, now forming the northern part of the Aquitaine région. It is divided into four regions, the Périgord Noir , the Périgord Blanc , the Périgord Vert and the Périgord Pourpre...
, France.
Lewis can be seen on DVD in the Metropolitan's 1984 production of Zandonai's Francesca da Rimini, opposite Renata Scotto
Renata Scotto
Renata Scotto is an Italian soprano and opera director.Recognized for her sense of style, musicality and as a remarkable singer-actress, Scotto is considered one of the preeminent singers of her generation, specializing in the bel canto repertoire with excursions into the verismo and Verdi...
, 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...
, and Cornell MacNeil
Cornell MacNeil
Cornell MacNeil , was an American operatic baritone known for his exceptional voice and long career with the Metropolitan Opera, which spanned 642 performances in twenty-six roles. F...
.
Recordings
- Music of Samuel BarberSamuel BarberSamuel 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...
- A Hand of Bridge, Op. 35 (William Lewis (Tenor), Philip Maero (Baritone), Patricia Neway (Soprano), Eunice Alberts (Alto) ; Conductor: Vladimir Golschmann; Symphony of the Air; Robert DeCormier Singers). Recorded New York City, 1960. Label: Vanguard Classics- 125(CD) - Hector BerliozHector BerliozHector Berlioz was a French Romantic composer, best known for his compositions Symphonie fantastique and Grande messe des morts . Berlioz made significant contributions to the modern orchestra with his Treatise on Instrumentation. He specified huge orchestral forces for some of his works; as a...
: Les troyensLes TroyensLes Troyens is a French opera in five acts by Hector Berlioz. The libretto was written by Berlioz himself, based on Virgil's epic poem The Aeneid...
(Chester Watson (Bass), Regina ResnikRegina ResnikRegina Resnik is an American operatic singer.Regina Resnik, the American mezzo-soprano, started a dramatic career ten months after earning her B.A. in Music at Hunter College. The role was Lady Macbeth under Fritz Busch in December, 1942 with the New Opera Company. A few months later, she sang...
(Soprano), Martial Singher (Baritone), Frances Wyatt (Mezzo Soprano), William Lewis (Tenor), John Dennison (Baritone), Kenneth Smith (Bass), Regina SarfatyRegina SarfatyRegina Sarfaty is an American operatic mezzo-soprano who had an active career during the 1950s through the 1980s. Sarfaty first rose to prominence through her work at the Santa Fe Opera and the New York City Opera during the late 1950s...
(Mezzo Soprano), Glade Peterson (Tenor), Eleanor SteberEleanor SteberEleanor Steber was an American operatic soprano. Steber is noted as one of the first major opera stars to have achieved the highest success with training and a career based in the United States.-Biography:...
(Soprano), Richard Cassilly (Tenor); Conductor: Robert Lawrence.) Recorded at Carnegie HallCarnegie HallCarnegie 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....
, New York City, December 29, 1959 and January 12, 1960. Label: Vai Audio - Leoš JanáčekLeoš JanácekLeoš 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...
: JenůfaJenufaJenůfa 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...
(Soňa ČervenáSoňa ČervenáSoňa Červená is a Czech operatic mezzo-soprano who had an active international career since the 1950s. She has enjoyed particularly lengthy and fruitful associations with the Frankfurt Opera and the San Francisco Opera...
(Mezzo Soprano), Sena JurinacSena JurinacSena Jurinac Sena (Srebrenka) Jurinac Sena (Srebrenka) Jurinac ([juˈrinats] (24 October 192122 November 2011) was a Bosnian Croat/Austrian operatic soprano.Born in Travnik, Bosnia-Herzegovina, she studied at the Zagreb Academy of Music, and also with Milka Kostrenčić (whose other well-known...
(Soprano), Willard White (Bass), Elisabeth SöderströmElisabeth SöderströmElisabeth Anna Söderström CBE was a Swedish soprano, who performed both opera and song. She was particularly well known for her recordings of the lead soprano roles in the three Janáček operas Jenůfa, Káťa Kabanová, and The Makropoulos Affair, all of which received Gramophone Awards...
(Soprano), John del Carlo (Baritone), Gwendolyn Jones (Mezzo Soprano), Sara Ganz (Soprano), Susan Quittmeyer (Mezzo Soprano), Pamela South (Soprano), William Lewis (Tenor); San Francisco OperaSan Francisco OperaSan 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...
Orchestra and Chorus.) Recorded at the War Memorial Opera House, San Francisco, October 1, 1980. Label: Gala - Richard StraussRichard StraussRichard 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...
: Die Liebe der DanaeDie Liebe der DanaeDie Liebe der Danae is an opera in three acts by Richard Strauss to a February 1937 German libretto by Joseph Gregor, based on an outline written in 1920, "Danae, or The Marriage of Convenience", by Hugo Hofmannsthal...
, Op. 83 (Hugh Smith (Tenor), William Lewis (Tenor), Lisa Saffer (Soprano), Michael Hendrick (Tenor), Lauren Flanigan (Soprano), Tamara Mesic (Soprano), Jane Jennings (Soprano), Mary Phillips (Mezzo Soprano), Peter Coleman-Wright (Bass), Elisabeth Canis (Mezzo Soprano); Conductor: Leon BotsteinLeon BotsteinLeon Botstein is an American conductor and the President of Bard College . Botstein is the music director and principal conductor of the American Symphony Orchestra and conductor laureate of the Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra, where he served as music director and principal conductor from 2003-2010...
; American Symphony Orchestra.) Recorded: Avery Fisher Hall, Lincoln Center, January 16, 2000. Label: Telarc. - Virgil ThomsonVirgil ThomsonVirgil Thomson was an American composer and critic. He was instrumental in the development of the "American Sound" in classical music...
: The Mother of Us AllThe Mother of Us AllThe Mother of Us All is an opera by Virgil Thomson to a libretto by Gertrude Stein. It chronicles the life of Susan B. Anthony, one of the major figures in the fight for women's suffrage in the United States...
(Karen Beck, Sondra Stowe, Jimmie Lu Null, William Lewis, Steven Loewengart, Thomas Parker, Marla McDaniels, D'Artagnan Petty, Stephen Bryant, Ashley Putnam, et al.; Conductor: Raymond LeppardRaymond LeppardRaymond "Def" Leppard, CBE is a British conductor and harpsichordist.He was born in London and grew up in Bath, where he was educated at the City of Bath Boys' School, now known as the Beechen Cliff School...
; Santa Fe OperaSanta Fe OperaThe 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:...
Orchestra and Chorus.) Recorded in Santa Fe, New Mexico, 1977. Label: New World Records
External links
- William Lewis staff biography, Franco American Vocal Academy
- William L. Lewis staff biography, Butler School of Music