Sándor Kónya

Gifted using a glowing, spinto weight tool, tenor Sándor Kónya became a respected artist along with his 1958 Bayreuth Festival debut as Lohengrin. Therefore thoroughly do his functionality define the Swan Knight it became Kónya’s contacting credit card. The 1958 Bayreuth creation continues to be issued on Compact disc, protecting Kónya’s interpretation at its pristine greatest along with Leonie Rysanek’s lustrous Elsa and Astrid Varnay’s implacable Ortrud. Afterwards, Kónya documented the opera commercially for RCA under Erich Leinsdorf, an attempt where the remaining cast fell lacking the tenor’s high criteria. The simple thrust of Kónya’s best register suited both higher-lying passages allotted to Lohengrin and Walter in Die Meistersinger and afforded him the plangency to accomplish full justice to numerous Italian roles aswell. Kónya’s stage deportment was discrete and dignified, establishing him aside from many Italian contemporaries directed at frantic histrionics. After starting his vocal research in Budapest, Kónya shifted 1st to Detmold, after that to Rome and Milan to get a sophisticated polish to his technique. In 1951, he produced his professional debut in Bielefeld as Turiddu. Pursuing engagements at Darmstadt, Stuttgart, and Hamburg, Kónya joined up with the Städtische Oper in Berlin in 1955. From that time forward, his profession became more worldwide in scope. A respected part in the globe premiere of Henze’s König Hirsch and a efficiency of Nureddin in Cornelius’ comic confection Der Barbier in Bagdad in the Edinburgh Event attracted widespread interest in 1956. After that Kónya’s spectacular 1958 Bayreuth debut place his name close to the best of administration must-engage lists. Paris found out him in 1959 and the entire year following, SAN FRANCISCO BAY AREA noticed him in four operas, the to begin that was La Fanciulla del Western. In the part of Dick Johnson, Kónya’s solid instrument was valued because of its vibrancy and seductive simplicity. His Lohengrin per month later on was hailed as excellent and he gained authorization for his performing of Rodolfo and Radames, if muted compliment for his stage deportment. Kónya’s Parsifal at La Scala in 1960 was praised warmly and his Metropolitan Opera debut in 1961 was likewise effective. At London’s Covent Backyard, Kónya produced his first appearance in 1963. As in the Metropolitan, the part was once more Lohengrin. In the Metropolitan Opera, Kónya sang not merely Lohengrin and Walter in the German wing, but also Erik in Der Fliegende Holländer and Utmost (within an unsuccessful try to revive Weber’s long-dormant Freischütz). While German and Austrian viewers continued to understand Weber’s fantastic singspiel, Metropolitan viewers were much less enthralled and the task passed back to obscurity, despite Kónya’s hand-in-glove suitability for the part of Maximum. An designer both outstandingly endowed and flexible in schooling and character, Kónya proved greatly beneficial to the Metropolitan Opera over 14 months. As well as the jugendlicher heldentenor repertory, he was an extremely reputable Cavaradossi, Pinkerton, Calaf, Radames, and Edgardo. Hook graininess of timbre lent to his tone of voice a somewhat veiled quality not really unlike that of Björling. Kónya also distributed to the Swedish tenor an unusual blossoming of firmness in the top register. His considerable middle and lower tone of voice provided the company anchor for his buzzing best and allowed him, at his greatest, to work out the changeover (passaggio) in to the top register with no strangulation exhibited by therefore a great many other German-trained tenors.