José van Dam

about

Joseph, Baron van Damme (born August 25, 1940 in Brussels), known as José van Dam, is a Belgian bass-baritone. At the age of 17, he entered the Brussels Royal Conservatory and studied with Frederic Anspach. A year later, he graduated with diplomas and first prizes in voice and opera performance. He made his opera début as the music teacher Don Basilio in Gioacchino Rossini’s Il Barbiere di Siviglia at the Paris Opera in 1961, and remained in the company until 1965, when he sang his first major role, Escamillo from Bizet's Carmen. He then sang for two seasons at Geneva, La Scala, Covent Garden, and in Paris. At Geneva, Van Dam sang in the première of Milhaud's La mère coupable in 1966. Lorin Maazel heard van Dam and invited him to record Ravel’s L’heure espagnole with him for Deutsche Grammophon. In 1967, Maazel asked him to join the Deutsche Oper in Berlin. Van Dam has performed at L’Opéra de Paris, Covent Garden, the Metropolitan Opera, Teatro alla Scala in Milan, Vienna State Opera, Deutsche Oper Berlin, the Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie in Brussels, Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires, the Salzburg Festival, and festivals in Aix-en-Provence and Orange, France. Van Dam is also a concert, oratorio, and Lieder singer and has won international awards for his performances on stage and in recordings. Berlin conferred on him the title of "Kammersänger" in 1974, and the same year he received the German Music Critics’ Prize. Other awards include the Gold Medal of the Belgian Press (1976)

top songs

albums

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Wagner: Parsifal

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Mozart: The Marriage of Figaro

Le Maître de Musique

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Opera Arias - Nessun Dorma - Casta Diva - O Mio Babbino Caro

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Mozart: Don Giovanni, K. 527

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Debussy: Pelléas et Mélisande

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The Timeless Voice

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Deutsche Weihnachten (Berühmte Weihnachtslieder in Deutschland)

Le Maitre de Musique

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Chansons d'automnes

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Deutsche Weihnachten: Unvergleichliche Weihnachtslieder zum Weihnachtsabend

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Recital at La Monnaie / De Munt

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