Nicolai Gedda

about

Harry Gustaf Nikolai Gädda, known professionally as Nicolai Gedda (11 July 1925 – 8 January 2017), was a Swedish operatic tenor. Debuting in 1952, Gedda had a long and successful career in opera until the age of 77 in June 2003, when he made his final operatic recording. Skilled at languages, he performed operas in French, Russian, German, Italian, English, Czech, and Swedish, as well as one in Latin. In January 1958, he created the part of Anatol in the world premiere of the American opera Vanessa at the Metropolitan Opera. Having made some two hundred recordings, Gedda is one of the most widely recorded opera singers in history. His singing is best known for its beauty of tone, vocal control, and musical perception. Harry Gustaf Nikolai Gädda, who later changed the spelling of his surname to Gedda, was born in Stockholm to a Swedish mother and a half-Russian father. He was raised by his aunt Olga Gädda and his adoptive father Mihail Ustinov (a distant relative of Peter Ustinov), who sang bass in Serge Jaroff's Don Cossack Choir and was cantor in a Russian Orthodox church. Gedda grew up bilingual in Swedish and Russian. From 1929 to 1934 he lived with his family in Leipzig, Germany, where he learned German. They returned to Sweden after Hitler came to power. In school he later learned English, French and Latin. After leaving school he learned Italian on his own. Gedda worked first as a bank teller in a local bank in Stockholm. One day he told a client that he was searchi

top songs

albums

Nicolai Gedda - Champagner-Operette

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100 Best Film Classics

Nicolai Gedda: Lyric Poet of the Tenor Voice

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100 Best Opera Classics

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Great Moments of Nicolai Gedda

L'art de la mélodie. Debussy, Fauré, Hahn, Poulenc, Satie

The Very Best of Nicolai Gedda

Icon: Nicolai Gedda

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Great Tenors Of The 20th Century

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Nicolai Gedda - The Golden Voice

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Opera Heroes

Puccini: Madama Butterfly

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