József Simándy (

Kistarcsa Kistarcsa () is a town in Pest County, Budapest metropolitan area, Hungary. A site of the Kistarcsa concentration camp during the Holocaust. Later an internment camp of State Protection Authority for political prisoners during the 1950s. Histo ...

, 18 September 1916 –

Budapest Budapest (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Hungary. It is the ninth-largest city in the European Union by population within city limits and the second-largest city on the Danube river; the city has an estimated population ...

, 4 March 1997) was a Hungarian tenor with German origins. His name in Hungarian form is ''Simándy József'', his original family name is ''Schulder''. A student of Emilia Posszert, he joined the chorus of the

Hungarian State Opera The Hungarian State Opera is the national opera company of Hungary. Located in Budapest, it is a busy institution, with over 200 operas each calendar year, on top of extensive educational programs, ballet, and musical theatre. The company employs ...

in 1940; in 1946, he made his debut as Don José in '' Carmen'' in

Szeged Szeged ( , ; see also other alternative names) is the third largest city of Hungary, the largest city and regional centre of the Southern Great Plain and the county seat of Csongrád-Csanád county. The University of Szeged is one of the m ...

. In 1947, he returned to the Budapest Opera, where he was the leading heroic tenor until 1984. He performed regularly in

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the third-largest city in Germany, after Berlin and Ha ...

as well, from 1956 until 1960. Besides heroic tenor roles, Simándy took on lyric and spinto parts as well; he was best known for his

Radames Radames or Radamés is a Hispanic masculine given name that may refer to *Radamés Gnattali (1906–1988), Brazilian composer, conductor, orchestrator, and arranger *Radamés González (born 1956), Cuban marathon runner * Radamés Martins Rodrigues ...

Lohengrin Lohengrin () is a character in German Arthurian literature. The son of Parzival (Percival), he is a knight of the Holy Grail sent in a boat pulled by swans to rescue a maiden who can never ask his identity. His story, which first appears in Wolf ...

, and Otello. Recordings include two operas by

Ferenc Erkel Ferenc Erkel ( hu, Erkel Ferenc , german: link=no, Franz Erkel; November 7, 1810June 15, 1893) was a Hungarian composer, conductor and pianist. He was the father of Hungarian grand opera, written mainly on historical themes, which are still o ...

, ''

Bánk bán ''Bánk bán'' is an opera in 3 acts by composer Ferenc Erkel. The work uses a Hungarian-language libretto by Béni Egressy which is based on a stage play of the same name by József Katona. (''Bán'' is ban in English, similar to a viceroy, a ...

'' and ''

Hunyadi László László Hunyadi or Ladislaus Hunyadi ( Slovak: ''Ladislav Huňady''; 1431Bánhegyi 2008, p. 17. – 16 March 1457) was a Hungarian nobleman. Ladislaus Hunyadi was the elder of the two sons of John Hunyadi, voivode of Transylvania and later rege ...

'', in both of which he sang the title role.

References

Hungarian operatic tenors People from Pest County 1916 births 1997 deaths 20th-century Hungarian male opera singers People from Kistarcsa {{Hungary-opera-singer-stub