William Johns (born 2 October 1936) is an American

tenor A tenor is a type of classical male singing voice whose vocal range lies between the countertenor and baritone voice types. It is the highest male chest voice type. The tenor's vocal range extends up to C5. The low extreme for tenors is wide ...

who sang leading roles in the opera houses of Europe and the United States in a career spanning more than 25 years. Several of his live performances in Germany and Italy during the 1970s have been preserved on CD, including the title roles in Alfano's ''

Cyrano de Bergerac Savinien de Cyrano de Bergerac ( , ; 6 March 1619 – 28 July 1655) was a French novelist, playwright, epistolarian, and duelist. A bold and innovative author, his work was part of the libertine literature of the first half of the 17th cen ...

'' and Mercadante's ''

Il bravo ''Il bravo, ossia La Veneziana'' ("The Assassin, or The Venetian Woman") is an opera in three acts by Saverio Mercadante to an Italian-language libretto by Gaetano Rossi and Marco Marcello. Their libretto was based on the play ''La Vénétienne'' ...

''.

Life and career

Johns was born in

Tulsa, Oklahoma Tulsa () is the second-largest city in the state of Oklahoma and 47th-most populous city in the United States. The population was 413,066 as of the 2020 census. It is the principal municipality of the Tulsa Metropolitan Area, a region with ...

. He attended Capitol Hill High School in Oklahoma City and then studied vocal performance and music at

Oklahoma City University Oklahoma City University (OCU) is a private university historically affiliated with the United Methodist Church and located in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. The university offers undergraduate bachelor's degrees, graduate master's degrees and docto ...

, followed by further study in New York. Forbes, Elizabeth (2001)
"Johns, William"
Grove Music Online. Retrieved 26 October 2015 (subscription required for full access). A national finalist in the 1965

Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions The Metropolitan Opera Eric and Dominique Laffont Competition (formerly the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions) is an annual singing competition sponsored by the Metropolitan Opera. Established in 1954, its purpose is to discover, assist ...

, he made his professional début in 1967 at

Lake George Opera Opera Saratoga (until January 2011, named the Lake George Opera) is a professional opera company based in Saratoga Springs, New York. It performs an annual summer festival of three fully staged operas and operettas. The company and its associated ...

as Rodolfo in ''

La bohème ''La bohème'' (; ) is an opera in four acts,Puccini called the divisions '' quadri'', '' tableaux'' or "images", rather than ''atti'' (acts). composed by Giacomo Puccini between 1893 and 1895 to an Italian libretto by Luigi Illica and Giusep ...

''. That same year he went to Germany and was primarily based there throughout the 1970s, first as a company soloist at the Bremen Opera (1967–1971), and then at the

National Theatre Mannheim The Mannheim National Theatre (german: Nationaltheater Mannheim) is a theatre and opera company in Mannheim, Germany, with a variety of performance spaces. It was founded in 1779 and is one of the oldest theatres in Germany. History In the 18 ...

(1971–1975) and the

Cologne Opera The Cologne Opera (German language, German: Oper der Stadt Köln or Oper Köln) refers both to the main opera house in Cologne, Germany and to its resident opera company. History of the company From the mid 18th century, opera was performed in th ...

(1975–1979).Kutsch,

Karl-Josef Kutsch Karl-Josef Kutsch, also known as K. J. Kutsch, (born 11 May 1924) is a German physician and co-author with Leo Riemens of the ''Großes Sängerlexikon'', the standard reference for opera singers. Life and work Born in Gangelt, Kutsch studied ...

and

Leo Riemens Leonardus Antony Marinus Riemens (3 December 1910 – 3 April 1985) was a Dutch musicologist and cultural journalist. He wrote a book about Maria Callas, and together with Karl-Josef Kutsch began a reference book about opera singers in 1962, which ...

(2004)
"Johns, William"
''

Großes Sängerlexikon ''Großes Sängerlexikon'' (''Biographical Dictionary of Singers'', literally: Large singers' lexicon) is a single-field dictionary of singers in classical music, edited by Karl-Josef Kutsch and Leo Riemens and first published in 1987. The first ...

'', Vol. 4, . Walter de Gruyter. He sang in five productions the Bayreuth Festival, initially in smaller roles such as 2nd noble of Brabant in ''

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 ...

'' (1968), 4th Esquire in ''

Parsifal ''Parsifal'' ( WWV 111) is an opera or a music drama in three acts by the German composer Richard Wagner and his last composition. Wagner's own libretto for the work is loosely based on the 13th-century Middle High German epic poem ''Parzival ...

'' (1969), and Augustin Moser in '' Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg'' (1968 and 1969), but returned there in 1987 in the leading role of Walther von Stolzing in ''Die Meistersinger'' (one performance). Bayreuth Festival Archives
"William Johns"
Retrieved 26 October 2015 . The late 1970s and 1980s saw several major house and festival debuts in Europe and the United States. Johns's first appearance at

Lyric Opera of Chicago Lyric Opera of Chicago is one of the leading opera companies in the United States. It was founded in Chicago in 1954, under the name 'Lyric Theatre of Chicago' by Carol Fox, Nicola Rescigno and Lawrence Kelly, with a season that included Maria ...

was in 1976 as Hoffmann in ''

Les Contes d'Hoffmann ''The Tales of Hoffmann'' (French: ) is an by Jacques Offenbach. The French libretto was written by Jules Barbier, based on three short stories by E. T. A. Hoffmann, who is the protagonist of the story. It was Offenbach's final work; he died in ...

''. He later returned there as Walther von Stolzing in ''Die Meistersinger'' (1977), Bacchus in ''

Ariadne auf Naxos (''Ariadne on Naxos''), Op. 60, is a 1912 opera by Richard Strauss with a German libretto by Hugo von Hofmannsthal. The opera's unusual combination of elements of low commedia dell'arte with those of high opera seria points up one of the work's ...

'' (1981), and the title role in '' Otello'' (1985). He made his

Metropolitan Opera The Metropolitan Opera (commonly known as the Met) is an American opera company based in New York City, resident at the Metropolitan Opera House at Lincoln Center, currently situated on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. The company is oper ...

debut in 1979 as Don José in '' Carmen'' and went on to appear there in 28 performances through 1993, primarily in

dramatic tenor A tenor is a type of classical male singing voice whose vocal range lies between the countertenor and baritone voice types. It is the highest male chest voice type. The tenor's vocal range extends up to C5. The low extreme for tenors is wid ...

and Wagnerian roles. His last Met performance was in the title role of ''

Siegfried Siegfried is a German-language male given name, composed from the Germanic elements ''sig'' "victory" and ''frithu'' "protection, peace". The German name has the Old Norse cognate ''Sigfriðr, Sigfrøðr'', which gives rise to Swedish ''Sigfrid' ...

''.

Archives
"Johns, William (Tenor)"
Retrieved 26 October 2015. Other major house debuts during this period included the Paris Opera in 1985 as Tristan in ''

Tristan und Isolde ''Tristan und Isolde'' (''Tristan and Isolde''), WWV 90, is an opera in three acts by Richard Wagner to a German libretto by the composer, based largely on the 12th-century romance Tristan and Iseult by Gottfried von Strassburg. It was comp ...

'', La Scala in 1986 as The Emperor in the ''

Die Frau ohne Schatten ' (''The Woman without a Shadow''), Op. 65, is an opera in three acts by Richard Strauss with a libretto by his long-time collaborator, the poet Hugo von Hofmannsthal. It was written between 1911 and either 1915 or 1917. When it premiered at the V ...

'', and the

Royal Opera House The Royal Opera House (ROH) is an opera house and major performing arts venue in Covent Garden, central London. The large building is often referred to as simply Covent Garden, after a previous use of the site. It is the home of The Royal Ope ...

in 1987 as Bacchus in ''Ariadne auf Naxos''.

Recordings

*Alfano: ''

'' – (as Cyrano).

RAI National Symphony Orchestra The RAI National Symphony Orchestra ( it, italic=no, Orchestra Sinfonica Nazionale della RAI) is an Italian symphony radio orchestra, owned by the public radio and television company RAI. Its primary concert venue is the Auditorium RAI in the Piaz ...

, Maurizio Arena (conductor). Label: Opera D'oro *Mayr: ''

Medea in Corinto ''Medea in Corinto'' (''Medea in Corinth'') is an 1813 opera in Italian by the composer Simon Mayr. It takes the form of a ''melodramma tragico'' in two acts. The libretto, by Felice Romani, is based on the Greek myth of Medea and the plays on t ...

'' – (as Giasone).

Teatro San Carlo The Real Teatro di San Carlo ("Royal Theatre of Saint Charles"), as originally named by the Bourbon monarchy but today known simply as the Teatro (di) San Carlo, is an opera house in Naples, Italy, connected to the Royal Palace and adjacent ...

Orchestra and Chorus, Maurizio Arena (conductor). Label: Myto Records * Mercadante: ''

'' (as il bravo).

Teatro dell'Opera di Roma The Teatro dell'Opera di Roma (Rome Opera House) is an opera house in Rome, Italy. Originally opened in November 1880 as the 2,212 seat ''Costanzi Theatre'', it has undergone several changes of name as well modifications and improvements. The pre ...

Orchestra and Chorus,

Gabriele Ferro Gabriele Ferro is a Grand Prix motorcycle racer from Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its ...

(conductor). Label: Warner Fonit *

Puccini Giacomo Puccini ( Lucca, 22 December 1858Bruxelles, 29 November 1924) was an Italian composer known primarily for his operas. Regarded as the greatest and most successful proponent of Italian opera after Verdi, he was descended from a long ...

: '' Messa di Gloria'' (tenor soloist). Symphonic Orchestra and Chorus of the Gulbenkian Foundation of Lisbon,

Michel Corboz Michel Corboz (14 February 1934 – 2 September 2021) was a Swiss conductor. Life Corboz was born in Marsens, Switzerland, and educated in his native canton of Fribourg. He studied vocal performance and composition at the conservatory in Fribourg ...

. (conductor). Label: Erato *Wagner: '' Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg'' – (as Augustin Moser). Bayreuth Festival Orchestra and Chorus,

Karl Böhm Karl August Leopold Böhm (28 August 1894 – 14 August 1981) was an Austrian conductor. He was best known for his performances of the music of Mozart, Wagner, and Richard Strauss. Life and career Education Karl Böhm was born in Graz. T ...

(conductor). Label: Orfeo D'Or

References

External links

Interview with William Johns
by Bruce Duffie, November 30, 1980 {{DEFAULTSORT:Johns, William American operatic tenors 1936 births Living people Musicians from Tulsa, Oklahoma Oklahoma City University alumni Winners of the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions Singers from Oklahoma 20th-century American male opera singers