Gregory Kunde (February 24, 1954, Kankakee, Illinois) is an American operatic

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 ...

particularly associated with the French and Italian repertoires.

Career

Kunde studied choral conducting and voice at

Illinois State University Illinois State University (ISU) is a public university in Normal, Illinois. Founded in 1857 as Illinois State Normal University, it is the oldest public university in Illinois. The university emphasizes teaching and is recognized as one of th ...

before making his professional debut in 1978 at the

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 ...

, as Cassio in '' Otello'', later singing Prunier in '' La rondine'', and Vanya in ''

Katya Kabanova Katya is a feminine given name. It is a very popular name in Russia, Ukraine, Bulgaria, Serbia, and North Macedonia. It is a Russian diminutive form of Yekaterina, which is a Russian form of Katherine.This name is also can be spelled Katia.MFnames ...

''. He appeared at the Opéra de Montréal as Tybalt in '' Roméo et Juliette'', and as Arturo in ''

I puritani ' (''The Puritans'') is an 1835 opera by Vincenzo Bellini. It was originally written in two acts and later changed to three acts on the advice of Gioachino Rossini, with whom the young composer had become friends. The music was set to a libretto ...

'', opposite Luciana Serra, which revealed his affinity for the bel canto repertory and his impressive upper register, reaching a high F (above the tenor high C) in falsettone. He made his debut at the

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 ...

in New York as the

understudy In theater, an understudy, referred to in opera as cover or covering, is a performer who learns the lines and blocking or choreography of a regular actor, actress, or other performer in a play. Should the regular actor or actress be unable to a ...

for the role of des Grieux in

Massenet Jules Émile Frédéric Massenet (; 12 May 1842 – 13 August 1912) was a French composer of the Romantic music, Romantic era best known for his operas, of which he wrote more than thirty. The two most frequently staged are ''Manon'' (1884) ...

's '' Manon'' opposite soprano

Catherine Malfitano Catherine Malfitano (born April 18, 1948) is an American operatic soprano and opera director. Malfitano was born in New York City, the daughter of a ballet dancer mother, Maria Maslova, and a violinist father, Joseph Malfitano. She attended the ...

in 1987, replacing the indisposed Dénes Gulyás for just one performance. He did not return to the Metropolitan Opera for another 13 years, where he was again stepping in for an indisposed colleague in one performance of their 2000 production of Rossini's ''La cenerentola''–a procedure that would then become standard for Kunde's Metropolitan Opera career, replacing an ill colleague again in 2006 for their production of Bellini's ''

'' opposite star soprano Anna Netrebko, and most recently in 2019 for their production of Saint-Saen's ''

Samson et Dalila ''Samson and Delilah'' (french: Samson et Dalila, links=no), Op. 47, is a grand opera in three acts and four scenes by Camille Saint-Saëns to a French libretto by Ferdinand Lemaire. It was first performed in Weimar at the (Grand Ducal) Theater ( ...

,'' a series of performances with which he received critical acclaim. He won considerable acclaim in Europe in ''

Les Huguenots () is an opera by Giacomo Meyerbeer and is one of the most popular and spectacular examples of grand opera. In five acts, to a libretto by Eugène Scribe and Émile Deschamps, it premiered in Paris on 29 February 1836. Composition history ...

'', '' A Life for the Tsar'', and ''

Anna Bolena ''Anna Bolena'' is a tragic opera (''tragedia lirica'') in two acts composed by Gaetano Donizetti. Felice Romani wrote the Italian libretto after Ippolito Pindemonte's ''Enrico VIII ossia Anna Bolena'' and Alessandro Pepoli's ''Anna Bolena'', bo ...

'', and at the Pesaro Festival in 1992, as Idreno in '' Semiramide'', and in 1993, as Rinaldo in '' Armida'', opposite

Renée Fleming Renée Lynn Fleming (born February 14, 1959) is an American soprano, known for performances in opera, concerts, recordings, theater, film, and at major public occasions. A recipient of the National Medal of Arts, Fleming has been nominated for ...

. Other notable roles include; ''

Mitridate, re di Ponto ''Mitridate, re di Ponto'' ('' Mithridates, King of Pontus''), K. 87 (74a), is an opera seria in three acts by the young Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. The libretto is by , after Giuseppe Parini's Italian translation of Jean Racine's play '' Mithrida ...

'', Rodrigo in ''

La donna del lago ''La donna del lago'' (English: ''The Lady of the Lake'') is an opera composed by Gioachino Rossini with a libretto by Andrea Leone Tottola (whose verses are described as "limpid" by one critic) based on the French translationOsborne, Charles 19 ...

'', Arnold in ''

Guillaume Tell ''William Tell'' (french: Guillaume Tell, link=no; it, Guglielmo Tell, link=no) is a French-language opera in four acts by Italian composer Gioachino Rossini to a libretto by Victor-Joseph Étienne de Jouy and L. F. Bis, based on Friedrich Sc ...

'', Ernesto in ''

Don Pasquale ''Don Pasquale'' () is an opera buffa, or comic opera, in three acts by Gaetano Donizetti with an Italian libretto completed largely by Giovanni Ruffini as well as the composer. It was based on a libretto by Angelo Anelli for Stefano Pavesi's ...

'', Nadir in '' Les pêcheurs de perles'', Roméo in '' Roméo et Juliette'', Enée in '' Les Troyens'' etc. In November 2012 he made an unexpected, successful debut as Verdi's '' Otello'' in Venice, becoming possibly the first tenor able to sing both Rossini's and Verdi' s version in the same year. He can be heard on disc notably as '' Benvenuto Cellini'', and as Gérald in ''

Lakmé ''Lakmé'' is an opera in three acts by Léo Delibes to a French libretto by Edmond Gondinet and Philippe Gille. The score, written from 1881 to 1882, was first performed on 14 April 1883 by the Opéra-Comique at the (second) Salle Favart in ...

'', opposite

Natalie Dessay Natalie Dessay (; born 19 April 1965) is a French singer, known for her former career as an operatic soprano. She gained wide recognition after her portrayal of Olympia in ''The Tales of Hoffmann'' in 1992, and then performing at leading stages, ...

. He resides in Rochester, New York, with his wife Linda, and his daughter Isabella.

Selected recordings

Hector Berlioz, '' Benvenuto Cellini,'' Gregory Kunde, Benvenuto Cellini,

Patrizia Ciofi Patrizia Ciofi (born 7 June 1967) is an Italian operatic coloratura soprano. Career Born in Casole d'Elsa, Ciofi studied at the Istituto Musicale Pietro Mascagni in Livorno. She subsequently took part in master classes at the Accademia Musicale ...

, Teresa,

Laurent Naouri Laurent Naouri, Chevalier L.H. (born May 23, 1964) is a French bass-baritone. Initially beginning his education at the École Centrale de Lyon, Naouri decided to concentrate on opera in 1986 and continued his musical studies at the Guildhall S ...

, Balducci,

Joyce DiDonato Joyce DiDonato (née Flaherty; born February 13, 1969) is an American lyric-coloratura mezzo-soprano. She is notable for her interpretations of operas and concert works in the 19th-century romantic era in addition to works by Handel and Mozart. ...

, Ascanio,

Jean-François Lapointe Jean-François Lapointe is a Canadian baritone opera singer. Career Born in the region of Saguenay–Lac-Saint-Jean, Quebec, Jean-François Lapointe first studied piano and violin and, at the age of 16, devoted himself entirely to singing. He w ...

, Fieramosca, Renaud Délègue, Le Pape Clément VII, Choeur de Radio France, Orchestre National de France, conducted by John Nelson, 3 CD Erato Warner classics 2004

References

Sources

* ''Guide de l'opéra'', Roland Mancini & Jean-Jacques Rouveroux, (Fayard, 1995)

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kunde, Gregory 1954 births Living people American operatic tenors Illinois State University alumni People from Kankakee, Illinois Singers from Illinois Classical musicians from Illinois 20th-century American male opera singers 21st-century American male opera singers