Kenneth Riegel

Kenneth Riegel (April 19, 1938 – June 28, 2023) was an American opera tenor.^[1]

Kenneth Riegel
Born	(1938-04-19)April 19, 1938 Womelsdorf, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Died	June 28, 2023(2023-06-28) (aged 85) Sarasota, Florida, U.S.
Occupation	Singer
Years active	1965–2005

Life and career

Riegel was born on April 19, 1938, in Womelsdorf, Pennsylvania.^[1] He made his theatrical début as the Alchemist in König Hirsch at Santa Fe Opera in 1965, debuting at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden in the same year.^[2] He was engaged at the New York City Opera from 1969 (debut in L'heure espanole, with Karan Armstrong) to 1974.^[2]

During this period, in 1969,1971 & 1974 he was a soloist with the Naumburg Orchestral Concerts, in the Naumburg Bandshell, Central Park, in the summer series. ^[3]

He debuted at the Metropolitan Opera in Les Troyens in 1973 (as Iopas, opposite Jon Vickers and Shirley Verrett), subsequently appearing at the Met in another 102 performances in operas including La clemenza di Tito, Les contes d'Hoffmann, Elektra, Fidelio, Lulu, Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg, The Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny, Salome, Die Zauberflöte and Wozzeck.^[4] He made his first appearance at the Salzburg Festival in 1975.^[2] In 1979, he sang Alwa at the first performance of the 3 act version of Lulu at the Paris Opera. He played the title role in Der Zwerg in Hamburg in 1981.^[2] In 1983, he created the role of the Leper in Saint François d'Assise.^[2]

Kenneth Riegel died in Sarasota, Florida on June 28, 2023, at the age of 85.^[5]

Partial discography

• Haydn: Harmoniemesse (Blegen; Bernstein, 1973) Sony
• Mozart: Don Giovanni (Raimondi; Maazel, 1978) Sony
• Berg: Lulu (Stratas; Boulez, 1979) Deutsche Grammophon
• Berlioz: La damnation de Faust (von Stade, van Dam; Solti, 1981) Decca | Berlioz: La damnation de Faust (Georg Solti recording)
• Messiaen: Saint François d'Assise (van Dam; Ozawa, 1983) Cybélia
• Henze: The Bassarids (Armstrong; Albrecht, 1986) koch schwann
• Mussorgsky: Boris Godounov (Vishnevskaya, Raimondi, Plishka; Rostropovich, 1987) Erato
• Strauss: Salome (Malfitano, Schwarz, Terfel; Dohnányi, 1994) Decca

Selected filmography

• Mozart: Don Giovanni (Raimondi; Maazel, Losey, 1979)
• Berg: Lulu (Migenes; Levine, Dexter, 1980, Metropolitan Opera)
• Strauss: Salome (Ewing, Knight, Devlin; Downes, Hall, 1992, Covent Garden)
• Strauss: Salome (Malfitano, Silja, Terfel; Dohnányi, Bondy, 1997, Covent Garden)