Alan Titus (born in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

, on October 28, 1945) is an internationally celebrated

baritone A baritone is a type of classical music, classical male singing human voice, voice whose vocal range lies between the bass (voice type), bass and the tenor voice type, voice-types. It is the most common male voice. The term originates from the ...

Life and career

Titus studied under

Aksel Schiøtz Aksel Schiøtz (1 September 190619 April 1975) was a Danish tenor and later baritone, who was considered one of Europe's leading lieder singers of the post-World War II period.Alan Blyth"Review: The Singer and His Art by Aksel Schiøtz" ''The Musi ...

at the Colorado School of Music, and Hans Heinz at

The Juilliard School The Juilliard School ( ) is a Private university, private performing arts music school, conservatory in New York City. Founded by Frank Damrosch as the Institute of Musical Art in 1905, the school later added dance and drama programs and became ...

. His official debut was as Marcello in ''La bohème'' in Washington, D.C., in 1969. He came to prominence, however, in

Leonard Bernstein Leonard Bernstein ( ; born Louis Bernstein; August 25, 1918 – October 14, 1990) was an American conductor, composer, pianist, music educator, author, and humanitarian. Considered to be one of the most important conductors of his time, he was th ...

's theatre piece ''

MASS Mass is an Intrinsic and extrinsic properties, intrinsic property of a physical body, body. It was traditionally believed to be related to the physical quantity, quantity of matter in a body, until the discovery of the atom and particle physi ...

'', creating the role of the Celebrant. ''MASS'' was commissioned by former First Lady

Jacqueline Kennedy Jacqueline Lee Kennedy Onassis ( ; July 28, 1929 – May 19, 1994) was an American writer, book editor, and socialite who served as the first lady of the United States from 1961 to 1963, as the wife of President John F. Kennedy. A popular f ...

for the September 1971 opening of the

Kennedy Center The John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts, commonly known as the Kennedy Center, is the national cultural center of the United States, located on the eastern bank of the Potomac River in Washington, D.C. Opened on September 8, ...

in Washington, D.C. Titus created the role of Archie Kramer in

Lee Hoiby Lee Henry Hoiby (February 17, 1926 – March 28, 2011) was an American composer and classical pianist. Best known as a composer of operas and songs, he was a disciple of composer Gian Carlo Menotti. Like Menotti, his works championed lyricism at ...

's ''Summer and Smoke'' (after

Tennessee Williams Thomas Lanier Williams III (March 26, 1911 – February 25, 1983), known by his pen name Tennessee Williams, was an American playwright and screenwriter. Along with contemporaries Eugene O'Neill and Arthur Miller, he is considered among the three ...

) in St. Paul in 1971, and repeated the role in his

New York City Opera The New York City Opera (NYCO) is an American opera company located in Manhattan in New York City. The company has been active from 1943 through its 2013 bankruptcy, and again since 2016 when it was revived. The opera company, dubbed "the peopl ...

debut that same year. He found a home at the

, where he was a leading baritone for many seasons. He participated in nationally televised performances of ''Il barbiere di Siviglia'' (with

Beverly Sills Beverly Sills (born Belle Miriam Silverman; May 25, 1929July 2, 2007) was an American operatic soprano whose career peak was between the 1950s and 1970s. Although she sang a repertoire from Handel and Mozart to Puccini, Massenet and Verd ...

, 1976), ''Il turco in Italia'' (1978), ''La Cenerentola'' (opposite

Susanne Marsee Susanne Marsee (born Susan Irene Dowell; November 26, 1941, San Diego, California) is an American mezzo-soprano of note, particularly acclaimed as a singing-actress. Her principal teacher was Nadine Conner, and her educational background includes ...

and

Rockwell Blake Rockwell Blake (born January 10, 1951) is an American operatic tenor, particularly known for his roles in Rossini operas. He was the first winner of the Richard Tucker Award. Biography Born and raised in Plattsburgh, NY, Blake was the son of a ...

, 1980), and ''Madama Butterfly'' (conducted by

Christopher Keene Christopher Keene (December 21, 1946 – October 8, 1995) was an American conductor. Early life and education Keene was born in 1946 in Berkeley, California, the son of Yvonne (née Cyr) and Jim Keene. His mother was of Acadian, German, and Scott ...

, 1982). He made his only appearances with the

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

in 1976, as Harlekin in ''Ariadne auf Naxos'', with

Montserrat Caballé María de Montserrat Bibiana Concepción Caballé i Folch or Folc (12 April 1933 – 6 October 2018), also known as Montserrat Caballé (i Folch), was a Spanish operatic soprano from Catalonia. Widely considered to be one of the best sopranos ...

. In 1974, the baritone appeared in the world premiere of

Hans Werner Henze Hans Werner Henze (1 July 1926 – 27 October 2012) was a German composer. His large List of compositions by Hans Werner Henze, oeuvre is extremely varied in style, having been influenced by serialism, atonality, Igor Stravinsky, Stravinsky, Mu ...

's ''Rachel, la cubana'', for WNET Opera Theatre, opposite Lee Venora and Marsee, conducted by the composer. In 1973, Titus made his European debut, in Amsterdam, as Pelléas in Debussy's '' Pelléas et Mélisande''. He has since been heard at Glyndebourne, Munich, Milan, Madrid, Barcelona, Vienna, Paris, Rome, London (

Covent Garden Covent Garden is a district in London, on the eastern fringes of the West End, between St Martin's Lane and Drury Lane. It is associated with the former fruit-and-vegetable market in the central square, now a popular shopping and tourist sit ...

), Berlin, etc. At the

Teatro alla Scala La Scala (, , ; officially , ) is a historic opera house in Milan, Italy. The theatre was inaugurated on 3 August 1778 and was originally known as (, which previously was a church). The premiere performance was Antonio Salieri's ''Europa r ...

, the baritone appeared in ''Arabella'' (1992), ''Elektra'' (directed by

Luca Ronconi Luca Ronconi (8 March 1933 – 21 February 2015) was an Italian actor, theatre director, and opera director. Biography Ronconi was born in Sousse, Tunisia. After growing up in Tunisia, where his mother was a school teacher, Ronconi graduated ...

, 1994), ''La fanciulla del West'' (1995), ''Die Frau ohne Schatten'' (in

Jean-Pierre Ponnelle Jean-Pierre Ponnelle (; 19 February 1932 – 11 August 1988) was a French opera director, set and costume designer. Biography Ponnelle was born in Paris. He studied philosophy, art, and history there and, in 1952, began his career in Germany ...

's production, 1999), and ''Salome'' (2002). He made his

Bayreuth Festival The Bayreuth Festival () is a music festival held annually in Bayreuth, Germany, at which performances of stage works by the 19th-century German composer Richard Wagner are presented. Wagner himself conceived and promoted the idea of a special ...

debut in 1998, in the title role in ''Der fliegende Holländer'' and repeated the role in 1999. At Bayreuth in 2000, he portrayed Wotan in ''Das Rheingold'' and ''Die Walküre'' and The Wanderer in ''Siegfried''; and repeated all three roles in 2001, 2002, 2003 and 2004. He portrayed Wotan at the Teatro Real de Madrid in 2003. He returned to Bayreuth in 2009 to portray Hans Sachs/Schuster in ''Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg''. In 1994, the singing-actor was awarded the title of Kammersänger, in Munich. In his discography are recordings of Beethoven's ''Fidelio'' (as Don Pizarro) and Ninth Symphony (conducted by

Giuseppe Sinopoli Giuseppe Sinopoli (; 2 November 1946 – 20 April 2001) was an Italian conductor and composer. Biography Sinopoli was born in Venice, Italy, and later studied at the Benedetto Marcello Conservatory in Venice under Ernesto Rubin de Cerv ...

), Bizet's ''Carmen'', Catalani's ''La Wally'' (as Gellner), Donizetti's ''Don Pasquale'' (with Sills, conducted by

Sarah Caldwell Sarah Caldwell (March 6, 1924March 23, 2006) was an American opera conductor, impresario, and stage director. Early life Caldwell was born in Maryville, Missouri, and grew up in Fayetteville, Arkansas Fayetteville ( ) is the List of cit ...

), Haydn's ''La fedeltà premiata'' (conducted by

Antal Doráti Antal Doráti (, , ; 9 April 1906 – 13 November 1988) was a Hungarian-born conductor and composer who became a naturalized American citizen in 1943. Biography Antal Doráti was born in Budapest to a Jewish family. His father Alexander Do ...

), Lehár's ''Die lustige Witwe'' (excerpts, in English, under

Julius Rudel Julius Rudel (6 March 1921 – 26 June 2014) was an Austrian-born American opera and orchestra conductor. He was born in Vienna and was a student at the city's Academy of Music. He immigrated to the United States at the age of 17 in 1938 after th ...

), Leoncavallo's ''La bohème'', Mozart's ''Don Giovanni'' (led by

Rafael Kubelík Rafael Jeroným Kubelík, KBE (29 June 1914 – 11 August 1996) was a Czech conductor and composer. The son of a distinguished violinist, Jan Kubelík, he was trained in Prague and made his debut with the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra at the a ...

) and ''Le nozze di Figaro'' (as Figaro, conducted by Sir

Colin Davis Sir Colin Rex Davis (25 September 1927 – 14 April 2013) was an English conductor, known for his association with the London Symphony Orchestra, having first conducted it in 1959. His repertoire was broad, but among the composers with whom ...

), Puccini's ''La bohème'' (led by

Kent Nagano Kent George Nagano (born November 22, 1951) is an American conductor and opera administrator. Since 2015, he has been ''Generalmusikdirektor'' (GMD) of the Hamburg State Opera (until 2025). Early life and education Nagano was born in Berkeley, ...

), and Verdi's ''Falstaff'' (as Ford, with Sir Colin Davis). Titus retired in 2010, following a forty-year career.Kyle MacMillan
"East High baritone Alan Titus played ''MASS'' Celebrant,"
''The Denver Post'', April 22, 2011.

References

Bibliography

* ''The Metropolitan Opera Encyclopedia'', edited by David Hamilton, Simon and Schuster, 1987.

External links

Alan Titus in a excerpt from ''Pagliacci'' (1989).
{{DEFAULTSORT:Titus, Alan American operatic baritones 1945 births Grammy Award winners Living people Juilliard School alumni Singers from New York City Classical musicians from New York (state) 20th-century American male opera singers 21st-century American male opera singers

Life and career

See also

References

Bibliography

External links