Carlos Alexander (October 15, 1915 – September 4, 1991) was a dramatic

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 ...

and stage director of opera, best known as a singing-actor in German repertoire.

Biography

Born in

Utica, New York Utica () is the county seat of Oneida County, New York, United States. The tenth-most populous city in New York, its population was 65,283 in the 2020 census. It is located on the Mohawk River in the Mohawk Valley at the foot of the Adiro ...

, he debuted as a singer in Scranton, Pennsylvania, as the Conte di Luna in ''Il trovatore'', in 1940. As director, his first production was of ''Die Fledermaus'', for the

Pittsburgh Opera Pittsburgh Opera is an American opera company based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Pittsburgh Opera gives performances in several venues, primarily at the Benedum Center, with other performances at the Pittsburgh Creative and Performing Arts Sch ...

, in 1944. Alexander sang with companies in Latin and North America and Europe, including Bayreuth (Sixtus Beckmesser in Wieland Wagner's ''Die Meistersinger'', 1963 and 1964). Operas in which he appeared include ''Lulu'', ''Il prigioniero'', ''Moses und Aron'', ''Der fliegende Holländer'', ''Lohengrin'', ''Parsifal'' (as Amfortas), ''Der Ring des Nibelungen'' (as Wotan), and ''Tristan und Isolde''. In 1947, the baritone appeared in ''Ariadne auf Naxos'' (as the Major-Domo) and ''Salome'' (as Jochanaan) at the

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 ...

. His 1950 performance, at

Carnegie Hall Carnegie Hall ( ) is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. It is at 881 Seventh Avenue (Manhattan), Seventh Avenue, occupying the east side of Seventh Avenue between 56th Street (Manhattan), 56th and 57th Street (Manhattan), 57t ...

, of Mahler's Symphony No. 8, under

Leopold Stokowski Leopold Anthony Stokowski (18 April 1882 – 13 September 1977) was a British-born American conductor. One of the leading conductors of the early and mid-20th century, he is best known for his long association with the Philadelphia Orchestra. H ...

, was recorded, with George London and Eugene Conley among the other soloists. Also in his discography is a 1961 studio recording of Orff's '' Antigonae'' (as Kreon), opposite Inge Borkh. In 1968, he portrayed Dr Schön in the Stuttgart film of Wieland's production of ''

Lulu Lulu may refer to: Companies * LuLu, an early automobile manufacturer * Lulu.com, an online e-books and print self-publishing platform, distributor, and retailer * Lulu Hypermarket, a retail chain in Asia * Lululemon Athletica or simply Lulu, a C ...

'', with Anja Silja in the title role. At the Vienna Staatsoper, Alexander appeared in ''

Arabella ''Arabella'', Op. 79, is a lyric comedy, or opera, in three acts by Richard Strauss to a German libretto by Hugo von Hofmannsthal, their sixth and last operatic collaboration. Performance history It was first performed on 1 July 1933 at the D ...

'' (1959 and 1965), ''

Salome Salome (; , related to , "peace"; ), also known as Salome III, was a Jews, Jewish princess, the daughter of Herod II and princess Herodias. She was granddaughter of Herod the Great and stepdaughter of Herod Antipas. She is known from the New T ...

'' (1959), ''Prince Igor'' (1960), ''

Götterdämmerung ' (; ''Twilight of the Gods''), Wagner-Werk-Verzeichnis, WWV 86D, is the last of the four epic poetry, epic music dramas that constitute Richard Wagner's Literary cycle, cycle ''Der Ring des Nibelungen'' (English: ''The Ring of the Nibelung''). I ...

'' (as Gunther, 1960), ''

Der fliegende Holländer ' (''The Flying Dutchman''), Wagner-Werk-Verzeichnis, WWV 63, is a German-language opera, with libretto and music by Richard Wagner. The central theme is redemption through love. Wagner Conducting, conducted the premiere at the Königliches Hofthe ...

'' (1964), ''

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 Wo ...

'' (as Friedrich von Telramund, 1967), ''

Die Zauberflöte ''The Magic Flute'' (, ), K. 620, is an opera in two acts by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart to a German libretto by Emanuel Schikaneder. It is a ''Singspiel'', a popular form that included both singing and spoken dialogue. The work premiered on ...

'' (as the Sprecher, 1967), ''Prometheus'' (the name part, 1969), and Penderecki's '' Die Teufel von Loudon'' (as Urbain Grandier, 1973). As director, Alexander's productions were seen in Toronto, Stuttgart, Chicago, New Orleans (''

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 ...

'', 1947), Pittsburgh, and Santa Fe. His stagings included ''

Fidelio ''Fidelio'' (; ), originally titled ' (''Leonore, or The Triumph of Marital Love''), Opus number, Op. 72, is the sole opera by German composer Ludwig van Beethoven. The libretto was originally prepared by Joseph Sonnleithner from the French of ...

'', ''

The Rape of Lucretia ''The Rape of Lucretia'' (Op. 37) is an opera in two acts by Benjamin Britten, written for Kathleen Ferrier, who performed the title role. Ronald Duncan based his English libretto on André Obey's play '. Performance history The opera wa ...

'', ''

Madama Butterfly ''Madama Butterfly'' (; ''Madame Butterfly'') is an opera in three acts (originally two) by Giacomo Puccini, with an Italian libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa. It is based on the short story " Madame Butterfly" (1898) by John Lu ...

'', ''Salome'', and ''Der fliegende Holländer''. Of the Kammersänger's Wotan, Wieland Wagner declared that, "No vocal giant has moved me so deeply in Wotan's Farewell as Alexander."

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Alexander, Carlos 1915 births 1991 deaths American operatic baritones Musicians from Utica, New York 20th-century American male opera singers Classical musicians from New York (state)