Jess Thomas (August 4, 1927 – October 11, 1993) was an American operatic tenor, best known for singing the works of

Richard Wagner Wilhelm Richard Wagner ( ; ; 22 May 181313 February 1883) was a German composer, theatre director, essayist, and conductor who is chiefly known for his operas (or, as some of his mature works were later known, "music dramas"). Unlike most o ...

Early life and education

Jess Thomas Sculpture by Hortensia Fussy

Jess Floyd Thomas was born in

Hot Springs, South Dakota Hot Springs (Lakota: ''mni kȟáta''; "hot water") is a city in and the county seat of Fall River County, South Dakota, United States. As of the 2020 census, the city population was 3,395. In addition, neighboring Oglala Lakota County contracts ...

. As a child, he took part in various musical activities and studied psychology at the

University of Nebraska A university () is an educational institution, institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several Discipline (academia), academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly ...

. For several years, he worked as a high school guidance counselor, before enrolling at

Stanford University Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth ...

for an MA. Learning that the operatic department was producing Verdi's ''

Falstaff Sir John Falstaff is a fictional character who appears in three plays by William Shakespeare and is eulogised in a fourth. His significance as a fully developed character is primarily formed in the plays ''Henry IV, Part 1'' and '' Part 2'', w ...

'', he auditioned for Otto Schulmann, the vocal professor, and obtained the role of Fenton. He studied with Schulmann for three years before his operatic debut in 1957.

Operatic career

Thomas debuted in 1957 for the

San Francisco Opera The San Francisco Opera (SFO) is an American opera company founded in 1923 by Gaetano Merola (1881–1953) based in San Francisco, California. History Gaetano Merola (1923–1953) Merola's road to prominence in the Bay Area began in 1906 wh ...

, performing in

Richard Strauss Richard Georg Strauss (; ; 11 June 1864 – 8 September 1949) was a German composer and conductor best known for his Tone poems (Strauss), tone poems and List of operas by Richard Strauss, operas. Considered a leading composer of the late Roman ...

's ''

Der Rosenkavalier (''The Knight of the Rose'' or ''The Rose-Bearer''), Op. 59, is a comic opera in three acts by Richard Strauss to an original German libretto by Hugo von Hofmannsthal. It is loosely adapted from Louvet de Couvrai's novel ''Les amours du cheva ...

'' as the Haushofmeister. In 1958, he performed in the title role of

's ''

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 ...

'' for the

Badisches Staatstheater Karlsruhe The Badisches Staatstheater Karlsruhe is a theatre and opera house in Karlsruhe, Germany. It has existed in its present form and place at Ettlinger Tor since 1975. Achim Thorwald became the Theater manager, Intendant in summer 2002 and held that ...

at the commencement of a career in Germany. At

Bayreuth Bayreuth ( or ; High Franconian German, Upper Franconian: Bareid, ) is a Town#Germany, town in northern Bavaria, Germany, on the Red Main river in a valley between the Franconian Jura and the Fichtel Mountains. The town's roots date back to 11 ...

, he established his reputation as a Wagnerian tenor, performing in the following roles and operas: *

Parsifal ''Parsifal'' ( WWV 111) is a music drama in three acts by the German composer Richard Wagner and his last composition. Wagner's own libretto for the work is freely based on the 13th-century Middle High German chivalric romance ''Parzival'' of th ...

1961–63, 1965 * Lohengrin 1962, 1967 * Siegmund in ''

Die Walküre (; ''The Valkyrie''), Wagner-Werk-Verzeichnis, WWV 86B, is the second 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''). It was ...

'' (Bayreuth Festival on Tour in Osaka) 1967 * Walther in ''

Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg (; "The Master-Singers of Nuremberg"), WWV 96, is a music drama, or opera, in three acts, by Richard Wagner. It is the longest opera commonly performed, taking nearly four and a half hours, not counting two breaks between acts, and is traditio ...

'' 1963, 1969 *

Tannhäuser Tannhäuser (; ), often stylized "The Tannhäuser", was a German Minnesinger and traveling poet. Historically, his biography, including the dates he lived, is obscure beyond the poetry, which suggests he lived between 1245 and 1265. His name ...

1966–67 *

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' ...

1969, 1976 In 1963, Thomas joined the roster of the Metropolitan Opera and went on to sing 109 performances of fifteen roles with the company, including all the major tenor roles of Wagner's work. Among the highlights of his career with the Met was appearing at the opening of the new Metropolitan Opera House at

Lincoln Center Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts (also simply known as Lincoln Center) is a complex of buildings in the Lincoln Square neighborhood on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. It has thirty indoor and outdoor facilities and is host to 5 ...

, in the first performance of

Samuel Barber Samuel Osmond Barber II (March 9, 1910 – January 23, 1981) was an American composer, pianist, conductor (music), conductor, baritone, and music educator, and one of the most celebrated composers of the mid-20th century. Principally influenced ...

's ''

Antony and Cleopatra ''Antony and Cleopatra'' is a tragedy by William Shakespeare. The play was first performed around 1607, by the King's Men at either the Blackfriars Theatre or the Globe Theatre. Its first appearance in print was in the First Folio published ...

'' with

Leontyne Price Leontyne Price ( born Mary Violet Leontine Price February 10, 1927) is an American spinto soprano who was the first African-American soprano to receive international acclaim. From 1961 she began a long association with the Metropolitan Opera. ...

. He was awarded the Wagner Medal at Bayreuth in 1963. In 1970, at the

12th Annual Grammy Awards The 12th Annual Grammy Awards were held on March 11, 1970. They recognized accomplishments of musicians for the year 1969. Award winners *Record of the Year **Bones Howe (producer) & The 5th Dimension for "Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In" * Album o ...

, Thomas won a

Grammy Award for Best Opera Recording The Grammy Award for Best Opera Recording has been awarded since 1961. The award was originally titled Best Classical Opera Production. The current title has been used since 1962. Prior to 1961 the awards for operatic and choral performances wer ...

for his performance of Wagner's ''

'', with the

Berlin Philharmonic The Berlin Philharmonic () is a German orchestra based in Berlin. It is one of the most popular, acclaimed and well-respected orchestras in the world. Throughout the 20th century, the orchestra was led by conductors Wilhelm Furtwängler (1922� ...

. On December 9, 1981, San Francisco Opera general director

Kurt Herbert Adler Kurt Herbert Adler (April 2, 1905 – February 9, 1988) was an Austrian– American conductor and opera house director. Biography Adler was born in Vienna, Austria, to a Jewish family; his mother, Ida Bauer, was one of the first patient ...

called Thomas an hour before a performance of ''Die Walküre''. Heldentenor James King had lost his voice, and Adler asked Thomas if he would like to sing the role in an hour. "But I haven't even shaved yet", Thomas said. Though he hadn't looked at the score in years, Thomas performed the role at the age of 54, relying on a memory of the role, with some prompting. The next day, headlines proclaimed Thomas's eleventh-hour rescue for ''Die Walküre''. Thomas's farewell performance took place in the title role of ''Parsifal'' with the Metropolitan Opera in 1982, while it was on tour in Washington, D.C.

Death and legacy

Thomas died in San Francisco in 1993, aged 66, of a heart attack. In 1997, on request of Thomas's widow, Violeta Thomas, the Austrian sculptor Hortensia Fussy made a portrait of Jess Thomas, showing him as Siegfried with his sword. The sculpture was donated to the

Austrian Theatre Museum The Theatermuseum is a federal museum of national theatre history. Since 1991 it is situated in the Palais Lobkowitz in Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one ...

in 2002.

References

External links

Jess Thomas biography

History of the Tenor / Jess Thomas / Sound clips and narration
{{DEFAULTSORT:Thomas, Jess 1927 births 1993 deaths People from Hot Springs, South Dakota University of Nebraska–Lincoln alumni American operatic tenors Heldentenors Grammy Award winners Singers from South Dakota Classical musicians from South Dakota 20th-century American male opera singers