Paul Walter Franke (December 23, 1917,

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

– July 21, 2011,

Queens Queens is the largest by area of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. Located near the western end of Long Island, it is bordered by the ...

) was an American

opera Opera is a form of History of theatre#European theatre, Western theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by Singing, singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically ...

tic

tenor A tenor is a type of male singing voice whose vocal range lies between the countertenor and baritone voice types. It is the highest male chest voice type. Composers typically write music for this voice in the range from the second B below m ...

who specialized in the

comprimario A comprimario is a small supporting role in an opera (or a singer who sings those roles). The word is derived from the Italian language, Italian "''con primario''", or "with the primary", meaning that the ''comprimario'' role (or singer) is not a p ...

repertoire. He had a very long association 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 ...

, where he performed nearly 2000 times from 1948 to 1987. He also sang in the

Santa Fe Opera Santa Fe Opera (SFO) is an American opera company, located north of Santa Fe, New Mexico. After creating the ''Opera Association of New Mexico'' in 1956, its founding director, John Crosby (conductor), John Crosby, oversaw the building of the f ...

house.http://www.santafeopera.org/ Santa Fe Opera house His discography includes two recordings conducted by

Renato Cellini Renato Cellini (; April 24, 1912 – March 25, 1967) was an Italian opera conductor. Studies and Early Career Cellini's father Ezio Cellini was an operatic stage director who worked with Arturo Toscanini; his mother Traversa Usellini was a ...

, on

RCA RCA Corporation was a major American electronics company, which was founded in 1919 as the Radio Corporation of America. It was initially a patent pool, patent trust owned by General Electric (GE), Westinghouse Electric Corporation, Westinghou ...

: ''Il trovatore'' (with

Jussi Björling Johan Jonatan "Jussi" Björling ( , ; 5 February 19119 September 1960) was a Swedish tenor. One of the leading operatic singers of the 20th century, Björling appeared for many years at the Metropolitan Opera in New York City and less frequentl ...

Zinka Milanov Zinka Milanov (; May 17, 1906 – May 30, 1989) was a Croatian operatic dramatic soprano who had a major career centered on the Metropolitan Opera in New York City. After finishing her education in Zagreb, Milanov made her debut in 1927 in Ljubl ...

Fedora Barbieri Fedora Barbieri (4 June 1920 – 4 March 2003) was an Italian dramatic mezzo-soprano and actress. Barbieri was born in Trieste. She performed regularly in Florence for fifty years, and performed internationally through the years. She died, aged ...

, and

Leonard Warren Leonard Warren (April 21, 1911 – March 4, 1960) was an American operatic baritone who was a leading artist for many years with the Metropolitan Opera in New York City. Especially noted for his portrayals of the major baritone roles in the opera ...

, 1952) and ''Pagliacci'' (with Björling,

Victoria de los Ángeles Victoria de los Ángeles López García (1 November 192315 January 2005) was a Spanish operatic lyric soprano and recitalist whose career began after the Second World War and reached its height in the years from the mid-1950s to the mid-1960s. ...

, Warren, and

Robert Merrill Robert Merrill (June 4, 1917 – October 23, 2004) was an American operatic baritone and actor, who was also active in the musical theatre circuit. He received the National Medal of Arts in 1993. Early life Merrill was born Moishe Miller, late ...

, 1953). On DVD, he is seen in the Met's 1980 ''Un ballo in maschera'', opposite

Katia Ricciarelli Katiuscia Maria Stella "Katia" Ricciarelli (; born 16 January 1946) is an Italian soprano and actress. Early life and career Born in Rovigo, Veneto, to a very poor family, Ricciarelli struggled during her younger years. She studied at the Be ...

Judith Blegen Judith Eyer Blegen (born April 27, 1941) is an American soprano, particularly associated with light lyric roles of the French, Italian and German repertories. Life and career Blegen was born in Fayette County, KentuckyJudith E Blegen in the ''Kent ...

, Bianca Berini,

Luciano Pavarotti Luciano Pavarotti (, , ; 12 October 19356 September 2007) was an Italian operatic tenor who during the late part of his career crossed over into popular music, eventually becoming one of the most acclaimed tenors of all time. He made numerou ...

, and

Louis Quilico Louis Quilico, (January 14, 1925 – July 15, 2000) was a Canadian opera singer. One of the leading dramatic baritones of his day, he was an ideal interpreter of the great Italian and French composers, especially Giuseppe Verdi. He was often ...

References

1917 births 2011 deaths American operatic tenors Singers from Boston Classical musicians from Massachusetts {{US-opera-singer-stub