Richard Woitach (July 27, 1935 – October 3, 2020) was an American conductor,

pianist A pianist ( , ) is an individual musician who plays the piano. Since most forms of Western music can make use of the piano, pianists have a wide repertoire and a wide variety of styles to choose from, among them traditional classical music, ja ...

, and composer. In 1959, after studying music at the

Eastman School of Music The Eastman School of Music is the music school of the University of Rochester, a private research university in Rochester, New York. It was established in 1921 by industrialist and philanthropist George Eastman. It offers Bachelor of Music (B.M ...

, Woitach jointed the

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

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

and served as a staff conductor there until 1997. In 1981, he collaborated with Canadian operatic soprano

Teresa Stratas Teresa Stratas (born May 26, 1938) is a retired operatic soprano from Canada of Greek descent. She is especially well known for her award-winning recording of Alban Berg's ''Lulu''. Early life and career Stratas was born Anastasia Stratakis to ...

to record ''The Unknown Kurt Weill'', a landmark

Nonesuch __NOTOC__ Nonesuch may refer to: Plants * ''Lychnis chalcedonica'', a wildflower * ''Medicago lupulina'', a wildflower Places and structures *Nonesuch, Kentucky *Nonesuch Island, Bermuda *Nonesuch Mine, Michigan *Nonesuch Palace, mis-spelling of ...

record that introduced unpublished songs of German composer

Kurt Weill Kurt Julian Weill (March 2, 1900April 3, 1950) was a German-born American composer active from the 1920s in his native country, and in his later years in the United States. He was a leading composer for the stage who was best known for his fru ...

and for which Woitach received a

Grammy nomination The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pres ...

in 1982. Woitach also was a long time collaborator with

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

heldentenor A heldentenor (; English: ''heroic tenor''), earlier called tenorbariton, is an operatic tenor voice, most often associated with Wagnerian repertoire. It is distinct from other tenor ''fächer'' by its endurance, volume, and dark timbre, which ...

Jon Vickers Jonathan Stewart Vickers, (October 29, 1926 – July 10, 2015), known professionally as Jon Vickers, was a Canadian heldentenor. Born in Prince Albert, Saskatchewan, he was the sixth in a family of eight children. In 1950, he was awarded a s ...

, where Woitach accompanied Vickers on the piano in several recorded recitals in both Canada and New York City. Woitach was survived by his wife

soprano A soprano () is a type of classical female singing voice and has the highest vocal range of all voice types. The soprano's vocal range (using scientific pitch notation) is from approximately middle C (C4) = 261 Hz to "high A" (A5) = 880&n ...

Jeryl Metz, his children and grandchildren. At the Metropolitan Opera he first led, on tour,

John Dexter John Dexter (2 August 1925 – 23 March 1990) was an English theatre, opera and film director. Theatre Born in Derby, Derbyshire, England, Dexter left school at the age of fourteen to serve in the British Army during the Second World War. F ...

's production of "Les vêpres siciliennes" (with

Cristina Deutekom Cristina Deutekom (28 August 1931 – 7 August 2014) was a Dutch operatic coloratura soprano. She sang with many of the leading tenors of her time, including Carlo Bergonzi, José Carreras, Franco Corelli, Plácido Domingo, Nicolai Gedda, Al ...

Cornell MacNeil Cornell MacNeil (September 24, 1922 – July 15, 2011) was an American operatic baritone known for his exceptional voice and long career with the Metropolitan Opera, which spanned 642 performances in twenty-six roles. F. Paul Driscoll wrote in ''O ...

, and

Paul Plishka Paul may refer to: *Paul (given name), a given name (includes a list of people with that name) *Paul (surname), a list of people People Christianity *Paul the Apostle (AD c.5–c.64/65), also known as Saul of Tarsus or Saint Paul, early Chris ...

, 1974), then conducted in the House, "Madama Butterfly" (with

Harry Theyard Harry Theyard (né Harry L. Theard, Jr, on 28 September 1929, in New Orleans) is an American operatic tenor. Theyard is a 1957 graduate of Loyola University of the South, where he studied under Dorothy Hulse, who was also the teacher of Audrey Sch ...

, 1974), "La Gioconda," "Tosca," "Le siège de Corinthe" (with

Beverly Sills Beverly Sills (May 25, 1929July 2, 2007) was an American operatic soprano whose peak career was between the 1950s and 1970s. Although she sang a repertoire from Handel and Mozart to Puccini, Massenet and Verdi, she was especially renowned for ...

and

Shirley Verrett Shirley Verrett (May 31, 1931 – November 5, 2010) was an American operatic mezzo-soprano who successfully transitioned into soprano roles, i.e. soprano sfogato. Verrett enjoyed great fame from the late 1960s through the 1990s, particularly wel ...

, 1976), "Lucia di Lammermoor" (with Miss Sills), "Tosca" (

Sylvia Sass Sylvia Sass (born 12 July 1951) is a Hungarian operatic soprano who has sung leading roles both in her native country and internationally. Life and career Born in Budapest, Sass studied at Franz Liszt Academy of Music in Budapest with Olga Révh ...

's Met debut, 1977), "La traviata" (

Maria Chiara Maria Chiara (born 24 November 1939) is an Italian lyric soprano. Early life and education On 24 November 1939, Chiara was born in Oderzo, Italy. She studied at the Venice Conservatory and in Turin with Bass (voice type), bass Antonio Cassinel ...

's Met debut, 1977), "Cavalleria rusticana," "Pagliacci" (with Vickers, 1978), "Don Pasquale" (with

Jon Garrison Jon Garrison (né Jon Long; born December 11, 1944 in Higginsville, Missouri) is a successful American operatic tenor who has been performing in locations around the world since 1965. He first appeared at the Metropolitan Opera in 1974, in a secon ...

, 1979), "Hänsel und Gretel" (with

Tatiana Troyanos Tatiana Troyanos (September 12, 1938 – August 21, 1993) was an American mezzo-soprano of Greek and German descent, remembered as "one of the defining singers of her generation" (''Boston Globe''). Her voice, "a paradoxical voice — larger ...

Judith Blegen Judith Blegen (April 27, 1943, Lexington, Kentucky) is an American soprano, particularly associated with light lyric roles of the French, Italian and German repertories. Life and career Blegen was raised and attended high school in Missoula, Monta ...

, and Michael Devlin, 1981), "La bohème," "Fidelio," "Bluebeard's Castle" (with Devlin and

Jessye Norman Jessye Mae Norman (September 15, 1945 – September 30, 2019) was an American opera singer and recitalist. She was able to perform dramatic soprano roles, but refused to be limited to that voice type. A commanding presence on operatic, concert ...

), "Eugene Onegin" (with

Mirella Freni Mirella Freni, OMRI (, born Mirella Fregni, 27 February 1935 – 9 February 2020) was an Italian operatic soprano who had a career of 50 years and appeared at major international opera houses. She received international attention at the Gly ...

), "Così fan tutte," "Boris Godounov," "Die Zauberflöte," "Die Entführung aus dem Serail," and, finally, "Elektra" (1994). Woitach also led a production of Argento's "Postcard from Morocco," at Wolf Trap, with

Phyllis Treigle Phyllis Treigle (born May 6, 1960) is a native of New Orleans, Louisiana, and is a noted American soprano, and the daughter of the bass-baritone Norman Treigle. She graduated from Loyola University of the South's College of Music and made her ...

in the cast.

References

External links

* Richard Woitach biography a
guildmusic.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Woitach, Richard 1936 births 2020 deaths 20th-century American composers 20th-century American conductors (music) 20th-century American male musicians 20th-century American pianists 20th-century classical composers 20th-century classical pianists 21st-century American composers 21st-century American conductors (music) 21st-century American male musicians 21st-century American pianists 21st-century classical composers 21st-century classical pianists American classical composers American classical pianists American conductors (music) American male classical composers American male classical pianists American male conductors (music) Eastman School of Music alumni People from Schoharie County, New York