Tenor, born in Stockholm, Sweden. He studied at the Stockholm Academy, and made his operatic debut in Le Postillon de Longjuneau (1952) in Stockholm, which led to appearances in Paris and London. He sang most leading lyrical tenor roles in opera repertory, specializing in works by Lehár.
The Swedish tenor Nicolai Gedda (born July 11, 1925) is a famous opera singer and recitalist.
Gedda was born in Stockholm to a Swedish mother and a Russian father (named Ustinov, which makes Nicolai Gedda a distant relative of Peter Ustinov), who sang bass in a Don Cossack choir and was cantor in a Russian Orthodox church; Gedda began his professional career as a bank teller in a local bank in Stockholm.
In 1952, at the age of 27, Gedda made his debut at the Royal Swedish Opera, performing the role of Chapelou in Adolphe Adam's Le Postillon de Longjumeau. In 1957, Gedda made his Metropolitan Opera début in the title role of Gounod's Faust, and went on to sing 28 roles there over the next 26 years, including the world premieres of Barber's Vanessa and Menotti's The Last Savage. Gedda made his Royal Opera House Covent Garden début in 1954 as the Duke of Mantua in Verdi's Rigoletto and has since returned to sing Benvenuto Cellini, Alfredo, Gustavus III in Un Ballo in Maschera, Nemorino and Lensky.
In addition to his opera performances, Gedda cultivated an active parallel career as a recitalist, with a large repertoire of French, German, Scandinavian, and Russian art songs. Gedda's language skills, intellectualism and intense musicality, as well as his extensive recordings, have rendered him particularly indispensable in this genre.
A singer of unusual longevity, Gedda has been active well into his late 70s;
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