José van Dam
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Baron José van Dam (August 25, 1940) is one of the most prominent and sought-after interpreters of the baritone-bass repertoire.
Christened Joseph van Damme, he was born in Brussels, Belgium, on August 25, 1940. At the age of 17, he entered the Brussels Royal Conservatory and studied with Frederic Anspach. A year later, he graduated with diplomas and first prizes in voice and opera performance. José van Dam made his opera début as the music teacher Don Basilio in Gioacchino Rossini’s Il Barbiere di Siviglia at the Paris Opera in 1961, and remained in the company until 1965, when he sang his first major role, Escamillo from Bizet's Carmen. He then sang for two seasons at Geneva, La Scala, Covent Garden, and in Paris. At Geneva, Van Dam sung in the première of Milhaud's La mère coupable in 1966. Lorin Maazel soon heard José van Dam and invited him to record Ravel’s L’Heure espagnole with him for Deutsche Grammophon. In 1967, Maazel asked him to join the Deutsche Oper in Berlin.
José van Dam performs regularly at L’Opéra de Paris, Covent Garden, the Metropolitan Opera, La Scala in Milan, Vienna State Opera, Deutsche Oper Berlin, the Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie in Brussels, Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires, the Salzburg Festival, and festivals in Aix-en-Provence and Orange, France.
José van Dam is also celebrated as a concert, oratorio, and Lieder singer and has won many international awards for his extraordinary performances both on stage and in recordings. Berlin conferred on him the title of "Kammersänger" in 1974, and the same year he received the German Music Critics’ Prize. Other awards include the Gold Medal of the Belgian Press (1976), Grand Prix de l’Academie Française du Disque (1979), Orphée d’Or de l’Academie Lyrique Française (1980), the European Critics’ Prize, (1985), Diapason d’Or and Prix de la Nouvelle Academie du Disque (1993), and the Orphée d’Or de l’Academie du Disque Lyrique (1994).
In August of 1998, His Majesty King Albert II of Belgium made José van Dam a baron, recognizing him as one of the finest classical singers who ever lived. On December 4, 1999 Van Dam was one of the performers at the marriage of Belgium's Crown Prince Philippe and Mathilde d'Udekem d'Acoz.
José van Dam starred in the movies The Music Teacher (1988) as Joachim Dallayrac and in Don Giovanni (1979) as Leporello, directed by Joseph Losey.
