Michael Davidson sings Urna Fatale in German

Michael Davidson sings "Morir tremenda cosa...Urna Fatale" in German. From a live performance.

Born in Long Beach, California, Michael Davidson studied voice with the Bolshois Verdi baritone Vladimir Dubinsky (a student of Antonio Cotognis), while Hugo Strelitzer and Herbert Weisskopf were his coaches. Michael gave his European debut at the Concertgebouw presenting a variety of Verdi arias, later he returned there to sing the title-roles in Leoncavallos Edipo Re (a role concipated for Titta Ruffo) and Dallapiccolas Il Prigionero. Further engagements include the Royal Opera Stockholm, National Theater Mannheim, Royal Opera Antwerp, Vancouver Opera, the Staatsopern in Vienna, Berlin, Munich, Hamburg, Stuttgart and the Gran Teatro de Liceu. Additionally the operas in Cologne, Karlsruhe, Portland, Basel, Hannover, Wuppertal, Frankfurt, Nürnberg, Dortmund and the Deutsche Oper am Rhein Düsseldorf-Duisburg.
Among his stage-partners have been Luciano Pavarotti (Rigoletto), Mirella Freni (La Boheme), Raina Kabaivanska (Madama Butterfly), Lucia Popp (Der Rosenkavalier), Eva Marton (Tosca), Montserrat Caballe (Aida), Martina Arroyo (Aida), Tatjana Troyanos (Carmen), Nadine Connor (La Traviata), Maria Chiara (Otello), Karl Ridderbusch (Meistersinger, Lohengrin), Ileana Cotrubas (Rosenkavalier), Fiorenza Cossotto (Il Trovatore), Agnes Baltsa (Rosenkavalier), Anton Dermota (Palestrina), Diana Damrau (Hänsel und Gretel, Rigoletto, Der Freischütz) and Waltraud Meier (Cardillac, Carmen, Il Trovatore, Der Rosenkavalier, Rigoletto). Michael Davidson has appeared in concerts with Mario del Monaco, Erika Köth and Renee Kollo and with such conductors as Giuseppe Patane, Alberto Erede, Kees Bakels, Hans Wallat, Horst Stein, Donald Runnicles and Nello Santi. Mr. Davidson also performed the King in Die Kluge under the direction of the composer Carl Orff. For his artistic accomplishments he has been awarded the title of Kammersänger. Michael Davidson retired from the stage in 1999 as Tonio (I Pagliacci), over 40 years after his debut. His son Robert is now an aspiring young baritone.

Throughout his career Mr. Davidsons repertoire has had a particular focus on the works of Giuseppe Verdi, singing the lead baritone roles in Otello, Un Ballo in Maschera, La Forza del Destino, Il Trovatore, Luisa Miller, La Traviata, Falstaff, Aida, Attila, Don Carlo and I Masnadieri and the title-roles of Rigoletto, Macbeth, Simon Boccanegra, and Nabucco.

He however also frequently portrayed such roles as the four demons (Les Contes DHoffmann), Scarpia (Tosca), Michele (Il Tabarro), Rance (La Fanciulla del West), Marcello (La Boheme), Enrico (Lucia di Lammermoor), Tonio (I Pagliacci), Alfio (Cavalleria Rusticana), Barnaba (La Gioconda), Escamillo (Carmen), Amfortas (Parsifal), Wolfram (Tannhäuser), Faninal (Der Rosenkavalier), Valentin (Faust), Dunois (Joan of Arc), the High Priest of Dagon (Samson e Dalilah), Gerard (Andrea Chenier), Sebastiano (Tiefland), the count in Capriccio as well as the title-roles in Gianni Schicci, Edipo Re, Guglielmo Tell, Eugene Onegin and Cardillac.

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