JOSÉ VAN DAM is one of today's most famous and requested interpreters of the bass-baritone repertoire, and since his debut at Paris Opera in THE TROJANS, he is regularly invited to the most important opera houses and festivals all over the world (e.g. Opéra de Paris, Covent Garden Opera, Scala di Milano, Vienna State Opera, Deutsche Oper Berlin, Metropolitan Opera New York, Teatro Colon in Buenos Aires, Salzburg Festival (Easter and Summer), Festivals of Aix-en-Provence, Orange und Saito Kinen (Japan) etc.
The artist is as much interested in traditional as in contemporary music, and his operatic repertoire includes (amongst others) the following parts:
FALSTAFF, SIMONE BOCCANEGRA, Philipp II./DON CARLOS, DON GIOVANNI, the four villains in LES CONTES D'HOFFMANN, BORIS GODUNOV, Sachs/DIE MEISTERSINGER VON NÜRNBERG, Amfortas/PARSIFAL, the Flying Dutchman, Jochanaan/SALOME, Mephisto/FAUST, (Gounod) and LA DAMNATION DE FAUST (Berlioz), Golaud/PELLEAS ET MELISANDE , GUGLIELMO TELL, WOZZECK, Scarpia/TOSCA, GIANNI SCHICCHI, Selim/IL TURCO IN ITALIA.
The artist created the title part in the world premiere of Olivier Messiaen's
ST-FRANCOIS D'ASSISE at Paris Opera, and he was equally acclaimed in this role in the Peter-Sellars-production at Salzburg Festival.
Recently he sang the title part in the world premiere of OEDIPE SUR LA ROUTE
by Pierre Bartholomée in Brussels, L'HEURE ESPAGNOLE and GIANNI SCHICCHI
at the Seiji Ozawa Opera Project 2003 collaboration with Paris National Opera,
LA DAMNATION DE FAUST at Geneva Opera and Opera Baastille, ST-FRANCOIS D'ASSISE
at the Ruhr Triennale and at Opera Bastille, MEISTERSINGER VON NÜRNBERG
at Zürich Opera House, DON PASQUALE at Teatro Real Madrid, PELLEAS ET
MELISANDE at Opera Bastille and at the Met New York, FROM THE HOUSE OF THE
DEAD at Opera Bastille and at Teatro Real, L'AMOUR DES TROIS ORANGES at Opera
Bastille as well as FRAU OHNE SCHATTEN at the Théâtre de la Monnaie
in Brussels.
José van Dam is also a most acclaimed concert, oratorio and Lieder singer with a large repertoire: Bach, Mozart, Verdi, Brahms, Mahler, Bruckner, Mendelssohn, Poulenc etc.
He collaborated with numerous famous conductors such as Karajan, Abbado, Muti, Solti, Levine, Ozawa, Maazel, Davis, Plasson, Dutoit, Pappano, Cambreling etc., and he realized most important recordings with them.
Future projects include, besides of many recitals and concerts, BORIS GODUNOV and TRAVIATA at the Théâtre de la Monnaie in Brussels, LA DAMNATION DE FAUST, LUOISE and TRAVIATA at Opera Bastille, ELIAS at the Saito Kinen Festival in Japan and at the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino.
In past seasons, José van Dam enriched his already large discography with new recordings, such as (amongst others): DIE MEISTERSINGER VON NÜRNBERG with Sir Georg Solti; FAUST by Gounod (EMI FRANCE); OEDIPE by Enescu (EMI FRANCE); PELLEAS ET MELISANDE with Claudio Abbado (DG) and DON QUICHOTTE (EMI FRANCE), which all have been honoured with important awards.
In 1987, Belgian TV (RTBF) produced the film LE MAITRE DE MUSIQUE (The Master of Music) with José van Dam in the title part, and he also sang Leporello in Joseph Losey's film version of DON GIOVANNI.
For his extraordinary interpretations on stage and on records, he received (amongst others) the following awards: German Music Critics' Prize (1974), Gold Medal of the Belgian Press (1976), Grand Prix de l'Académie Française du Disque (1979), Orphée d'Or of the Académie Lyrique Française (1980), European Critics' Prize for his interpretation of the title part in ST-FRANCOIS D'ASSISE in Paris (1985), Diapason d'Or and Prix de la Nouvelle Académie du Disque (1993) as well as the Orphée d'Or de l'Académie du Disque Lyrique (1994).
From the University of Montreal José van Dam got the Doctor honoris causa,
the City of Berlin honoured him with the title of "Kammersänger", in France he was bestowed "Commandeur des Arts et Lettres" and recently, José van Dam was ennobled by King Albert II of Belgium. |
