I reserve the right to add to this list. And of course, JMPO.
Tenor - My personal 2 favorites are Nicolai Gedda and Carlo Bergonzi. I’m also found of Siegried Jerusalem and Luigi Alva.
Soprano - I’m fond of coloraturas, so Edita Gruberova and Joan Southerland are favorites. Rosa Ponselle was wonderful. Audra McDonald is musical theatre not opera, but her training is classical and I adore her, so she goes on the list. Victoria De Los Angeles too.
Baritone - Dmitri Hvrost. I don’t feel like looking up his name right now. And others who I will add later.
Mezzo-soprano - Denyce Graves. Such an instrument; I’ve never heard such good English enunciation combined with such a beautiful tone. Does(did?) Teresa Berganza call herself a Mezzo or a Contralto? Fine line. In any case, I’d sell my soul and yours to sing like her. There are others here too.
Bass - Sam Ramey is pretty damn good, isn’t he.
Alto/contralto - The Cantor’s wife in the Nuremberg shul that I visited a month ago. Gorgeous instrument.
Does anyone recognize the name Greg Turay? I’m not a big opera dude, but he went to the University of Kentucky and so did I (I saw him sing “The Elixir Of Love”), and it would be pretty cool if a Wildcat alum was a notable name.
Hmmmmm. I’ve heard a good deal about her. I have tickets to see her in “Carmen” (in French with English supertitles) with the Orlando Opera in April. Looking forward to it.
My tapes have her listed as a mezzo.
Is she dead???
Sorry, not familiar to me. Is he on any recordings?
Among other things, Gregory Turay created the tenor role in William Bolcom’s A View from the Bridge, which premiered at the Chicago lyric opera last season. Very cool. I think he sings regularly at the Met and other high-profile venues.
I found an Odd Couple episode guide on the web that lists an episode called “Does your mother know you’re out, Rigoletto?”, guest-starring someone named Richard Fredericks (never heard of him).