Adamo Didur
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Adamo Didur (December 24, 1874 - January 7, 1946) was a top-class Polish bass. He sang extensively in opera in Europe and appeared at New York's Metropolitan Opera from 1908 to 1932.
Born in Sanok, Didur studied in Lwow with Valery Wysocki, later working with Franz Emmerich in Milan. His concert debut came in Milan in a performance of Ludwig van Beethoven's Ninth Symphony. In 1894, he made his operatic debut in Rio de Janeiro, after which he appeared in Russia. He sang at La Scala, Milan, in 1903-1906, and at London's Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, in 1905. He also appeared with the Warsaw Opera from 1899 to 1903. Later, he travelled to Argentina, singing in Buenos Aires in the 1905-1908 operatic seasons. Didur's North American debut came at the Manhattan Opera House in 1907.
Didur made his Metropolitan Opera debut on November 14, 1908, singing Mephistopheles in Charles Gounod's Faust. He remained with the company for a quarter of a century and becoming one of its principal bass singers. It was at the Met in 1913 that he appeared as Boris Godunov in the American premiere of Mussorgsky's opera. He also created roles in three operas by Giacomo Puccini at the Met, namely, La Fanciulla del West and the Il Tabarro and Gianni Schicchi segments of Il Trittico. He also appeared in the world premiere of Die Königskinder. His last appearance at the Met was in The Tales of Hoffmann on February 11, 1932. His voice had been on the wane for some time and he returned to Europe to live.
Two months before the outbreak of World War II, Didur was appointed director of the opera company in Lwow, but the war made work impossible. Immediately after the war had ended he formed an opera company and taught singing. He was appointed director of the conservatory in Katowice but died in that city soon afterwards, aged 71.
Didur was twice married; with his first wife, the Mexican singer Angela Aranda Arellano, he had five children, two of whom later became singers themselves. One year after her death in 1928, he married the French dancer Marguerite Vignon.
Didur's large, sonorous and magnificently rich-toned voice was in its prime between the late 1890s and the World War One period. It was particularly suited to the performance of Italian operas. He made many memorable recordings of operatic arias which are available on CD transfers.
[edit] References
- David Ewen, Encyclopedia of the Opera: New Enlarged Edition. New York; Hill and Wang, 1963.
- Harold Rosenthal and John Warrack (editors), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Opera (corrected second edition). London; Oxford University Press, 1980.
- Biography at Cantabile-Subito
