An Isreali-South African Bass Baritone

[GoneBaroque]

One of my great pleasures is finding a new singer I had not previously known. An opera discussion list to which I subscribe described a concert which Gidon Saks gave recently at the Kennedy Center in Washington. This glowing review caused me to look him up. Gidon was born in Israel in 1960 to a South African father of Lithuanian descent and a Scottish mother of Ukrainian extraction. He has enjoyed a varied career singing in many of the major opera houses of Europe and America in addition to a full concert and recording career. In addition he has designed and directed a number of opera productions.

Here he portrays Baron Scarpia in the Te Deum from Puccini's Tosca at the Bregenz Festival in 2007.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eKVrX0tpKXU

and an aria from Handel's Hercules.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BmQwomHLcNw

[wljmrbill]

Thanks for posting.. a full resonant voice with a somewhat lyric approach to higher register notes. Not sure I care for the modern scenery staging.

[GoneBaroque]

I also had some problems with the "Eurotrash" staging, but it seems so prevalent now.