Ragnar Ulfung
Ragnar Sigurd Ulfung (born 28 February 1927) is a Norwegian operatic tenor. Described in the Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians as "a brilliant actor with an incisive voice", he was particularly known for his portrayals of Herod (Salome) and Mime (Der Ring des Nibelungen).[1] He is also an opera director. Amongst the productions he has directed was a complete Ring cycle for the Seattle Opera.
Ulfung was born in Oslo and studied there and in Milan before making his debut in Let's Make an Opera (Oslo, 1950). He made a successful debut at the Royal Swedish Opera in 1958 as Canio in Pagliacci and remained a member of the company until 1984. However, he also made guest appearances abroad. He made his debut at the Metropolitan Opera on 12 December 1972 as Mime in Siegfried and went on to sing 93 performances there between 1972 and 1993.[2] In 1975 he appeared in Ingmar Bergman's celebrated film of Mozart's The Magic Flute in the role of Monostatos. He was appointed Hovsångare in 1976.
His two roles at Glyndebourne Opera were nearly 40 years apart: Tamino in Die Zauberflöte in the 1963 and 64 seasons, and Dr Blind in Die Fledermaus in 2003[3] which was later issued on DVD. At the Royal Opera House Covent Garden he sang the title role in Don Carlos in 1963, Herod in Salome in 1970 and 1974 and roles in the Ring cycle.[4] Ulfung was scheduled to sing Vere in Billy Budd at Covent Garden in 1964 but objections by Equity and the threat of a strike led to him being replaced by Richard Lewis for the run.[5] He sang John Taverner in the world premiere run of Peter Maxwell Davies' opera Taverner at Covent Garden in 1972.[6]
In 2015, Ulfung at age 88 sang Altoum in Turandot at Dalhalla with i.a. Nina Stemme and Lars Cleveman.[7]
References
[edit]- ^ Blyth (2001) p. 60
- ^ Metropolitan Opera
- ^ Glyndebourne Opera Archive - Ragnar Ulfung accessed 14 March 2025.
- ^ Royal Opera Performance Database search for Ragnar Ulfung accessed 14 March 2025.
- ^ Coming Events - Covent Garden. Opera, January 1964, Vol.15 No.1, p.33.
- ^ 'Taverner' - Two Points of View. Opera, September 1972, Vol.23 No.9 p.791.
- ^ "Turandot" (in Swedish). Dalhalla. Retrieved 25 October 2014.
Sources
[edit]- Blyth Alan, "Ulfung, Ragnar (Sigurd)", in Stanley Sadie (ed.), The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, Grove 2001, Volume 26, p. 60. ISBN 0-19-517067-9
- Metropolitan Opera, Performance record: Ulfung, Ragnar (Tenor), MetOpera Database (accessed 26 April 2010)
- Stiftelsen Kungliga Teaterns Solister (Foundation of Royal Theatre Soloists), Biography: Ragnar Ulfung (in Swedish, accessed 26 April 2010)
External links
[edit]- Ragnar Ulfung at IMDb
- Interview with Ragnar Ulfung by Bruce Duffie, September 16, 1985
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