Neil Shicoff
Born: June 2, 1949
in Brooklyn, New York, USA
in Brooklyn, New York, USA
Neil Shicoff (born June 2, 1949) is an American opera singer and cantor and known for his lyric tenor singing and his dramatic, emotional acting.
Neil Shicoff was born in Brooklyn, New York. He studied at the Juilliard School of Music, with his father, the hazzan Sidney Shicoff and others, including Franco Corelli in the early 1980s. He sang in small theatres in New York before music school, including a Don Jose in Bizet's Carmen at Amato Opera and small roles at Juilliard, and was an apprentice at the Santa Fe Opera in the summer of 1973. His professional debut as a tenor lead in a major opera house was in the title role in Verdi's Ernani, conducted by James Levine in Cincinnati in 1975.
In 1976, Shicoff made his debut at the Metropolitan Opera as Rinuccio in Gianni Schicchi conducted by Levine. Shicoff was then engaged by the Met where he appeared in Rigoletto, La Bohème, Der Rosenkavalier, and Werther, which was to become one of his signature roles. He soon sang in the major opera houses in the U.S. and Europe, winning great notices and recording some of his roles. Shicoff experienced severe stage fright well into his career, which caused him to cancel a number of performances. He was known to be a perfectionist, carefully researching and preparing each role, both dramatically and vocally.
In 1978, Shicoff married fellow Juilliard graduate, lyric soprano Judith Haddon. After the death of his mother in 1984, Shicoff suffered emotional problems, technical vocal difficulties and increasing performance anxiety. He cancelled numerous performances, and by the end of the 1980s he had developed a reputation for unreliability.
Shicoff continued singing at the Met until 1990 when he appeared in the title role of Faust (opera). However, in 1991 he left America, fleeing the stresses and headlines engendered by his ongoing divorce proceeding and custody battle concerning his daughter, into a self-described European exile. He lived for three years in Berlin, then Zürich, performing throughout Europe (with a handful of appearances in Buenos Aires), and he slowly rebuilt his reputation for reliability. He appeared at Vienna State Opera, La Scala, Paris Opera, Covent Garden, Berlin's Deutsche Oper, Bavarian State Opera, Zurich Opera House and numerous other opera houses and concert halls throughout Europe.
By 1997, Shicoff and Haddon finally reached a divorce settlement. Their final decree left Shicoff free to marry soprano Dawn Kotoski, with whom he had lived since 1990, and to renew his relationship with his daughter, Aliza. Shicoff also returned to the Met, as Lensky in Eugene Onegin. His last performance at the Met was in 2006 when he appeared as Rodolfo in Luisa Miller. By then he had appeared with company over 200 times in 20 roles. ...
Source: Article "Neil Shicoff" from Wikipedia in English, licensed under CC-BY-SA 3.0.
Neil Shicoff was born in Brooklyn, New York. He studied at the Juilliard School of Music, with his father, the hazzan Sidney Shicoff and others, including Franco Corelli in the early 1980s. He sang in small theatres in New York before music school, including a Don Jose in Bizet's Carmen at Amato Opera and small roles at Juilliard, and was an apprentice at the Santa Fe Opera in the summer of 1973. His professional debut as a tenor lead in a major opera house was in the title role in Verdi's Ernani, conducted by James Levine in Cincinnati in 1975.
In 1976, Shicoff made his debut at the Metropolitan Opera as Rinuccio in Gianni Schicchi conducted by Levine. Shicoff was then engaged by the Met where he appeared in Rigoletto, La Bohème, Der Rosenkavalier, and Werther, which was to become one of his signature roles. He soon sang in the major opera houses in the U.S. and Europe, winning great notices and recording some of his roles. Shicoff experienced severe stage fright well into his career, which caused him to cancel a number of performances. He was known to be a perfectionist, carefully researching and preparing each role, both dramatically and vocally.
In 1978, Shicoff married fellow Juilliard graduate, lyric soprano Judith Haddon. After the death of his mother in 1984, Shicoff suffered emotional problems, technical vocal difficulties and increasing performance anxiety. He cancelled numerous performances, and by the end of the 1980s he had developed a reputation for unreliability.
Shicoff continued singing at the Met until 1990 when he appeared in the title role of Faust (opera). However, in 1991 he left America, fleeing the stresses and headlines engendered by his ongoing divorce proceeding and custody battle concerning his daughter, into a self-described European exile. He lived for three years in Berlin, then Zürich, performing throughout Europe (with a handful of appearances in Buenos Aires), and he slowly rebuilt his reputation for reliability. He appeared at Vienna State Opera, La Scala, Paris Opera, Covent Garden, Berlin's Deutsche Oper, Bavarian State Opera, Zurich Opera House and numerous other opera houses and concert halls throughout Europe.
By 1997, Shicoff and Haddon finally reached a divorce settlement. Their final decree left Shicoff free to marry soprano Dawn Kotoski, with whom he had lived since 1990, and to renew his relationship with his daughter, Aliza. Shicoff also returned to the Met, as Lensky in Eugene Onegin. His last performance at the Met was in 2006 when he appeared as Rodolfo in Luisa Miller. By then he had appeared with company over 200 times in 20 roles. ...
Source: Article "Neil Shicoff" from Wikipedia in English, licensed under CC-BY-SA 3.0.
Movies for Neil Shicoff...
Title: Rachel, When the Lord
Released: August 1, 2004
Type: Movie
A passionate performance of "Rachel, quand du Seigneur" (Rachel, when the Lord...), a celebrated aria from the Fromental Halévy's famous opera "La Juive" (The Jewess).
Title: La Juive
Character: Eléazar
Released: December 1, 2003
Type: Movie
Live performance from Wiener Staatsoper, 2003. Vjekoslav Šutej conducting Chor und Orchester der Wiener Staatsoper. Stage director Günter Krämer.
Title: Les Contes d'Hoffmann
Character: Hoffmann
Released: November 22, 2003
Type: Movie
Live performance from the Opéra National de Paris, 2003.
Title: Les contes d'Hoffmann - Teatro alla Scalla
Character: Hoffman
Released: November 17, 1996
Type: Movie
Jacques Offenbach's opera Les contes d'Hoffmann (The Tales of Hoffman) shown in the Teatro alla Scalla
Title: La Traviata
Character: Alfredo Germont
Released: February 25, 1993
Type: Movie
La Traviata was recorded at what was one of Venice's most exquisite 18th-century opera houses, La Fenice, tragically destroyed by fire in 1996, and now rebuilt. This glorious house is where La Traviata was premiered in 1853. In this memorable performance, Slovak soprano Edita Gruberova takes the leading role of Violetta, the tragic heroine, persuaded by Alfredo's father, Giorgio, to sacrifice her happiness with Alfredo for the sake of family honor.
Title: Verdi La Traviata
Character: Alfredo
Released: August 14, 1992
Type: Movie
This set has Edita Gruberova singing in top form, all her scooping cast aside, which one finds in abundance in her Lucia under Richard Bonynge. Here, however, she makes ravishing use of those bits of tone that only she can produce: those instances of coloratura and dramatic legato with little asides and small florishes of style that suggest her intelligent approach and her high degree of musical involvement in this role. She does this in her I Puritani and her Anna Bolena, less so in Roberto Deveraux and Maria Stuarda(both sets). Listen to Addio del passato and the Sempre Libra...ravishing, yes, but there are again those nuances learned from Callas that she makes her own. A very singualr perform,ance, and extremely moving with its detail and cry for pity throughout..from the start even. Neil Schicoff is excellent, not an unworthy Alfredo at all! His is a great lyric tenor voice that should have been in the top line.
Title: Les Contes d'Hoffmann
Character: Hoffmann
Released: March 2, 1988
Type: Movie
Otto Schenk’s brilliant production captures both the dark romanticism of the story as well as its fairy-tale magic. It is a superb setting for Neil Shicoff’s vivid portrayal of the tortured poet Hoffmann, as he recounts the loves of his life and the way he has been foiled by his nemesis—a marvelous James Morris in a tour-de-force performance of the opera’s four villains. Gwendolyn Bradley is the doll Olympia, Tatiana Troyanos sings the courtesan Giulietta, and Roberta Alexander portrays the innocent Antonia.
Title: La Bohème
Character: Rodolfo
Released: February 4, 1982
Type: Movie
1982 revival of 1974 John Copley production.
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