
He loved Germany but he also never stopped being American. BERLIN (AP) — Michael Rhodes, an American opera singer and highly sought-after vocal coach who trained stars including German tenor Jonas Kaufmann, has died at the age of 89. Rhodes began his professional singing career in 1947 at New York City Opera playing Jochanaan (John the Baptist) in Salome. We were working on a lighting effect. Rhodes, a baritone, began his professional singing career in 1947 at New York City Opera playing Jochanaan in Salome. The final production of the combined choirs was presented at St. Peter’s Cathedral in Trier. In 1951 Rhodes moved to Trier Germany and later that year became the first American after World War II to sing at Berlin’s Deutsche Opera. Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in: You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. Rhodes’s cannily manipulated big, burly voice practically blew the audience into the nearby Moselle River.”. Bass guitarist Michael Rhodes was born in (1953), way down south in Monroe, LA, where country, Cajun, and blues music was a part of every day life. Radio was king in those days and in 1948, NBC gave Michael Rhodes his own show: “Music for an hour.” From 1948 to 1951 Rhodes worked with musical greats like Leonard Bernstein and Aaron Copland.[iv]. [i] http://bigstory.ap.org/article/opera-singer-teacher-michael-rhodes-dies, [ii] http://magazin.klassik.com/news/teaser.cfm?ID=9940, [iii] http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/22/arts/music/jonas-kaufmann-as-siegmund-in-die-walkure.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0, [iv] http://www.volksfreund.de/nachrichten/region/kultur/Kultur-in-der-Region-Was-bitte-ist-Trier;art764,220680. [ii] Michael Rhodes was an American opera singer and highly sought after vocal coach. Being a teen I also had the opportunity to sing with adult chapel choirs and a US vocal ensemble. In the early '70s, Rhodes moved to Austin, TX.
ABOUT Michael Rhodes. Change ), You are commenting using your Google account. He performed with a few other bands, gaining experience and making connections. He reminded all of us repeatedly that the Messiah was the gospel set to music. Michael Rhodes deserves to be remembered as an Opera star but more than anything he was a great teacher. Rhodes was born in Christchurch, New Zealand, on 30 August 1966, to a British mother, Joyce, and a New Zealand father, Terrence Tahu Gravenor Rhodes. Michael Rhodes was on his way to a great career in America, then in 1951 he was invited to visit Trier Germany. Michael Rhodes was truly deserving of this final tribute. He was never temperamental; he never became frustrated or angry. Michael loved the Messiah and wrote his doctoral thesis on Georg Friedrich Händel. ( Log Out / ( Log Out / The acoustics in the massive stone structure were amazing and we had no trouble hearing. He also loved performing and directing in the wonderful opera halls and cathedrals of Germany. Eventually we got in and got a seat toward the rear of the Cathedral. On one occasion we were going to see him in an opera in Trier and Michael promised my little sister a special song. March 20, 2013, the Associated Press big story was: “OPERA SINGER, TEACHER MICHAEL RHODES DIES”[i].
Change ). Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email. In time he would study under Robert Weede and Giuseppe de Luca. Before his 13th birthday, Rhodes had taught himself to play the guitar with amazing skill for one so young. Anne Foegen-Rhodes said her husband died Sunday in the west German city of Trier where he had lived for many decades. In the early '70s, Rhodes moved to Austin, TX.
Bass guitarist Michael Rhodes was born in (1953), way down south in Monroe, LA, where country, Cajun, and blues music was a part of every day life. Football and wrestling practice got in the way of me making all of the rehearsals so I did not sing in the combined choir performance of the Messiah at St. Peter’s Cathedral.
Davis wrote, “I can confidently say that Mr. Rhodes might well have pursued a major career had he wanted it.” Davis described seeing Rhodes in Puccini’s “Tabarro:” “Mr. Michael Rhodes was born on August 13, 1923 in Brooklyn, one of the five boroughs of New York City. Teddy Tahu Rhodes (born 30 August 1966) is a New Zealand operatic baritone. Over the many years since then, Michael Rhodes has lent his bass talents to the recordings of numerous artists, including many chart-toppers from the '90s, like Neal McCoy, Chely Wright, Doug Stone, Wynonna Judd, the Dixie Chicks, Reba McEntire, Tanya Tucker, Dolly Parton, Randy Travis, Faith Hill, and many other country greats. Read Full Biography. A couple of years later he landed his first professional gig. My family once shared a memorable Christmas dinner with him and other family and friends at his home in Trier. He moved to Europe in 1951 and took guest roles at the Opera National in Paris and Milan's La Scala.
It is the story of the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Rhodes, a baritone, began his professional singing career in 1947 at New York City Opera playing Jochanaan in Salome. He moved to Europe in 1951 and took guest roles at … Trier has a fine opera house and a knowledgeable, appreciative audience. Michael Rhodes died Sunday, March 20, 2013, in Trier, Germany.
Wherever we went with Michael, we were always greeted warmly by the German people. A second or two later he lifted up his head, looked at the audience and winked. The German people seemed to love Michael Rhodes as much as he loved them. Before his 13th birthday, Rhodes had taught himself…. ( Log Out / I have referred to the Messiah as a performance and as a production and in deed it was both but if Michael were here he would remind all of us that it is first and foremost a worship service. I would not be surprised if it was nothing more than his love for Trier. I have heard portions of the Messiah, often just Hallelujah sung many times since 1974, and when it is over I always think the same thing: that was wonderful, but that was not the Messiah. I was just a teen at the time and knew him more as a choir director and family friend than as an opera star. Early life. On the night of the combined German-American service, my family wanted to get the best possible seats so we arrived very early only to find hundreds of people already there – so many, we feared we might not get in.
Before his 13th birthday, Rhodes had taught himself to play the guitar with amazing skill for one so young. I don’t know why Michael moved to Germany.
He taught opera stars like Jonas Kaufmann, Katharina Bihler and Joshah Zmarzlik but he also found time to share his love of music with the children of American service men and women. Before his 13th birthday, Rhodes had taught himself… In the same year he became the first American after World War II to sing at Berlin's Deutsche Oper. Michael Rhodes deserves to be remembered as an Opera star but more than anything he was a great teacher. I and many other American youth not only had the chance to work with Michael Rhodes, we also had the opportunity to perform in historic venues like the High Cathedral of Saint Peter in Trier and the Cologne Cathedral, in Cologne. The flash photography has ruined the effect but with proper back lighting I appear to be a man seeking Christ and my shadow looks like Christ on the cross. This picture was taken at a rehearsal for Lightshine.
I was surprised but pleased when the obituary of Michael Rhodes was carried in papers across the United States. I was in choirs and had minor roles in musicals he conducted for American service families at airbases near his home in Trier. A couple of years later he landed his first professional gig. To this day I do not know whether that was a regular part of the opera or something he did just for her. As a former military dependent I want to say: thank you, Michael Rhodes, for the thousands of hours you spent working with the youth of the American Air Force Bases at Spangdahlem and Bitburg Germany. A couple of years later he landed his first professional gig. He may be best known to American opera fans for being the vocal coach who helped make German tenor Jonas Kaufmann the star he is today. Among the more than 100 major roles that he sang during his 35-year stage career, “Falstaff” from Verdi’s opera of the same name was his favorite role.
After “Lightshine” the youth, supported by the adult chapel choir and directed by Michael Rhodes, put on a production of “Amahl and the Night Visitors.”, Michael Rhodes directing the children’s choir at Bitburg Air Force Base Chapel (1975), Michael Rhodes with Children’s Choir at Cologne Cathedral, in Cologne Germany. He taught opera stars like Jonas Kaufmann, Katharina Bihler and Joshah Zmarzlik but he also found time to share his love of music with the children of American service men and women.
After about four years, he picked up and moved to Memphis, TN, to work with Charlie Rich's son, Alan Rich. However, I was fortunate enough to be in the cathedral for the combined performance and also to sing an abbreviated version of the Messiah later that month at the airbase chapel. BERLIN — Michael Rhodes, an American opera singer and highly sought-after vocal coach who trained stars including German tenor Jonas Kaufmann, has died at the age of 89. On the eve of Election Day, Joe Biden set his sights on the Rust Belt and got some star-studded help from Barack Obama, Lady Gaga, and John Legend.
He gently pushed us to be better than we ever thought we could be. In interviews Kaufmann has credited Rhodes with helping him find his voice. He devoted countless hours to working with American service men and women stationed in Germany and their children. Rhodes, a baritone, began his professional singing career in 1947 at New York City Opera playing Jochanaan in Salome. Bass guitarist Michael Rhodes was born in (1953), way down south in Monroe, LA, where country, Cajun, and blues music was a part of every day life. Post was not sent - check your email addresses! Peter G. Davis, an American opera critic, scholar and writer for the New York Times and New York magazine, met Rhodes and heard him sing on a visit to Trier in 1962. It was a great experience. Anne Foegen-Rhodes … Trier is a relatively small town but it is the oldest city in Germany and is something of a cultural mecca. In 1974 the Choral Society of Bitburg and US vocal ensemble presented the “Messiah” by Georg Friedrich Händel under the direction of Michael Rhodes. Permit me to share his story. Change ), You are commenting using your Facebook account. I was blessed to have known Michael Rhodes in the 1970s and to have felt the power of his voice on many occasions. Michael Rhodes is an American bass player, known for his session work and touring in support of other artists, and his collaborations in bands and ensembles.
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