A Concise Biographical Dictionary of Singers

By Daniel James Shigo, voice-talk.net

We would like to thank Daniel for giving us permission to publish this article. For those not familiar with David’s blog it is an exceptionally educated look into the world of voice ~rf

Over the weekend, I went with a friend to see Verdi's Stiffelio at the Metropolitan Opera. Placido Domingo conducted after having sung a baritone role in Verdi's Simon Boccanegra the night before.

As my friend and I - a mother of two boys - talked during the intermissions, she mentioned that her youngest, who is seven, has been reading the periodic table. Talk about an interest it the basics of life! I thought about this when a book arrived in the mail today. If there is an equivalent to the periodic table for singers, it is the important but largely forgotten book A Concise Biographical Dictionary of Singers from the Beginning of Recorded Sounds to the Present, Kutsch & Riemens, ('62, '66, '69).

A Concise Biographical Dictionary was translated from the original German by Harry Earl Jones. At the time of its first publication, it was the only English language book to give the reader basic - one might say elemental - information on every famous artist who made recordings. What is elemental information? Who studied with whom, what they sang, where the sang it, and with whom- a huge circle of knowledge. Though one can now use sources like Wikipedia to find this kind of information, these databases aren't available in a form that makes for browsing- an important matter itself. How I loved digging through the CD's at Tower Records on Broadway near Lincoln Center - I found revelatory singers I didn't know about.

Kirsten Flagstad as Brunhilde

Sadly, Tower Records is no more. And libraries are taking this book off their shelves (I first poured over this 487 page book at the New York Public Library). I know this from finding one at Abebooks.com. The majority of listings are ex-library books. This is good for the interested reader, who can probably find a copy of this out-of-print book as inexpensively as I did. But is it good for the new generation of singers? I think about this after repeatedly hearing colleagues report that graduate school soprano's don't know who Kirsten Flagstad and Joan Sutherland were.

A Concise Biographical Dictionary of Singers is a window into a wondrous world. Reading about these singers makes one want to listen to their recordings. And that is a real education.

About Daniel James Shigo

I am a voice teacher, opera singer, researcher in historical vocal pedagogy, and the founding editor of VOICEPrints- the Official Journal of the New York Singing Teachers Association.