Jess Thomas

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Jess Thomas
Born
Jess Floyd Thomas

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Hot Springs, South Dakota, United States
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Tiburon, California, United States
OccupationTemplate:Pluralize from textOpera singer
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Known forWagnerian opera
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Jess Thomas (August 4, 1927 – October 11, 1993) was an American operatic tenor, best known for singing the works of Richard Wagner.

Early life and education

File:Jess Thomas Sculpture by Hortensia Fussy.jpg
Hortensia: Sculpture of Jess Thomas, 1997

Jess Floyd Thomas was born in Hot Springs, South Dakota.[1] As a child, he took part in various musical activities and studied psychology at the University of Nebraska.[2] For several years, he worked as a high school guidance counselor, before enrolling at Stanford University for an MA.[2][3][4] Learning that the operatic department was producing Verdi's Falstaff, he auditioned for Otto Schulmann, the vocal professor, and obtained the role of Fenton. He studied with Schulmann for three years before his operatic debut in 1957.[2][5]

Operatic career

Thomas debuted in 1957 for the San Francisco Opera, performing in Richard Strauss's Der Rosenkavalier as the Haushofmeister. In 1958, he performed in the title role of Richard Wagner's Lohengrin for the Badisches Staatstheater Karlsruhe at the commencement of a career in Germany.[5][6]

At Bayreuth, he established his reputation as a Wagnerian tenor, performing in the following roles and operas:

In 1963, Thomas joined the roster of the Metropolitan Opera and went on to sing 109 performances of fifteen roles with the company, including all the major tenor roles of Wagner's work.[7][8] Among the highlights of his career with the Met was appearing at the opening of the new Metropolitan Opera House at Lincoln Center, in the first performance of Samuel Barber's Antony and Cleopatra with Leontyne Price.[9] He was awarded the Wagner Medal at Bayreuth in 1963.[10]

In 1970, at the 12th Annual Grammy Awards, Thomas won a Grammy Award for Best Opera Recording for his performance of Wagner's Siegfried, with the Berlin Philharmonic.[11]

On December 9, 1981, San Francisco Opera general director Kurt Herbert Adler called Thomas an hour before a performance of Die Walküre. Heldentenor James King had lost his voice, and Adler asked Thomas if he would like to sing the role in an hour. "But I haven't even shaved yet", Thomas said. Though he hadn't looked at the score in years, Thomas performed the role at the age of 54, relying on a memory of the role, with some prompting. The next day, headlines proclaimed Thomas's eleventh-hour rescue for Die Walküre.[12][13] Thomas's farewell performance took place in the title role of Parsifal with the Metropolitan Opera in 1982, while it was on tour in Washington, D.C.[14]

Death and legacy

Thomas died in San Francisco in 1993, aged 66, of a heart attack.[15] In 1997, on request of Thomas's widow, Violeta Thomas, the Austrian sculptor Hortensia Fussy made a portrait of Jess Thomas, showing him as Siegfried with his sword. The sculpture was donated to the Austrian Theatre Museum in 2002.[16]

References

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  1. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Sirvaitis, Karen (September 1, 2001). South Dakota. Lerner Publications. p. 69. ISBN 978-0-8225-4070-0.
  2. ^ a b c Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Forbes, Elizabeth (October 16, 1993). "Obituary: Jess Thomas". The Independent (UK).
  3. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Ross, Alex (October 13, 1993). "Jess Thomas, 66, American Tenor Who Specialized in Wagner, Dies". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved May 31, 2025.
  4. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Karajan artists: Jess Thomas – the "more than six feet Siegfried" | A Musical Icon". Karajan Institute. Retrieved May 31, 2025.
  5. ^ a b Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Klein, Howard (December 12, 1971). "Tristan is a Tenor named Thomas". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved May 31, 2025.
  6. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Tosca (Giacomo Puccini) – Deutsche Digitale Bibliothek". deutsche-digitale-bibliothek.de (in Deutsch). Retrieved May 31, 2025.
  7. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Classical Music Dance and Guide". New York Times. October 11, 2002. Retrieved June 9, 2009.
  8. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Metropolitan Opera Archives". Metropolitan Opera Archives. Archived from the original on March 1, 2024. Retrieved May 31, 2025.
  9. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."When did the new Metropolitan Opera House at Lincoln Center open?". The Metropolitan Opera FAQ. Retrieved August 3, 2006.
  10. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Patmore, David. "Jess Thomas". Orfeo Music. Retrieved May 31, 2025.
  11. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Grammy Awards 1970". awardsandshows.com. Retrieved August 15, 2023.
  12. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."No Time to Shave". LA Times. Retrieved June 9, 2009.[dead link]
  13. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."My First Walkure". The Berkeley Daily Planet. Retrieved June 9, 2009.
  14. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Tuck, Lon (April 21, 1982). "Enthralling 'Parsifal'". The Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved May 31, 2025.
  15. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Oliver, Myrna (October 14, 1993). "Jess Thomas; Tenor Specialized in Wagner". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved May 31, 2025.
  16. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Report about the exhibition "My father promised me no sword - heroic tenor Jess Thomas in Vienna". Wiener Zeitung. Retrieved May 24, 2002.

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