José Van Dam

Joseph Baron Van Damme Born August 25 1940 In Brussels Known As José Van Dam Is A Belgian Bass-Baritone. At The Age Of 17 He Entered The Brussels Royal Conservatory And Studied With Frederic Anspach. A Year Later He Graduated With Diplomas And First Prizes In Voice And Opera Performance. He Made His Opera Début As The Music Teacher Don Basilio In Gioacchino Rossini’s Il Barbiere Di Siviglia At The Paris Opera In 1961 And Remained In The Company Until 1965 When He Sang His First Major Role Escamillo From Bizet's Carmen. He Then Sang For Two Seasons At Geneva La Scala Covent Garden And In Paris. At Geneva Van Dam Sang In The Première Of Milhaud's La Mère Coupable In 1966. Lorin Maazel Heard Van Dam And Invited Him To Record Ravel’s L’heure Espagnole With Him For Deutsche Grammophon. In 1967 Maazel Asked Him To Join The Deutsche Oper In Berlin. Van Dam Has Performed At L’Opéra De Paris Covent Garden The Metropolitan Opera Teatro Alla Scala In Milan Vienna State Opera Deutsche Oper Berlin The Théâtre Royal De La Monnaie In Brussels Teatro Colón In Buenos Aires The Salzburg Festival And Festivals In Aix-En-Provence And Orange France. Van Dam Is Also A Concert Oratorio And Lieder Singer And Has Won International Awards For His Performances On Stage And In Recordings. Berlin Conferred On Him The Title Of "Kammersänger" In 1974 And The Same Year He Received The German Music Critics’ Prize. Other Awards Include The Gold Medal Of The Belgian Press 1976 Grand Prix De L’Académie Française Du Disque 1979 Orphée D’Or De L’Académie Lyrique Française 1980 The European Critics’ Prize 1985 Diapason D’Or And Prix De La Nouvelle Académie Du Disque 1993 And The Orphée D’Or De L’Académie Du Disque Lyrique 1994 . In August 1998 His Majesty King Albert II Of Belgium Made Van Dam A Baron Recognizing Him As One Of The Finest Classical Singers. On December 4 1999 Van Dam Was One Of The Performers At The Marriage Of Belgium's Crown Prince Philippe And Mathilde D'Udekem D'Acoz. Van Dam Appears In The Films The Music Teacher 1988 As Joachim Dallayrac And In Don Giovanni 1979 As Leporello Directed By Joseph Losey And Conducted By Maazel. Also Featured In That Famous Film Are Ruggero Raimondi Dame Kiri Te Kanawa Teresa Berganza Edda Moser Malcolm King Kenneth Riegel And John Macurdy. Among Van Dam's Extensive Discography Are Complete Recordings Of Carmen Thrice In 1974 1975 And 1982 Louise With Beverly Sills 1977 Die Zauberflöte As The Speaker Opposite Zdzisława Donat's Queen Of Night 1980 Faust Conducted By Michel Plasson 1991 Les Contes D'Hoffmann With Roberto Alagna 1994-96 Don Carlos 1996 And "Die Meistersinger" Conducted By Sir Georg Solti 1997 . With Herbert Von Karajan He Also Recorded Fidelio Opposite Jon Vickers 1970 Le Nozze Di Figaro 1978 Pelléas Et Mélisande 1978 Parsifal With Peter Hofmann 1979-80 Die Zauberflöte As Sarastro 1980 And Der Fliegende Holländer To Dunja Vejzovic's Senta 1981-83 As Well As Beethoven's Ninth Symphony With Janet Perry 1983 . One Of The Bass-Baritone's Greatest Successes Was As The Title Role In Olivier Messiaen's Saint François D'Assise. The World-Premiere Was Recorded Under Seiji Ozawa 1983 As Was The Salzburg Production Under Kent Nagano 1998 . read less