Alexander, John
Alexander, John
Alexander, John, prominent American tenor; b. Meridian, Miss., Oct. 21, 1923; d. there, Dec. 8, 1990. He studied at the Cincinnati Cons, of Music and with Robert Weede. In 1952 he made his operatic debut as Faust with the Cincinnati Opera. On Oct. 11, 1957, he appeared for the first time at the N.Y.C. Opera as Alfredo, where he sang regularly until 1977. On Dec. 19, 1961, he made his Metropolitan Opera debut in N.Y. as Ferrando, remaining on its roster for more than 25 years. In 1968 he sang Rodolfo at his Vienna State Opera debut and in 1970 Pollione at his Covent Garden debut in London. In 1973 he appeared as Don Carlos in the U.S. premiere of the French version of Verdi’s opera in Boston. He also toured widely as a concert artist. He taught at the Univ. of Cincinnati-Coll. Cons. of Music from 1974. Alexander maintained an extensive repertory that embraced works from the bel canto era to the 20th century.
—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire