Daniels, David
Daniels, David
Daniels, David , extraordinary American countertenor; b. Spartanburg, S.C., March 12, 1966. He was reared in a musical family. Following studies at the Univ. of Cincinnati Coll.-Cons. of Music, he pursued graduate training with George Shirley at the Univ. of Mich. (M.A., 1992). He sang minor roles with the Los Angeles Opera and appeared in oratorios before attracting notice as Nerone in L’incoronazione di Popped at the Glimmerglass Opera in Cooperstown, N.Y, in 1994. In 1995 he returned there to great critical acclaim as Handel’s Tamerlano. He sang Arsamene in Handel’s Xerxes with the Boston Lyric Opera, Didymus in Handel’s Theodora at the Glyndebourne Festival, and Oberon in his London debut in 1996. On Dec. 2, 1996, he made his N.Y. recital debut at Lincoln Center. In 1997 he won the Richard Tucker Music Foundation Award, and sang Sesto in Handel’s Giulio Cesare at London’s Covent Garden, Nerone in Munich, and Arsamene at the N.Y.C. Opera. He was engaged to make his Metropolitan Opera debut in N.Y. as Arsamene on April 10, 1999. Daniels’s remarkable artistry combines a mastery of vocal splendor and dramatic power.
—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire