Stephen Grady Gould (January 24, 1962 – September 19, 2023) was an American heldentenor and leading interpreter of Richard Wagner's stage works. He performed around 100 times at the Bayreuth Festival, notably as Tannhäuser starting in 2004, and later Siegfried and Tristan. In 2022, his performance in all three roles earned him nicknames such as Iron Man.

Gould appeared at leading opera houses worldwide. His non-Wagner repertoire included the roles of Paul in Korngold's Die tote Stadt, Bacchus in Strauss' Ariadne auf Naxos, the title role of Britten's Peter Grimes, the Emperor in Strauss' Die Frau ohne Schatten, the title role of Verdi's Otello, Aeneas in Berlioz's Les Troyens, and the title role of William Bolcom's McTeague. In concert, he performed in Beethoven's Ninth Symphony, Schoenberg's Gurre-Lieder, and Mahler's Das Lied von der Erde.

Life and career

Stephen Grady Gould was born in Roanoke, Virginia, on January 24, 1962, the son of Loren Gould, a Baptist minister, and Annie (née Brown), a pianist who taught at schools. conducted by Christian Thielemann. He first performed as Tristan there in 2015, directed by Katharina Wagner and conducted by Thielemann.

Vienna State Opera

Gould first performed at the Vienna State Opera as Paul in the 2004 production of Korngold's Die tote Stadt.

Other opera houses

Gould appeared as Paul in Die tote Stadt in the opera's British premiere at the Royal Opera House in London in 2009, praised for his portrayal of the character "gripped by the memory of his dead wife".

Personal life

Gould lived alternately in the United States and Austria or Germany.

On August 25, 2023, he announced his retirement from singing "due to health reasons"; he had to cancel three major roles at the Bayreuth Festival. He announced a diagnosis of terminal bile duct cancer via his personal website on September 5. Gould died in Chesapeake, Virginia, on September 19, 2023, at age 61.

Recordings

Gould's performances in Bayreuth were broadcast internationally and recorded, including Siegfried with Thielemann in 2009. He recorded Tristan und Isolde, with Nina Stemme as Isolde and the Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin conducted by Marek Janowski in 2012 and Siegfried with the same orchestra and conductor in 2013. He recorded a DVD of act 2 from Tristan und Isolde, with Christine Goerke as Isolde, the National Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Gianandrea Noseda in 2019. The same year, he appeared as the Emperor in a recording of Die Frau ohne Schatten by Strauss taken at the Vienna State Opera conducted by Thielemann. A reviewer noted: "Every note is there with complete security, and the slightly dusky colour of his voice give him a particular colour." He recorded the tenor solo of Mahler's Symphony No. 8 as part of the live recordings of all Mahler symphonies with Riccardo Chailly conducting the MDR Rundfunkchor, the opera chorus Leipzig, the GewandhausChor, the Thomanerchor and the Gewandhausorchester, as part of the International Mahler Festival in Leipzig in 2011. He was awarded the title of an Austrian Kammersänger in 2015.

Publications

His book, Performing Wagner: A Singer’s Perspective on the Major Tenor Roles, was a result of Zoom conversations between Gould and F. Peter Phillips during the COVID-19 pandemic. It contains chapters on the roles of Tannhäuser, Tristan, Siegfried, Lohengrin and Parsifal, Further two chapters deal with conductors, stage directions and vocal technique. The epilogue, "Colleagues Remember Stephen Gould" features tributes from Ekaterina Gubanova, Petra Lang, Michael Volle and others. Katharina Wagner contributed the foreword.

References

Further reading

  • with Elizabeth Connell as Brünnhilde