Distinguished
American baritone Kurt Ollmann first came to prominence singing Riff on
the Deutsche Grammophon recording of West Side Story under Leonard
Bernstein. His operatic career has since taken him to La Scala, the Vienna State
Opera, the Rome Opera, Brussels’ La Monnaie and the Wexford Festival, as well
as the Seattle, Washington, Los Angeles, and New York City Opera
companies. He has sung with the London Symphony Orchestra, L’Orchestre de
Paris, Rome’s Accademia de Santa Cecilia, the New York Philharmonic, the St.
Paul ChamberOrchestra and with the orchestras of Boston, Baltimore, Philadelphia
and San Francisco, among many others.
A noted recitalist, Mr. Ollmann studied the song literature with Gérard Souzay
and Pierre Bernac and has made a specialty of the French and American classical
song literature. He has appeared in recital at London’s Wigmore Hall and in
Paris, Milan, Geneva, New York, Chicago and numerous other European and
American cities with such pianist colleagues as Mary Dibbern, Steven Blier
and Donald St. Pierre. A champion of new American music, he has premiered works
by such composers as Leonard Bernstein, Ned Rorem, Michael Torke, Richard
Danielpour and Peter Lieberson and appears regularly with the New York Festival
of Song. He was one of the original performers of the AIDS Quilt Songbook.
Kurt Ollmann has recorded songs of Leguerney with Mary Dibbern for Harmonia
Mundi France, Roussel with Dalton Baldwin for EMI, Schumann with Michael
Barrett for Koch, and song works of Rorem with the New York Festival of Song for
New World Records and with the composer for Newport Classics.
Among his many other recordings are Gounod’s Roméo et Juliette with
Placido Domingo on BMG, Gershwin’s Oh, Kay! With Dawn Upshaw on
Nonesuch, Bernstein’s Candide and West Side Story on DG,
Ravel’s l’Heure Espagnole under Previn and Pelléas et Mélisande
on Opera d’Oro. He has also been featured in several PBS
specials.
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"Singing opera
is like painting in oils, with broad brushstrokes meant to be seen at a
distance. A song recital is like an etching that reveals itself only
with detailed observation. I love detail!"
Embracing the
Unexpected: An Interview with Kurt Ollmann by David Kubiak.
Cover story. Classical Singer/November 2004. |
For
information concerning recitals and master classes, please contact Ms.
Dibbern.
