James King Autograph: Hand signed Photo.

The Autograph comes with a Certificate of Authenticity. Size: 4,1 x 5,8 inches. Very fine condition.

James King (1925 –2005) was widely regarded as the finest American heldentenor of the post-war period.

He started singing as a baritone, but noticed in 1955 that his range was more that of a tenor. He retrained himself as a tenor and won the American Opera Auditions in Cincinnati in 1961. He made his debut as Don Jose in Bizet's Carmen with the San Francisco Opera. He sang the French and Italian repertoire with the Deutsche Oper Berlin from 1962 to 1965 and worldwide at most of the major opera houses, being a particular favorite at the Vienna State Opera, where he last appeared as Florestan in Beethoven's Fidelio, in 1997.

He made his Metropolitan Opera debut in 1966. He sang at all the major opera houses in Europe and America and recorded extensively. One of his most famous recordings, however, was not in opera, but rather that of Mahler's Das Lied von der Erde, recorded with Leonard Bernstein and the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra.

Item ID: col-6328