Kenneth Neate was an Australian operatic and concert tenor, opera producer and singing teacher, composer and author.
21 Facts About Kenneth Neate
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Kenneth Neate appeared at the Bayreuth Festival in 1963 as Loge in Das Rheingold and was noted as a dramatic tenor in German, French, and Italian repertoire in opera houses in England, France, Italy, Austria, Germany, and Australia.
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Ken Neate was born in Cessnock, New South Wales on 28 July 1914.
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Kenneth Neate studied piano and voice in Newcastle and had further study in Sydney with Lute Drummond and Lionello Cecil.
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Kenneth Neate joined the New South Wales Police Force, serving in inner-city stations in Sydney.
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Kenneth Neate became a soloist in the NSW Police Choir and soon became known as "The Singing Policeman".
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Kenneth Neate sang his first operatic roles as Pinkerton in Madama Butterfly in Brisbane in 1937 and the title role in a concert performance of Lohengrin with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Joseph Post.
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Kenneth Neate auditioned for Bruno Walter, which led to his becoming understudy to Charles Kullman for The Magic Flute at the Met.
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Kenneth Neate had already appeared in opera and concert under the direction of Sir Thomas Beecham in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
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In 1950 and 1951, Ken Kenneth Neate sang the roles of Rodolfo, Cavaradossi, and Pinkerton in productions televised by the BBC.
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Kenneth Neate often appeared with his fellow Australian Rosina Raisbeck at Covent Garden.
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Kenneth Neate made the first of five tours to Australia in 1952.
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Kenneth Neate returned in 1955,1960,1968 and 1970.
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In May 1956 at Bordeaux, Kenneth Neate created the title role in Henri Tomasi's Sampiero Corso, which was repeated at the Holland Festival in June.
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That year, Kenneth Neate sang in the first television recordings for Italian Radio and Television of La fanciulla del West, Turandot and Alfredo Catalani's Loreley.
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Kenneth Neate sang Stolzing in Die Meistersinger von Nurnberg, Eric, Lohengrin and Siegmund.
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The tenor role of Edgardo in that production was sung by Ken Kenneth Neate, who replaced the scheduled tenor at short notice.
18.
On 26 October 1961, Kenneth Neate created the role of Danforth in the world premiere of Robert Ward's The Crucible at the New York City Opera.
19.
Ken Kenneth Neate sang the Richard Strauss roles of Aegisth, Bacchus and Apollo.
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Kenneth Neate sang in such works as Beethoven's 9th Symphony, Mahler's Symphony of a Thousand and Das Lied von der Erde, Schoenberg's Gurre-Lieder, Handel oratorios, Dvorak's Stabat Mater, and the Requiems of Mozart, Verdi and Berlioz, under such conductors as Sir Thomas Beecham, Antal Dorati, Eduard van Beinum, Jascha Horenstein, Josef Krips, Rudolf Kempe, Wolfgang Sawallisch and Carlo Maria Giulini.
21.
Kenneth Neate produced operas in Ireland and Austria, such as Il trovatore, Don Carlo, Tosca, Samson and Delilah, Tannhauser and Fidelio.