32 Facts About Richard Cassilly

Richard Cassilly was an admired Don Jose in Carmen and sang almost all of the leading Puccini tenor roles.

Engagements with other major companies soon followed, and by 1973 Richard Cassilly had sung leading roles with almost every major opera house in Europe, including La Scala, the Opera National de Paris, the Vienna State Opera, and the Bavarian State Opera.

Richard Cassilly forged a strong collaborative partnership with the Royal Opera in London, appearing in that house almost every year from 1968 to 1982.

Richard Cassilly became involved in music through singing in his high school's glee club.

Richard Cassilly worked as a paid singer for a couple of different churches during this time.

Richard Cassilly sang regularly at the NYCO in productions through 1966, often in contemporary operas or in rarely heard works.

Richard Cassilly notably sang in several American premieres with the company including Ferdinand in Frank Martin's The Tempest in 1957 and the Jailer in Luigi Dallapiccola's Il prigioniero, with Norman Treigle and Leopold Stokowski, in 1960.

Richard Cassilly sang often with the American Opera Society in concert performances of operas at Carnegie Hall and Town Hall, sharing the stage with such opera greats as Walter Berry, Marilyn Horne, Christa Ludwig, Regina Resnik, Giulietta Simionato, Eleanor Steber, and Dame Joan Sutherland among others.

Richard Cassilly sang the role of Hermann in a concert performance of The Queen of Spades opposite Phyllis Curtin in the title role and sang the role of Martin in Aaron Copland's The Tender Land, both with the New York Philharmonic in 1965.

Richard Cassilly returned to that company several more times singing the roles of Don Jose and Pinkerton.

Richard Cassilly sang a few times with the Philadelphia Lyric Opera Company during these years in the roles of Oedipus rex, Sam Polk, and the title role in Wagner's Lohengrin.

Richard Cassilly made his first appearance outside of the United States in 1957 with the Canadian Opera Company as Cavaradossi in Tosca.

Richard Cassilly reprised the role later that year at Fort Worth Opera with Phyllis Curtin in the title role and Walter Cassel as Scarpia.

In 1960 Richard Cassilly sang Don Jose for three house debut performances: the Houston Grand Opera, the Vancouver Opera, and the Opera Company of Boston.

Richard Cassilly performed the role of Romeo opposite Pierrette Alarie's Juliette in Gounod's Romeo et Juliette in Montreal in January 1961.

In 1965, Richard Cassilly returned to Europe having not performed there since his 1958 debut, singing the title role in Heinrich Sutermeister's Raskolnikoff at the Grand Theatre de Geneve.

Richard Cassilly decided to accept a single engagement in Berlin but signed a longterm contract with the HSO, ultimately moving his family to that city.

Richard Cassilly was a particular house favorite in the Wagner roles of Siegmund, Walther, Tristan, and Tannhauser.

Richard Cassilly made his debut with the company singing Cavaradossi opposite the Tosca by Suzanne Sarroca in October 1966.

Richard Cassilly notably appeared as Florestan in the company's 1968 film of Beethoven's Fidelio, opposite Anja Silja.

Richard Cassilly portrayed Aron in a critically acclaimed 1974 production of Schoenberg's Moses und Aron with the company which was later recorded under conductor Pierre Boulez.

On February 16,1968, Richard Cassilly made his debut at the Royal Opera, Covent Garden as Laca Klemen to Marie Collier's Jenufa with Astrid Varnay as the Kostelnicka.

Richard Cassilly returned there almost every year through 1982, portraying the roles of Aeneas in Les Troyens, the Drum Major in Wozzeck, Florestan, Herod in Salome, Laca Klemen, the title role in Peter Grimes, Otello, Siegmund in Wagner's Die Walkure, the title role in Tannhauser, and Troilus in Troilus and Cressida.

Richard Cassilly notably recorded several of these roles with the Royal Opera, including Siegmund and Troilus.

Richard Cassilly made his only appearance at La Scala in January 1970 as Samson in Saint-Saens's Samson et Dalila.

In 1978 Richard Cassilly joined the roster of the Metropolitan Opera after having not appeared there since his debut at the house in 1973.

Richard Cassilly's returned with a critically acclaimed performance of the title role in Wagner's Tannhauser on January 26,1978, with Teresa Kubiak as Elisabeth, Bernd Weikl as Wolfram, and Grace Bumbry as Venus.

Richard Cassilly performed the role of Jimmy Mahoney for the Metropolitan Opera Centennial Gala in 1983.

Richard Cassilly returned to the Palais Garnier in July 1982 to sing Cannio followed by a portrayal of the mystical shepherd in Karol Szymanowski's King Roger with Wolf Trap Opera in August.

In March 1983 Richard Cassilly sang the role of Luka Kuzmic for the American premiere of Leos Janacek's From the House of the Dead in a concert with the New York Philharmonic.

Richard Cassilly lived in the Boston suburb of Brookline and was a professor of voice at Boston University, where he had taught from 1986 until his death.

In 1986, Richard Cassilly joined the voice faculty at Boston University where he taught until his death twelve years later in Boston on January 30,1998.