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Place of Birth
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Baltimore
(Maryland, Baltimore County, United States of America, Area code 410, Area code 443, Area code 667, Area codes 410, 443, and 667)
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James Morris is a leading American bass-baritone opera singer. He is best known for his interpretation of the taxing role of "Wotan" in Richard Wagner's operatic cycle, Der Ring des Nibelungen. The Metropolitan Opera video recording of the complete cycle with Morris as Wotan has been described as an "exceptional issue on every count."
James Morris was born in Baltimore, Maryland, where he studied voice with Rosa Ponselle and at the Peabody Conservatory. He attended the University of Maryland and also studied at the Academy of Vocal Arts in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He made his debut with the Baltimore Opera in 1967, as "Crespel" in Jacques Offenbach's The Tales of Hoffmann, which starred Beverly Sills and Norman Treigle.
He first appeared in New York at the Metropolitan Opera, in January 1971, as The King in Verdi's Aïda. He went on to establish himself as one of the most versatile male opera singers in the world, performing a repertoire ranging from Mozart through Verdi and Wagner to Benjamin Britten.
But of all the parts he has sung, "Wotan" arguably remains his signature role. He was considered one of the best "Wotans" in the world during his heyday. In January 2008, on his 61st birthday, he reprised that role in a production of Die Walküre at the Metropolitan Opera, the theater with which he is most closely associated. In 2009, alongside Deborah Voigt, he also returned there to sing "Scarpia" in Puccini's Tosca.
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