Jagel, Frederick

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Jagel, Frederick

Jagel, Frederick, American tenor and teacher; b. Brooklyn, June 10, 1897; d. San Francisco, July 5, 1982. He sang in local choirs as a youth and later appeared as a tenor soloist. After training from William Brady in N.Y., he completed his studies in Milan. In 1924 he made his operatic debut under the name Federico Jeghelli in Livorno as Rodolfo, and then appeared throughout Italy and with an Italian opera company in the Netherlands. On Nov. 8, 1927, he made his Metropolitan Opera debut in N.Y. as Radamès, and remained on its roster until 1950. Among his prominent roles there were Alfredo, the Duke of Mantua, Cavaradossi, Turiddu, Pinkerton, Pollione, and Peter Grimes. He also appeared in Buenos Aires (1928; 1939-41), San Francisco (debut as Jack Ranee, 1930), Chicago (debut as Lohengrin, 1934), and at the N.Y.C. Opera (debut as Herod, 1947). From 1949 to 1970 he taught voice at the New England Cons, of Music in Boston.

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire