Konya, Sándor

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Konya, Sándor

Konya, Sándor, Hungarian tenor; b. Sarkad, Sept. 23, 1923. He was educated at the Budapest Academy of Music, and also studied in Detmold, Rome, and Milan. He made his first professional appearance as Turiddu in Bielefeld in 1951, singing there until 1954. After appearing in Darmstadt (1954–55), he joined the Berlin Städtische Oper in 1955. In 1958 he sang for the first time at the Bayreuth Festival as Lohengrin; also sang at Milan’s La Scala (1960) and the San Francisco Opera (1960–65). On Oct. 28, 1961, he made his Metropolitan Opera debut in N.Y. as Lohengrin; sang there regularly until 1973. He first appeared at London’s Covent Garden in the same role (1963). His most notable roles included Walther von Stolzing, Parsifal, Max, and Don Carlos.

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire