Summers, Jonathan

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Summers, Jonathan

Summers, Jonathan, Australian baritone; b. Melbourne, Oct. 2, 1946. Following training in Melbourne (1964-74), he studied with Otakar Kraus in London (1974-80). In 1975 he made his operatic debut with the Kent Opera as Rigoletto. He sang Falstaff with the Glyndebourne Touring Opera in 1976, and in 1977 he made his first appearance at London’s Covent Garden as Kilian in Der Freischütz. He also sang with the English National Opera in London, Opera North in Leeds, and the Scottish Opera in Glasgow. In 1981 he sang Germont père with the Australian Opera. He made his Metropolitan Opera debut in N.Y. as Marcello on Jan. 22, 1988. In 1990 he sang Enrico in Lucia di Lammermoor at his debut with the Lyric Opera in Chicago, and then returned there in 1994 to sing in Fedora. In 1997 he portrayed Mozart’s Figaro at the English National Opera.

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire