Uppman, Theodor
Uppman, Theodor
Uppman, Theodor, American baritone and teacher; b. San Jose, Calif., Jan. 12, 1920. He received training at the Curtis Inst. of Music in Philadelphia (1939-41) before attending opera workshops at Stanford Univ. (1941-42) and the Univ. of Southern Calif, in Los Angeles (1948-50). In 1941 he made his professional debut with the Northern Calif. Sym. Orch. He first gained notice when he sang Debussy’s Pelléas in a concert version with the San Francisco Sym. Orch. in 1947. In 1948 he chose that same role for his debut with the N.Y.C. Opera. On Dec. 1, 1951, he created the title role in Britten’s Billy Buddat London’s Covent Garden. He made his Metropolitan Opera debut in N.Y. as Pelléas on Nov. 27,1953, and then was on its roster from 1955 to 1978, appearing in such roles as Papageno, Marcello, Eisenstein, Guglielmo, Paquillo, Sharpless et al. He also was a guest artist with other U.S. opera companies and toured as a concert artist. In 1962 he created Floyd’s Jonathan Wade at the N.Y.C. Opera and in 1983 Bernstein’s Bill in A Quiet Placeat the Houston Grand Opera. He taught at the Manhattan School of Music, the Mannes Coll. of Music in N.Y, and the Britten-Pears School for Advanced Musical Studies in Aldeburgh.
—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire