Kenneth Riegel

Kenneth Riegel (born 19 April 1938) is an American opera tenor.

Life and career

Riegel was born on 19 April 1938 in Womelsdorf, Pennsylvania. He made his theatrical début as the Alchemist in König Hirsch at Santa Fe Opera in 1965, debuting at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden in the same year. He was engaged at the New York City Opera from 1969 to 1974. He debuted at the Metropolitan Opera in Les Troyens in 1973, subsequently appearing at the Met in another 102 performances in operas including La clemenza di Tito, Les contes d'Hoffmann, Elektra, Fidelio, Lulu. Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg, The Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny, Salome and Die Zauberflöte. He made his first appearance at the Salzburg Festival in 1975. In 1979, he sang Alwa at the first performance of the 3 act version of Lulu at the Paris Opera. He played the title role in Der Zwerg in Hamburg in 1981. In 1983, he created the role of the Leper in Saint François d'Assise.

Partial discography

• Berlioz: La damnation de Faust (Georg Solti recording)
• Haydn: Harmoniemesse (Leonard Bernstein recording)

Selected filmography

• Don Giovanni (1979)
• Boris Godunov (1989)