Gedda, Nicolai (1925– )

Swedish tenor of Russian parentage. He studied in Stockholm, making his debut there in 1952. In 1953 he sang in Paris, and appeared at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, London, in 1954 as the Duke of Mantua in Verdi's Rigoletto; he returned as Benvenuto Cellini. In 1958, at the New York Metropolitan Opera House, he created Anatol in Barber's Vanessa. His other roles include Tamino, Faust, and Palestrina. His first London song recital was in April 1986, and he sang Christian II in a revival of Naumann's Gustaf Wasa in Stockholm in 1991.