Tribute to Nicolai Gedda

The Royal Swedish Opera's soloists, guest soloists and accompaning pianists pay tribute to one of Sweden's greatest opera singers of all time, the legendary tenor Nicolai Gedda!  

Nicolai Gedda (1925–2017) had a long and impressive career. He made his début at the Royal Swedish Opera in 1951 in the world premiere of Heinrich Sutermeister's Der rote Stiefel and had his breakthrough the following year with the title role in Adolphe Adam's Le postillon de Longjumeau. Then things moved quickly: in 1953 he made his début at La Scala in Milan as Don Ottavio in Don Giovanni, in 1954 he sang the role of Huon in Weber's Oberon at the Paris Opera and from 1957 and for 22 seasons onwards he sang regularly at The Met in New York. He also appeared at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden and on many other prestigious stages. 

Gedda mastered seven languages, in speech and singing, and made many recordings. During the latter part of his career, he often appeared as a Lied singer, he was a singing teacher and he wrote an autobiography that was translated into several languages. He was appointed court singer in 1965, became a member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Music the following year and a couple of years later received the Litteris et Artibus medal from King Gustav VI Adolf. In France, he was made a knight of the Legion of Honour in 2010. Gedda lived the last decades of his life in Switzerland. 

At the Royal Swedish Opera, Nicolai Gedda sang 145 performances between 1951 and 1992. His last role here was as Andrej in a concertante performance of Tchaikovsky's Mazepa. 

In 2025, it is 100 years since Nicolai Gedda was born, and this will be celebrated with a couple of luxurious yet intimate concerts in the Golden Foyer. Selected pieces from Gedda's repertoire will be performed – opera classics, operettas and romances. 

Featured artists TBA.