Adam Didur

Didur, Adam 

Born Dec. 24, 1874, in Wola Sekowa, Poland; died Jan. 7, 1946, in Katowice. Polish singer (bass-baritone).

Didur studied singing at the conservatory in L’vov and completed his studies in Milan, where he made his debut in 1895 at La Scala. He was a soloist there until 1898. From 1899 to 1904, Didur sang in the opera theaters of Warsaw and L’vov, as well as at the Mariinskii Theater in St. Petersburg (in the first years of the 20th century). From 1904 to 1914 he successfully toured the major opera theaters in Europe and North and South America. From 1914 to 1932, Didur was a soloist at the Metropolitan Opera in New York. In 1945 he organized an opera company in Bytom (Silesia) and served as its first director. At the same time he taught at the conservatory in Katowice.

Didur was one of the major operatic artists of the first third of the 20th century (he performed for 40 years). He was a singer of enormous vocal range (he sang baritone roles as well), a great vigor, and considerable acting ability. Didur’s best parts included the Stolnik in Moniuszko’s Halka, Zbigniew in Moniuszko’s The Haunted Manor, the Miller in Dargomyzhskii’s Mermaid, Boris Godunov in Mussorgsky’s Boris Godunov, Gremin in Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin, Mephistopheles in Gounod’s Faust, and Don Basilio in Rossini’s The Barber of Seville.