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Born: July 25, 1924 - The Hague, the Netherlands
Died: June 27, 2009 - Almelo, Overijssel, the Netherlands |
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The Dutch tenor, Arjan Blanken, was a graduate of the Amsterdam Conservatoire.
Arjan Blanken made his debut in 1954 in the Grote Kerk at Edam. He first appeared as oratorio- and lieder-singer. He made his opera-debut as Fenton in Otto Nicolai's Die lustigen Weiber von Windsor at the Zuid-Nederlandse Opera in 1957. He performed as lyric tenor opera-roles as Belmonte in W.A. Mozart's Die Entführung aus dem Serail, Don Ottavio in W.A. Mozart's Don Giovanni, Count Almaviva in G. Rossini's Il barbiere di Siviglia, Baron Kronthal in Lortzing's Der Wildschütz, a.o. The last mentioned opera had at the performance on June, 4 1958 as cast a.o. Erna Spoorenberg as Baronin Freimann, Guus Hoekman as Baculus and Aafje Heijnis as Nanette.
Arjan Blanken made concert tours to South Africa, the Far East and Near East and European countries, and he was known in Holland through interpretations of liturgical and operatic interpretations. He sang in the first performance in Israel of J.S. Bach’s Johannes-Passion (BWV 245) and Matthäus-Passion (BWV 244) and George Frideric Handel’s Messiah at the Original Abu-Gosh Music Festival. |
