John Macurdy, 1929–2020

The Metropolitan Opera mourns the death of bass John Macurdy, who sang more than 1,000 performances with the company from 1962 to 2000. His astonishing repertory of 62 roles spanned all languages and stylistic categories and included roles in two world premieres—Barber’s Antony and Cleopatra and David Martin Levy’s Mourning Becomes Electra, both in the 1966–67 season. His most frequent role was the Commendatore in Mozart’s Don Giovanni, which he sang 75 times. Other leading roles that he often performed were Sarastro in Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte, King Heinrich in Wagner’s Lohengrin (pictured above), Crespel in Offenbach’s Les Contes d’Hoffmann, the Old Hebrew in Saint-Säens’s Samson et Dalila, and Sparafucile in Verdi’s Rigoletto. His rich, sonorous timbre was well suited to most of the bass repertory, and he was also heard in such high profile parts as Gurnemanz in Wagner’s Parsifal, King Marke in Wagner’s Tristan und Isolde, and Mephistophélès in Gounod’s Faust. He was a consummate professional, respected colleague, and an invaluable company member for decades. We offer our sincerest condolences to his family and friends.

A 1986 performance of Lohengrin, featuring Macurdy as King Heinrich, will be available for free viewing on May 19 as the Nightly Opera Stream.