Joseph Gabriels - Revision history

Darryl: /* Biography */

2025-07-04T13:14:31Z

Biography

Darryl: /* Contribution to SA theatre, film, media and/or performance */

2025-07-02T08:28:13Z

Contribution to SA theatre, film, media and/or performance

Darryl: Created page with "Joseph Gabriels (1937-1995) was an opera singer. ==Biography== Joseph Gabriels was born in Cape Town in 1937. He started singing with the Klopse and the Malay Choirs. In..."

2025-07-02T08:22:54Z

Created page with "Joseph Gabriels (1937-1995) was an opera singer. ==Biography== Joseph Gabriels was born in Cape Town in 1937. He started singing with the Klopse and the Malay Choirs. In..."

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[[Joseph Gabriels]] (1937-1995) was an opera singer.

==Biography==

Joseph Gabriels was born in Cape Town in 1937. He started singing with the Klopse and the Malay Choirs. In 1957 [[Joseph Manca]], who regularly adjudicated Klopse competitions, heard him and asked him to join the [[EOAN Group]]. Joseph Manca trained him, helped him to memorise his parts, since he could not read music.

In 1967, he was offered a bursary by the Schneier family of Johannesburg to go and study in Milan. Two years later, he won a prestigious singing competition in Busseto, the birthplace of Giuseppe Verdi. From 1969 onwards, he was invited to sing in some of the most renowned opera houses in the world: La Scala in Milan, the Metropolitan Opera in New York, where he made his debut on 5 February 1971 as Canio in ''[[I Pagliacci]]'' (he was the first South African to perform there), the opera houses of Dusseldorf and Duisburg. He later appeared with the English National Opera in the full version of Verdi's ''[[Don Carlos]]''.

He suffered a heart attack in 1984, which put an end to his career.

==Contribution to SA theatre, film, media and/or performance==

In 1958 Joseph Gabriels appeared in a production of ''[[Rigoletto]]''. His Italian-style tenor became a favourite with the audiences and he appeared in most operas staged by the [[EOAN Group]] at the beginning of the 1960s.

==Sources==

Denis-Constant Martin. 2013. Sounding the Cape Music, Identity and Politics in South Africa. African Minds.

https://www.historicaltenors.net/english/gabriels.html

==Return to==

Return to [[ESAT Personalities G]]

Return to [[South_African_Theatre/Personalities|South African Theatre Personalities]]

Return to [[The ESAT Entries]]

Return to [[Main Page]]

@@ Line 5: / Line 5: @@
 Joseph Gabriels was born in Cape Town in 1937. He started singing with the Klopse and the Malay Choirs. In 1957 [[Joseph Manca]], who regularly adjudicated Klopse competitions, heard him and asked him to join the [[EOAN Group]]. Joseph Manca trained him, helped him to memorise his parts, since he could not read music.
-In 1967, he was offered a bursary by the Schneier family of Johannesburg to go and study in Milan. Two years later, he won a prestigious singing competition in Busseto, the birthplace of Giuseppe Verdi. From 1969 onwards, he was invited to sing in some of the most renowned opera houses in the world: La Scala in Milan, the Metropolitan Opera in New York, where he made his debut on 5 February 1971 as Canio in ''[[I Pagliacci]]'' (he was the first South African to perform there), the opera houses of Dusseldorf and Duisburg. He later appeared with the English National Opera in the full version of Verdi's ''[[Don Carlos]]''.
+In 1967, he was offered a bursary by the Schneier family of Johannesburg to go and study in Milan. Two years later, he won a prestigious singing competition in Busseto, the birthplace of Giuseppe Verdi. From 1969 onwards, he was invited to sing in some of the most renowned opera houses in the world: La Scala in Milan, the Metropolitan Opera in New York, where he made his debut on 5 February 1971 as Canio in ''[[I Pagliacci]]'' (he was the first South African to perform there), and the opera houses of Dusseldorf and Duisburg. He later appeared with the English National Opera in the full version of Verdi's ''[[Don Carlos]]''. For many years he sang with the Düsseldorf opera and was also invited to sing for the Vatican.
 He suffered a heart attack in 1984, which put an end to his career.
 ==Contribution to SA theatre, film, media and/or performance==

@@ Line 11: / Line 11: @@
 ==Contribution to SA theatre, film, media and/or performance==
-In 1958 Joseph Gabriels appeared in a production of ''[[Rigoletto]]''. His Italian-style tenor became a favourite with the audiences and he appeared in most operas staged by the [[EOAN Group]] at the beginning of the 1960s.
+In 1958 Joseph Gabriels appeared in a production of ''[[Rigoletto]]''. His Italian-style tenor became a favourite with the audiences and he appeared in most operas staged by the [[EOAN Group]] at the beginning of the 1960s. He also coached the [[Young Stars]], an important carnival troupe of the early 1960s.
 ==Sources==