Ragnar Ulfung

Ragnar Sigurd Ulfung was born in Oslo in 1927 and is one of the Norwegian tenors of greatest international standing in the second half of the twentieth century. He studied in his native city and in Milan, and made his stage debut in Oslo in 1952, as Magadoff in Menotti's The Consul.

After singing Faust in Bergen, he joined the Gothenburg Opera in 1955, where his roles included Jeník, Don Ottavio, the Duke of Mantua and Don José. In 1958 he joined the Royal Opera in Stockholm, where he created the role of the Mute in Blomdahl's Aniara (1959) and sang Canio, Hoffmann, Alfredo and Cavaradossi. With that company he also appeared in Edinburgh and on the 1960 tour to Covent Garden, returning to that city years later to sing Don Carlos, Mime and Herod, and to premiere the title role of Tavener's Taverner in 1972.

In Hamburg he sang Turiddu and Števa in Jenůfa, and created the role of Christopher in Werle's Resan. His presence in the United States included a debut in San Francisco and another at the Metropolitan in 1972, where he sang Riccardo, which was precisely his debut role there.

His repertoire ranged across Fatty, the Captain in Wozzeck, Loge and Egisto, and he also sang Otello in Stockholm in 1983. He was noted as a singing actor with an incisive voice, especially in Herod and Mime, and he directed numerous operas, including a Ring cycle in Seattle.