Kevin Langan

Kevin Langan (born April 1, 1955) is an American operatic bass.

Langan was born in New York on April 1, 1955.

He studied voice with Margaret Harshaw at Indiana University School of Music.

He went on to win auditions with the Metropolitan Opera, San Francisco Opera, and Opera America.

According to Langan, it was seeing The Beatles perform on TV in 1964 on The Ed Sullivan Show that made him want to pursue a career in opera.

Sponsored by Elisabeth Schwarzkopf and Walter Legge, Langan gave his first recital at Wigmore Hall in 1979.

In 1983, Langan won the Richard Tucker Music Foundation Grant Award.

He gave his New York City recital debut at Carnegie Hall on April 4, 1984.

The New York Times wrote: "Mr. Langan, a true basso in the classic sense of the word, is of an all-but-vanished breed."

Langan starred in the premiere of the opera Emmeline by American composer Tobias Picker in 1996 as Henry Mosher (Emmeline's Father).

He is married to American operatic soprano, Sally Wolf.

Langan was the last protégé of the EMI record producer Walter Legge.

Langan's portrayals and performances have been received with great acclaim by critics and audiences alike.

Tim Page of The New York Times wrote of Langan's voice that it intoned a "deep, toffee-smooth" sound with "convincing interpretive abilities".

The magazine Opera wrote that Langan's delivery of Mozart's "La vendetta" from The Marriage of Figaro under the direction of Nikolaus Harnoncourt (the recording of which was nominated for a Grammy Award on the Teldec label) was "absolutely revelatory ... with a vocal sheen that [has] never heard before".

David Laviska of musicalcriticism.com wrote of Langan's performance of Friar Laurence in Gounod's Roméo et Juliette that he delivered it all in a "vibrant, ringing tone, polished phrasing, incisive diction, and convincing, unfussy acting" package.

Years later, in an April 2017 interview with LA Opus, Langan recalled telling the story during a rehearsal break at Carnegie Hall to Paul McCartney, who laughed and replied: "[That's the first time] The Beatles inspired someone to go into opera!"

In a 2017 interview for BroadwayWorld, Langan recalls when he was a sophomore at New England Conservatory in 1974 and Met opera singer Maria Callas told him: "I will give you one piece of advice. People will tell you constantly how to sing. Make it louder, softer, faster, slower."

She then placed her hand over his heart and said: "Always remain true to this when you sing no matter what they tell you!"

Langan has performed with opera singers and conductors including Luciano Pavarotti, Plácido Domingo, Marilyn Horne, Sherrill Milnes and Seiji Ozawa, and has gained the reputation of achieving one of the longest and most productive singing careers on the opera stage in the last couple decades.

He became the first artist to give 300 performances in 43 productions with the San Francisco Opera; and 19 productions with the San Diego Opera.

Over all, Langan has performed in over 80 roles throughout 1300-plus performances, in 38 years.