Issachah Savage
Shirley Thomson
Zoe Band
“….. I wasn’t prepared for the easy, rich, warm sound that poured out of him in one of the most beautiful arias in the repertory…a world-class voice.”
(Anne Midgette - The Washington Post)
When he swept the board of top prizes at the Seattle International Wagner Competition, a spotlight immediately shone on Issachah Savage. Since then, he has established himself as one of today’s most impressive young heldentenors, making recent acclaimed debuts as Siegmund in Die Walküre with Opéra National de Bordeaux conducted by Paul Daniel, as Froh in Das Rheingold with Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Music Director Yannick Nézet-Séguin, as Tӓnnhauser at Los Angeles Opera, conducted by James Conlon, as Bacchus in Strauss’ Ariadne auf Naxos at both Théâtre du Capitole Toulouse under Evan Rogister and Seattle Opera under Lawrence Renes, and most recently as Kaiser in Strauss’ Die Frau ohne Schatten in a return to Théâtre du Capitole Toulouse, under Frank Beermann.
After a debut as the Messenger in Verdi’s Aida with Chicago Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Riccardo Muti, Savage moved on to debut as Radames at Houston Grand Opera, reprising the role at Austin Lyric Opera under Antonino Fogliani, at Tanglewood Festival with Boston Symphony Orchestra under Jacques Lacombe and at Aspen Music Festival with Robert Spano. He made his debut at the Metropolitan Opera as Don Riccardo in Verdi’s Ernani under James Levine, returning in the 2022/23 season as Gran Sacerdote di Nettuno in Idomeneo under Manfred Honeck, a role he debuted in Peter Sellars’ acclaimed staging at the 2019 Salzburg Festival, conducted by Teodor Currentzis. Issachah Savage made his Los Angeles Opera debut as Narraboth in Salome, a role he reprised with Houston Symphony Orchestra under Juraj Valčuha, he sang Siegmund under Music Director Johannes Debus at Canadian Opera Company, performed the title role in Wagner’s lesser-known Rienzi with National Philharmonic at Strathmore and, alongside Elina Garanča, performed in Massenet’s La Navarraise with Opera Orchestra of New York. Marking his debut at Lyric Opera of Chicago, Savage created the role of Curtis Toler in Daniel Bernard Roumain’s The Walkers, as part of the world premiere tetralogy Proximity.
Formerly a member of San Francisco’s prestigious Merola Opera Program, Savage’s final act performance of Verdi’s Otello there inspired the San Francisco Chronicle to write,“from his opening notes — impeccably shaded and coiled with repressed fury — to the opera’s final explosion of grief and shame, Savage sang with a combination of power and finesse that is rare to observe”, going on to sing the full role in concert with Marco Parisotto conducting Orquesta Filarmónica de Jalisco and in production with Austin Lyric Opera.
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Issachah Savage’s 2024/25 season opens with a role debut as Britten’s Peter Grimes, in a new production by Barbora Horáková at Dutch National Opera, conducted by Lorenzo Viotti. In concert, he sings Mozart’s Requiem with the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra, led by Yaniv Dinur, joins the Cathedral Choral Society for Ethel Smyth’s Mass in D led by Steven Fox at the National Cathedral in Washington, and reprises Beethoven’s Symphony No.9 with The Philadelphia Orchestra under Yannick Nézet-Séguin and with New Jersey Symphony, under Xian Zhang.
In demand for the concert platform, Issachah Savage has appeared in Schoenberg’s Gurrelieder under Fabio Luisi with Danish National Symphony Orchestra, in Mendelssohn’s Elijah with Chicago Symphony Orchestra and James Conlon, Mahler’s Das Lied von der Erde with l’Orchestre National Bordeaux-Aquitaine under Paul Daniel, and Stravinsky’s Pulcinella with Jacksonville Symphony Orchestra under Courtney Lewis. For Beethoven Symphony No.9, he is much in demand by the major orchestras and conductors with recent performances with Gianandrea Noseda and National Symphony Orchestra, Jaap van Zweden and New York Philharmonic, Fabio Luisi and Dallas Symphony Orchestra, Gustavo Gimeno with both Toronto Symphony Orchestra and Los Angeles Philharmonic, and Riccardo Muti with Chicago Symphony Orchestra.
Other orchestral performances for dramatic tenor include the world premiere of Wynton Marsalis’s All Rise with Kurt Masur and New York Philharmonic, the world premiere of Leslie Savoy Burr’s Egypt’s Night with Philadelphia’s Opera North, Gershwin’s Blue Monday with Marin Alsop and Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, and Kurt Weill’s Lost in the Stars with Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra.
In addition to his great competition success in Seattle, Issachah Savage has received a number of prestigious awards, recognition and career grants from institutions including the Wagner Societies of New York, Washington DC and Northern California, Licia Albanese International Puccini Foundation, Olga Forrai and Gerda Lissner Foundations and he was honoured in the early stages of his career development as the first ever ‘Scholar Artist’ of the Marian Anderson Society of Philadelphia.
Gallery
“Tenor Issachah Savage, as smitten commander Narraboth, in love with Salome, has a clear, clean, ardent sound, perfect for the role.”
“Der Kaiser was sung by American tenor Issachah Savage with a golden-coloured, dramatically heroic voice that served to place his character apart from, and above the characters of the lower world. Savage had all necessary forces to surmount the extreme tessitura of his magnificent Act II monologue.”
“Issachah Savage returns to Theatre du Capitole as the Emperor, offering stellar high notes with ease, without any pressure.”
“American Issachah Savage ennobles the Emperor with an ideal Siegmund voice — his heldentenor is as supple as it is rich.”
“The Emperor of Issachah Savage, a tenor of almost supernatural breath control, of generous legato, of power, alongside a honeyed timbre and the inexhaustible poetic riches with which he adorns his Act II monologue.”
“Savage made his mark, his voice soaring over the pulsating orchestra.”
“Issachah Savage managed best as Tannhäuser. The American tenor displayed a big, lyric sound — but most impressive was his German diction. This, along with his impassioned facial expressions, made for an intimate performance — his Tannhäuser felt and sounded like a truly emotive Lieder singer.”
“American tenor Issachah Savage, the Tannhäuser, has a mighty voice that is loud but compact; assertive, yet capable of tenderness; and invested with unflagging energy. Savage’s Tannhäuser was everything Wagner wanted — “nowhere and never ‘a little,’ but each thing fully and entirely.” Savage sustained this unnervingly split personality with great power.”
“Savage is among those rare singers who can be clearly heard above a full Wagnerian orchestra and chorus — a truly thrilling sound.”
“Wagner’s writing for tenor, in general and Tannhäuser specifically, could never be called grateful. Yet Mr. Savage met all these challenges head on and with a fearsome musicality and unexpected grace.”
“Issachah Savage channelled his lavish, buoyant tenor into directness and simplicity. He gave an easy, expansive sincerity.”
