Ingvar Wixell

Training under Dagmar Gustafson is recorded. The recorded working language is Swedish. Subjects and genres recorded for the work are opera. Distinctions recorded are Commander's Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany and Litteris et Artibus.

• Name — Ingvar Wixell • Birth Name — Karl Gustaf Ingvar Wixell • Born — 7 May 1931 • Birthplace — Luleå, Sweden • Died — 8 October 2011 • Place of death — Malmö, Sweden • Genre — Opera • Occupation — Singer • Years Active — 1955–2003

Ingvar Wixell was born in Luleå in 1931. After studies at the Stockholm Academy of Music, he made his debut in Gävle in 1952, then in 1955 as Papageno in Mozart's The Magic Flute at the Royal Swedish Opera in Stockholm where he was member of the company until 1967. He made his British debut during the Royal Swedish Opera's visit to the Edinburgh International Festival in 1959. Wixell returned with this company to Royal Opera House in 1960, and sang Guglielmo at Glyndebourne and at the Proms in 1962. For the Royal Opera, London he sang Boccanegra in 1972. In America he appeared at Chicago Lyric Opera (Belcore, 1967) and the Metropolitan Opera (Rigoletto, 1973). He was engaged at the Deutsche Oper Berlin in 1967 where he was a member for more than 30 years. At Salzburg he sang a noted Pizarro at the Festival, where he appeared from 1966 to 1969, and at Bayreuth he sang the Herald in Lohengrin (1971). Among other roles, Wixell sang Figaro in Rossini's The Barber of Seville, Escamillo in Bizet's Carmen, Amonasro in Verdi's Aida, Baron Scarpia in Puccini's Tosca, and the title roles in Verdi's Rigoletto, Simon Boccanegra, Mozart's Don Giovanni, Verdi's Falstaff and Tchaikovsky's Eugene Onegin. Wixell performed all the songs in the competition to select Sweden's Eurovision Song Contest 1965 entry. The winning song was "Annorstädes Vals" (Elsewhere Waltz), which Wixell went on to perform at the international final in Naples. In a break from the then prevailing tradition, the song was sung in English (as "Absent Friend"). This led to the introduction from 1966 onwards of a rule stipulating that each country's entry must be sung in one of the languages of that country. In 1991, he was awarded the Illis quorum by the government of Sweden. Wixell ended his career in 2003 by singing the Music teacher in Richard Strauss's Ariadne auf Naxos at Malmö Opera. Wixell died in Malmö on 8 October 2011, aged 80, survived by his wife, Margareta, and his two daughters, Marit and Jette.