Spotlight: Jon Vickers — Karajan’s man for passionate characters

Jon Vickers was one of Herbert von Karajan’s leading tenors in the opera house and the recording studio. Their work together included “Die Walküre”, “Fidelio”, “Carmen”, “Otello” and “Tristan und Isolde”. Born on 29 October 1926, the Canadian singer would have celebrated his 100th birthday in 2026. The anniversary is an opportunity to look at a partnership in which the interpretation of a character was as important as the sound of the voice.

Vickers often sang men under extreme emotional pressure. As Don José in “Carmen”, Otello in Verdi’s opera and Canio in “Pagliacci”, he portrayed characters whose jealousy leads to violence. In “Fidelio”, the situation is different: Florestan is a prisoner who has lost his freedom but continues to believe in justice. These roles gave Vickers different ways to combine the demands of singing with those of the drama.

Their collaboration began at the Vienna State Opera in 1959, with Vickers as Siegmund in “Die Walküre”. Richard Osborne recounts an audition that almost did not take place. After waiting in Vienna for several days, Vickers informed Karajan’s office that he was about to leave. Osborne describes what happened next: “Karajan listened to Vickers for all of ten seconds, after which he offered him the role of Tristan.” Vickers declined. It was a role he would take on with Karajan more than a decade later.

For Vickers, working with Karajan also meant working with a conductor who directed his own opera productions. In an interview with Bruce Duffie, he recalled Karajan explaining why he had taken on both responsibilities:

“Von Karajan, in talking with me himself, said, ‘I know that I am not the greatest of producers, but I have conducted so many performances where there was such conflict between what was going on in the pit and what went on on the stage that I was determined that I would do my own so that good, bad or indifferent, there was a unification between what went on in the pit and what went on on the stage.’ And I believe he has done that.”

Vickers valued the continuity this brought to a production: the musical and dramatic decisions came from the same person.

In an interview, Karajan recalls working with Jon Vickers.

Osborne gives another example of how closely Karajan associated Vickers with a particular character. When the tenor fell ill before a performance of “Pagliacci” at La Scala in 1968, Karajan withdrew the opera from the programme, although another singer could have taken his place. Osborne sums up Karajan’s response in a few words: “For him, Vickers was Canio.”

The previous year, Vickers had helped launch the Salzburg Easter Festival, singing Siegmund in its opening production of “Die Walküre” on 19 March 1967. Before the opening performance, he overslept during his afternoon nap and woke later than he had intended. As Osborne writes, “Panic gave way to confidence when he realized that he knew the part inside out. The performance went very well. Or so he thought.” Karajan had noticed something different: Vickers had sung considerably more slowly than usual. He had followed the singer, but wanted to understand the reason the next day. The episode shows how closely he listened and how readily he could respond to a singer during a performance. The following television excerpt shows Vickers and Gundula Janowitz in the finale of Act I.

In 1972, Vickers sang Tristan with Karajan at the Salzburg Easter Festival, following the studio recording they had made in 1971–72 of “Tristan und Isolde”. Walter Berry sang Kurwenal. Karajan particularly valued Vickers’ identification with the character. In an interview with a Spanish newspaper, quoted by Osborne, he explained:

“It is not enough to say that Vickers is a great actor; he is the very embodiment of the character. […] Acting is a profession, but this is a complete artistic impersonation, an interpretation in which the singer becomes Tristan.”

The recordings of “Fidelio” offer another way to hear their work together. Florestan’s scene begins in isolation, with the prisoner alone in his cell. His first cry gives way to memories of his earlier life and, finally, a vision of Leonore coming to save him. The changing situation is written into the vocal line: Vickers has to move from exhaustion to renewed hope within a single scene. It brings together the vocal control and dramatic judgment that Karajan valued in him.

For Osborne, the explanation for their successful collaboration lay in the conditions Karajan created for his singers:

“What ultimately bound Vickers to Karajan was the quality of the music-making, the trust Karajan placed in his singers, and the level of support he could give them.”

Our Spotify playlist brings together recordings of Vickers and Karajan in several of these roles. Listen below to follow their collaboration from Beethoven to Wagner and the Italian and French repertoire.

—  Pia Bernauer (Karajan Institute)