Kostas Paskalis

Who was Kostas Paskalis?

Kostas Paskalis was a Greek opera singer, one of the leading baritones of the 1960s and 1970s in Europe, particularly associated with the Italian repertory.

Paskalis studied piano before turning to vocal studies at the Athens Music Conservatory. He sang in the chorus of the Athens Opera, before making his solo debut there, as Rigoletto, in 1951.

His international career began in 1958, at the Vienna State Opera, as Renato in Un ballo in maschera, where he remained for 25 years, quickly establishing himself in all the major baritone roles of the Italian repertory, especially Verdi roles, notably Rigoletto, Macbeth and Iago. Macbeth was to be his debut role at both the Glyndebourne Festival in 1964, and at Covent Garden London in 1969.

In 1966, he created the role of Pentheus in Henze's Die Bassariden, at the Salzburg Festival and also sang at the premiere of the work at La Scala in 1967. Other notables roles included; Barnaba, Alfio, Tonio, Scarpia, Escamillo, etc. He made frequent guest appearances at the Rome Opera, the Munich State Opera, the Berlin State Opera, La Monnaie in Brussels, also appearing in Hamburg, Moscow, Leningrad, etc.