John Forsell

as Valdemar Atterdag "Waldemarsskatten" by Hallen CREATOR 8/4/1899 Stockholm

John Forsell
(Carl Johan Jacob Forsell)
1868 – 1941),
Swedish baritone,

Before his singing career, he served in the Swedish Army. While serving in the army, he pursued voice studies with Julius Günther at the Royal College of Music, Stockholm from 1892-1894. After graduating from college he studied singing further in Paris in 1895-1896 and later in Stockholm with Hedvig Willman and Signe Hebbe.debut at the Royal Swedish Opera, Stockholm, in 1896 as Figaro in The Barber of Seville. He would remain that opera house's premier baritone through 1918,He sang in several world premieres with the company, including Wilhelm Stenhammar's Tirfing (1898) and Andreas Hallén's Valdemarskatten (1899, the title role of Valdemar IV of Denmark). He also appeared in the Swedish premieres of Eugene Onegin (1903, title role), Tosca (1904, Scarpia), and Salome (1909, Jochanaan).He also established an international career. From 1902-1906 he sang regularly at the Royal Danish Theatre in Copenhagen. In 1909-1910 he appeared at the Metropolitan Opera in New York City, performing such parts as Tonio in Pagliacci, Amfortas in Parsifal, Figaro in The Barber of Seville, Telramund in Lohengrin, Germont in La traviata and Yeletsky in the United States premiere of Tchaikovsky's The Queen of Spades. Director (Intendant) of the Royal Swedish Opera at the start of the 1923-1924 season.His final opera performance was on his 70th birthday when he sang the role of Count Almaviva in Mozart's The Marriage of Figaro at the RSO. He retired from his director's position in May 1939