was one of the most thoughtful singers of the late 20th century, exploring a wide range of repertoire with a special interest in contemporary works.
and bel canto, possessing a warmly lyrical timbre that earned him acclaim as one of the most beautiful voices since
. Venturing into heavier roles early in his career took a noticeable toll on his voice, but
's musicianship and high standards for performance served to make him one of the most interesting tenors of his generation.
was interested in singing from an early age, and as a youth performed as a member of the touring show Up with People. He went to the University of Illinois to study music, where a friend persuaded him to audition for a performance of The Magic Flute. Landing the role of Tamino and enjoying great success with it,
was further persuaded to take up an operatic career.
's Martha in 1978. In 1979,
, debuting as Arturo in Lucia di Lammermoor. His stage debut was not an auspicious one dramatically: Arturo appears on stage for only about 15 minutes, but being unfamiliar with the staging,
found himself catching his sword on a chair and dragging it across the stage before he could disentangle it. He also succeeded in setting his plumed hat on fire, and was on the receiving end of chorus member's sword that intruded upon an area that could have led to some unexpected high notes. These were only the most notable mishaps.
His accident-prone New York debut notwithstanding,
Hadley sang roles such as Pinkerton, Des Grieux (
Massenet), Tom Rakewell, and Faust (
Gounod) at the NYCO. His European debut was in 1982 as Nemorino at the Vienna State Opera, the same year that
Hadley won the
Richard Tucker Competition. In 1983,
Hadley made his Glyndebourne debut as Idamante in
Mozart's Idomeneo, followed by his Covent Garden debut the next year as Fenton in Falstaff.
Hadley's Metropolitan Opera debut was in 1987 as Des Grieux; however, such roles as
Offenbach's Hoffmann called for a technique that often "drew on capital," and this began to exact a price on
Jerry Hadley's vocal flexibility and stamina in the later 1980s. By the end of the decade,
Hadley's pitch was not as secure as it had been, and there was a rawness in his voice that had not been there before, but these years did witness some of his finest and most lasting achievements. In 1989, he had a superb turn in the title role of
Leonard Bernstein's revision of the opera Candide, and his recording of
Show Boat in the restored scoring by
John McGlinn was one of
Hadley's most highly praised, and best-selling, recordings. Throughout the following decade,
Hadley remained very visible, appearing with frequency in opera galas on American public television and recording for RCA Victor.
Jerry Hadley was a champion of 20th century music, both operatic and in the popular realm. In 1997, he created the title role of
Myron Fink's The Conquistador, and in 1999, that of
John Harbison's The Great Gatsby;
Hadley also created the tenor lead in
Paul McCartney's
Liverpool Oratorio and headed up the cast of the premiere recording of the long delayed opera Desire under the Elms by
Edward Thomas. He recorded an exemplary Sam in
Carlisle Floyd's Susannah and his final recording, in the cast of
Leos Janácek's opera Jenufa led by
Bernard Haitink, won a Grammy. While some of the albums
Hadley made with his name above the title were of mixed quality,
Standing Room Only, a vividly characterized collection of songs from musicals, remains perhaps the best of them.
Hadley maintained an extremely scrupulous attitude toward performing; he once stated that he would not record a role unless he had sung it on-stage, and wrote the English-language translation for his recording of
Lehár's The Land of Smiles. After the success of Jenufa,
Hadley began to work considerably less, struggled against mounting financial troubles, and battled severe depression. On June 10, 2007,
Jerry Hadley shot himself with an air rifle in an apparent suicide attempt, and died a week later.
–
Uncle Dave Lewis, Rovi