Opera singer rejected Wagner

Canada-born opera singer John Vickers, nicknamed “God’s tenor” for his inimitable voice and strong Christian beliefs, has died. He was 88.The Royal Opera House opera cited a statement from Vickers’ family, which said he died Friday after a struggle with Alzheimer’s disease. Born in Prince Albert, Sask. in 1926, Vickers sang as a child in church choirs but originally aspired to study medicine. He turned to music full-time after winning a scholarship to the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto. Vickers made his Royal Opera debut in 1957. A year later, he performed at Germany’s Bayreuth festival, going on to become one of the world’s leading performers of Richard Wagner. From 1960 on, he was a regular at New York’s Metropolitan Opera. Despite his association with the works of Wagner, he found the German composer — whose anti-Semitism made him a favourite of the Nazis — morally objectionable. In 1977, Vickers pulled out of a production of Wagner’s Tannhauser, saying he considered it anti-Christian. He leaves his sister, five children, 11 grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.