Jurij Reja

Jurij Reja was a leading tenor of the Ljubljana opera house from 1974 to 1998. His repertory included: Il barbiere di Siviglia, Oedipus rex, Manon, Prodaná nevěsta, Lucia di Lammermoor, La bohème, Fra Diavolo, Grigorij, Simpleton and Shuiskij in Boris Godunov, Don Carlo, L'elisir d'amore, Werther and Faust. In his early career, he was also a "pop singer" – but in the best sense of the word like the old French chanson singers, for example Tino Rossi, Charles Trenet and so on. Reja studied singing at the Ljubljana Academy of Music, after the graduation there, he also studied with Anton Dermota and Ksenija Vidali (who was, much later, also the teacher of Janez Lotrič).

I wish to thank Martin Ramor for the biographical notes.

I wish to thank Tom Silverbörg for the recording (Večerni hlad).

Picture source