Michael Devlin (born November 27, 1942, in Chicago, Illinois) is an American opera singer who is internationally known as a bass-baritone and singing-actor.
New Orleans Opera
The protégé of the great Norman Treigle, Devlin began his career with the New Orleans Opera Association, where he debuted in a small role in La bohème (with Audrey Schuh as Mimì), in 1963. His next appearance was as Spalanzani in Les contes d'Hoffmann (a performance now available on Compact Discs, from VAI), with Beverly Sills and Treigle, in 1964. He was subsequently seen in Werther (opposite Giuseppe di Stefano), Carmen, Ariadne auf Naxos, Aïda (as Amonasro, with Marisa Galvany) and, in 1999, returned for The Ballad of Baby Doe (as William Jennings Bryan).
Devlin made his Metropolitan Opera debut in 1978 as Escamillo in Carmen. His other performances at that venue have included Hänsel und Gretel (as Peter), Les contes d'Hoffmann (as the Villains, opposite Plácido Domingo), Die Fledermaus (as Dr Falke), Bluebeard's Castle (with Jessye Norman), Salome (as Jokanaan), Samson et Dalila (as Abimélech), Faust, and Wozzeck (as the Doctor), altogether singing 229 performances in over thirty years with the Met. He has also appeared with companies in Chicago, Amsterdam, Salzburg, Verona, Madrid, London (Salome at Covent Garden), Paris, Prague, Los Angeles (Don Pizarro in Fidelio, with Karan Armstrong), San Francisco (Il prigioniero), Santa Fe (Figaro, Count Almaviva, Don Giovanni, Onegin),etc.
In 2020, Opera Depot published a 1971 performance of Charpentier's Louise, from the City Opera, with Devlin as the Father, conducted by Charles Wendelken-Wilson.
Berg: Wozzeck [as the Doctor] (Dalayman, Neumann, Struckmann; Levine, Lamos, 2001) [live] Metropolitan Opera
References
Who's Who in Opera, edited by Maria F. Rich, Arno Press, 1976. ISBN0-405-06652-X
The New York City Opera: An American Adventure, by Martin L. Sokol (Annals by George Louis Mayer), Macmillan Publishing Co, Inc, 1981. ISBN0-02-612280-4
Strange Child of Chaos: Norman Treigle, by Brian Morgan, iUniverse, 2006. ISBN0-595-38898-1