Joseph Baron Van Damme, known as José Van Dam, has passed away, the Queen Elisabeth Music Chapel has announced. The celebrated opera Belgian singer enjoyed a distinguished international career and sang at venues that included the Metropolitan Opera in New York. He was ennobled and became a baron in 1998. ‘Belgium has lost its greatest ambassador of the lyric arts,’ the Music Chapel said. Van Dam was 85 years old.
‘With unspeakable emotion and deep sadness,’ the Queen Elisabeth Music Chapel announced the passing of ‘its beloved Master in Residence Emeritus,’ José Van Dam. The Belgian opera singer died on Tuesday, 17 February. ‘He passed away peacefully, surrounded by his loved ones.’
The Music Chapel speaks of the loss of ‘the greatest ambassador of the lyric arts’ in Belgium. ‘The world has lost a legend who, with his genius, marked the history of opera in the 20th and 21st centuries. Above all, the Music Chapel has lost a mentor, a father figure and an inexhaustible source of artistic integrity.’
From the Brussels Conservatory to New York
Van Dam was born on 25 August 1940 in the Brussels municipality of Elsene. He studied at the Brussels Conservatory. At the age of 20, he began what would become a long and unique career singing a few small roles.
His first major role came in 1965, as Escamillo in the opera Carmen by French composer Bizet. He worked in Geneva until 1967, then moved to the Deutsche Oper in Berlin for six years. There he sang in Mozart's operas Figaro and Leporello.
During this period, his international career took off. He sang at the Salzburg Festival and other venues. This was followed by performances with the greatest opera companies, including at London's Covent Garden, the Teatro alla Scala in Milan, the Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie in Brussels, the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées in Paris and the Metropolitan Opera in New York.
He also landed major roles in the opera films “Don Giovanni” and “Le maître de musique”. In 1993, he sang at the funeral of Boudewijn, King of Belgians. He repeated this in 2014 for the funeral of King Boudewijn’s wife, the dowager Queen Fabiola. The royal family have always been big fans of the opera singer. In 1998, King Albert II ennobled Van Dam and he became a baron in recognition of his great career.
Master in residence at the Queen Elisabeth Music Chapel
‘José van Dam was everywhere where music demanded authenticity,’ the Queen Elisabeth Music Chapel writes. ‘His career reflected a rare alliance between vocal perfection and absolute intellectual fidelity to the score. He never sang for applause, but always for the authenticity of the character.’
In 2004, José joined the Queen Elisabeth Music Chapel, the leading Belgian music education institution. ‘As the initiator and Master in residence of the vocal section, he did more than just teach: he passed on the torch. For generations of young talents, he was the guide who taught them that technique is only an instrument at the service of the text.’