American baritone Sanford Sylvan was perhaps best known for his acclaimed participation in the John Adams operas Nixon in China and The Death of Klinghoffer; other operatic appearances were generally just as well received. However, Sylvan's career was much more intensely focused on the art song repertory -- a commitment that did not gone unnoticed by recital goers and lieder/chanson-loving record buyers.

Sylvan was born in New York and as a teenager studied at the Juilliard School preparatory division; he later enrolled at the Manhattan School of Music for undergraduate work. The international spotlight first shone on him when he created the role of Chou En-Lai for the 1987 Houston Opera premiere of Nixon in China; the original cast recording of the work received a Grammy Award in 1989. Sylvan was nominated for several additional Grammys during his career. The entire range of the repertoire was represented in Sylvan's opera career, from Mozart (including the role of Figaro in a PBS Television broadcast of Le nozze di Figaro) through Stravinsky (The Flood). John Adams called on Sylvan again for the Klinghoffer opera in 1991, and also for a setting of Walt Whitman's The Wound-Dresser (1988), and the opera A Flowering Tree in 2009. A number of other major contemporary composers, among them Philip Glass and John Harbison, also employed Sylvan's considerable gifts.

When performing and recording art songs, Sanford Sylvan invariably cast David Breitman in the role of pianist; their collaborations, especially of Gabriel Fauré's chansons, are treasured. In 2000, Sylvan and Breitman presented The Glass Hammer, a new song cycle by Jorge Martin, to a Carnegie Hall audience. Sylvan began teaching at Juilliard in 2012 and became chair of the vocal program in 2018. He died at the age of 65 in early 2019. ~ Blair Johnston, Rovi