José van Dam, an award-winning Belgian bass-baritone opera singer who created the title role in Olivier Messiaen’s “Saint François d’Assise,” has died at age 85, a Belgian conservatory announced ...

FILE - Jose van Dam, center, appears during a rehearsal of Olivier Messiaen's opera "Saint Franois d'Assise" at the Felsenreitschule in Salzburg, on Aug. 12, 1998 ...

(Corrects in paragraph 5: Von Karajan was a conductor at Berlin State Opera during nazi-Germany, not at Berlin Philharmonic) BRUSSELS, Feb 19 (Reuters) - Belgian baritone opera singer Jose van Dam, ...

José van Dam, an award-winning Belgian bass-baritone opera singer who created the title role in Olivier Messiaen's “Saint François d’Assise," has died at age 85, a Belgian conservatory announced ...