Franz Grundheber (born 27 September 1937) is a German operatic baritone. At the Hamburg State Opera, he performed over 150 roles from 1966. His voice is flexible enough to sing Italian opera as well as Wagner roles and contemporary opera; he is a stage presence in acting and singing. He has performed at major international opera houses and is known for his performance of the title role of Alban Berg's Wozzeck , filmed for DVD in 1994 in a production staged by Patrice Chéreau.
Grundheber was born in Trier and graduated from the Max-Planck-Gymnasium in 1959. He subsequently enrolled in the Air Force of the Bundeswehr, where he spent three years. [1] After studying in Hamburg, he embarked upon a two-year scholarship under Margaret Harshaw at Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana, and spent a summer at the Music Academy of the West in Montecito, California [2] in 1966. [3]
In 1966, Grundheber joined the Hamburg State Opera where he became a prolific performer. He first sang smaller roles in different types of operas. On 21 December 1968, he performed in the premiere of Gian Carlo Menotti's Help, Help, the Globolinks! . [4] Even when moving to Wagnerian roles, he took care to stay flexible. [5] With some 150 roles to his name, he was named Kammersänger in 1986 and was appointed an honorary member in 2006. [1]
Major roles have included Verdi characters Simon Boccanegra, Rigoletto, Macbeth, Amonasro in Aida and Jago in Otello , Wagner roles Holländer and Amfortas in Parsifal , the Strauss roles Orest in Elektra and Barak in Die Frau ohne Schatten , and Dr. Schön in Alban Berg's Lulu . [5]
Grundheber made his debut at the Wiener Staatsoper on 11 December 1976 in the title role of Mozart's Le nozze di Figaro , and in 1983 performed Mandryka in Arabella by Richard Strauss. [1] In 1985, Grundheber appeared as Olivier in Capriccio at the Salzburg Festival. In 1986, he performed in Brussels for the first time the title role of Berg's Wozzeck , staged by Gerard Mortier. [2] He portrayed the Wozzeck again in the staging by Patrice Chéreau, shown from 1993 to 1999 at the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris and the Staatsoper Berlin, conducted by Daniel Barenboim and with Waltraud Meier as Marie. It was filmed in 1994. A review notes: "Franz Grundheber, the Wozzeck, avails himself of every possible type of vocal expression, even draining every bit of life from his voice when he is trapped in Act II." [6] In 2001 he was awarded the Chilean Critics' Award for International Opera. [1]
Grundheber appeared in 1979 as Albert in a recording of Massenet's Werther , alongside Elena Obraztsova, Arleen Augér and Plácido Domingo, with the Cologne Radio Symphony Orchestra conducted by Riccardo Chailly. In 1986, he recorded Mandryka in Arabella, with Kiri te Kanawa in the title role, chorus and orchestra of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, conducted by Jeffrey Tate. He recorded in 1988 Paul Hindemith's Mörder, Hoffnung der Frauen , singing The Man with Gabriele Schnaut as The Woman, conducted by Gerd Albrecht. [7] In 1989, he performed for DVD the title role of Der fliegende Holländer, with Hildegard Behrens as Senta, a production of the Savonlinna Opera Festival conducted by Leif Segerstam. In 1996, he recorded Barak in Die Frau ohne Schatten, with Deborah Voigt, Sabine Haas and Hanna Schwarz, and the Staatskapelle Dresden conducted by Giuseppe Sinopoli. In 2003, he appeared on the recording of concerts of Die Liebe der Danae by the chorus and orchestra of the Theater Kiel, conducted by Ulrich Windfuhr. In 2006, he performed the leading role of Moses on a DVD of Schoenberg's Moses und Aron , with Thomas Moser, chorus and orchestra of the Vienna State Opera conducted by Daniele Gatti.
Wozzeck is the first opera by the Austrian composer Alban Berg. It was composed between 1914 and 1922 and first performed in 1925. The opera is based on the drama Woyzeck, which the German playwright Georg Büchner left incomplete at his death. Berg attended the first production in Vienna of Büchner's play on 5 May 1914, and knew at once that he wanted to base an opera on it. From the fragments of unordered scenes left by Büchner, Berg selected 15 to form a compact structure of three acts with five scenes each. He adapted the libretto himself, retaining "the essential character of the play, with its many short scenes, its abrupt and sometimes brutal language, and its stark, if haunted, realism..."
Walter Berry was an Austrian lyric bass-baritone who enjoyed a prominent career in opera. He has been cited as one of several exemplary operatic bass-baritones of his era.
Hildegard Behrens was a German operatic soprano with a wide repertoire including Wagner, Weber, Mozart, Richard Strauss, and Alban Berg roles. She performed at major opera houses around the world, and received several Grammy Awards for performances with the Metropolitan Opera.
Eberhard Freiherr von Waechter was an Austrian lyric baritone, celebrated for his performances in the operas of Mozart, Richard Wagner and Richard Strauss. After retiring from singing, he became intendant of the Vienna Volksoper and the Vienna State Opera.
Wolfgang Brendel is a German opera singer (baritone), and a professor of voice at the Jacobs School of Music at Indiana University. He has performed throughout Europe, Asia, and North America.
Franz Mazura was an Austrian bass-baritone opera singer and actor. He performed at the Bayreuth Festival from 1971 for 25 years and at the Metropolitan Opera for 15 years. He was made a Kammersänger in 1980 and an Honorary Member of the Nationaltheater Mannheim in 1990. He most often played villains and strange characters, with signature roles including Klingsor in Wagner's Parsifal. Mazura took part in world premieres, such as the double role of Dr. Schön and Jack the Ripper in the world premiere of the completed version of Alban Berg's Lulu at the Paris Opera in 1979, and as Abraham in Giorgio Battistelli's Lot in 2017. Two of his recordings received Grammy Awards. His voice was described as with dark timbre, powerful and like granite, with perfect diction. His acting ability was described as "well-supplied with vivid imaginative touches, whether deployed in comic roles or characters of inexorable malevolence. Mazura could achieve more impact with a lifted eyebrow or a belligerently thrust chin than many artists could with a ten-minute monologue." He had a long career, appearing at the Staatsoper Berlin the night before his 95th birthday.
A dramatic soprano is a type of operatic soprano with a powerful, rich, emotive voice that can sing over, or cut through, a full orchestra. Thicker vocal folds in dramatic voices usually (but not always) mean less agility than lighter voices but a sustained, fuller sound. Usually this voice has a lower tessitura than other sopranos, and a darker timbre. They are often used for heroic, often long-suffering, tragic women of opera. Dramatic sopranos have a range from approximately low A (A3) to "high C" (C6). Some dramatic sopranos, known as Wagnerian sopranos, have an exceptionally big voice that can assert itself over a large orchestra (of more than 80 or even 100 players). These voices are substantial, often denser in tone, extremely powerful and, ideally, evenly balanced throughout the vocal registers. Wagnerian sopranos usually play mythic heroines. Successful Wagnerian sopranos are rare and often Wagnerian roles are performed by Italianate dramatic sopranos.
Susan Owen is an American operatic soprano. Born in Salisbury, North Carolina, she earned a Bachelor of Music degree from East Carolina University in 1980 and a Master of Music degree from the University of Texas at Austin in 1983. In 1990 she won the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions. From 1995 to 1999 she was a member of the Staatstheater Kassel, Intendant Michael Leinert. From 1999 to 2002 she was a member of the Staatstheater Darmstadt with Mark Albrecht.
Mörder, Hoffnung der Frauen is an opera in one act by Paul Hindemith, written in 1919 on a German libretto by Oskar Kokoschka which he based on his play of 1907. The opera was the first in a triptych of expressionist one-act operas, the others being Das Nusch-Nuschi, and Sancta Susanna. They were the first operas written by Hindemith. The first two were premiered together in Stuttgart on 4 June 1921, all three were performed at the Oper Frankfurt in 1922.
Reiner Goldberg was a German operatic heldentenor who made an international career performing and recording. He appeared at the Berlin State Opera from 1972, and was a member of the ensemble from 1981. Goldberg achieved attention when he sang the role of Wagner's Parsifal for a 1982 opera film directed by Hans-Jürgen Syberberg. He then became known for performing the tenor roles of Wagner's stage works in leading opera houses in Europe and worldwide, such as the Bayreuth Festival where he appeared from 1986 as Tannhäuser, Stolzing in Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg, Siegfried in both Siegfried and Götterdämmerung, and Erik in Der fliegende Holländer. He performed at the Metropolitan Opera as Siegfried, conducted by James Levine and alongside Hildegard Behrens as Brünnhilde, resulting in a recording that won a Grammy Award.
Johan Reuter is a Danish baritone and opera singer.
Wolfgang Schöne is a German bass-baritone who made an international career in opera and concert, based at the Staatsoper Stuttgart from 1973 to 2005. He created roles in world premiered of operas, in Josef Tal's Die Versuchung at the Bavarian State Opera in 1976, in Hermann Reutter's Hamlet in Stuttgart in 1980, in Henze's Die englische Katze at the Schwetzingen Festival in 1983 and K. in Aribert Reimann's Das Schloß at the Deutsche Oper Berlin in 1992.
Wolfgang Neumann is an Austrian internationally known operatic heldentenor, who specialized in the operas of Richard Wagner.
Gabriele Schnaut was a German classical singer who started her operatic career as a mezzo-soprano in 1976 and changed to dramatic soprano in 1985. She performed at the Bayreuth Festival from 1977, in the filmed Jahrhundertring, to 2000. After a breakthrough performance as Richard Wagner's Isolde at the Hamburgische Staatsoper in 1988, she became a leading dramatic soprano on the stages of the world in roles such as Wagner's Brünnhilde and Richard Strauss' Elektra. From 2008, she ventured into dramatic mezzo-soprano character roles such as Klytämnestra in Elektra, Herodias in Salome and Kostelnicka Buryjovka in Leoš Janáček's Jenufa.
Carmen Reppel is a German soprano active in both opera and concert. A member of the Staatstheater Hannover, she had a major international career, appearing in leading roles in over 60 operas. She also explored lesser-known repertoire such as Siegfried Wagner's Schwarzschwanenreich and appeared in contemporary operas, singing in world premieres of operas by Aribert Reimann and Flavio Testi. She is known for her parts in the Jahrhundertring, the centenary production of Wagner's Der Ring des Nibelungen at the Bayreuth Festival, including the filmed version of 1980.
Evelyn Herlitzius is a German opera singer, a dramatic soprano. She is known for performing major roles in works by Richard Wagner and Richard Strauss, such as Brünnhilde, Isolde and Elektra, at the Semperoper, the Bayreuth Festival and leading European opera houses.
Elisabeth Schärtel was a German operatic mezzo-soprano and contralto. A member of the Cologne Opera from 1959 to 1967, she performed leading parts at major European opera houses and regularly at the Bayreuth Festival.
Michael Boder is a German conductor of opera and concert who works internationally. The chief conductor of the Royal Danish Theatre, he has conducted regularly at the Vienna State Opera, including the premieres of Cerha's Der Riese vom Steinfeld and Reimann's Medea. He also conducted the premieres of operas by Dusapin, Enescu, Henze, Lombardi, Penderecki and Trojahn.
Albert Dohmen is a German operatic bass-baritone who is known internationally for performing leading roles by Richard Wagner and Richard Strauss. He has also worked in concert halls and given lieder recitals.
Michael Volle is a German operatic baritone. After engagements at several German and Swiss opera houses, he has worked freelance since 2011. While he first appeared in Mozart roles such as Guglielmo, Papageno and Don Giovanni, he moved on to title roles such as Verdi's Falstaff, Tchaikovsky's Eugene Onegin and Alban Berg's Wozzeck. He has performed at major opera houses in Europe and the Metropolitan Opera, in roles including Mandryka in Arabella and Hans Sachs in Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg. His awards include Singer of the Year by the magazine Opernwelt and Der Faust.
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