Erich Witte

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Erich Witte (born March 19, 1911 in Graudenz , West Prussia , † June 30, 2008 in Berlin ) was a German theater actor , opera singer ( tenor ) and opera director .

Life

Erich Witte grew up in Bremen from 1920 and initially became an actor and répétiteur. At the conservatory in Bremen he then studied singing with the well-known bass-baritone Philipp Kraus . In 1930, at the age of nineteen, he made his stage debut at the Bremen Theater as "Nando" in Tiefland . In 1931 he was hired as an actor at the Bremerhaven City Theater , but soon took over singing roles such as "Châteauneuf" in Zar and Zimmermann or "Jaquino" in Fidelio . From 1932 to 1937 he was again active in the ensemble of the Bremen theater.

In 1937 he came to the Nassau State Theater in Wiesbaden, where he distinguished himself as a tenor buffo. In 1936 and 1937 he made guest appearances at the Monte Carlo Opera as "Mime" in the Ring des Nibelungen , in 1938 and 1940 at the Vienna State Opera and also at the Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires (1938). In the 1938/39 season Witte was engaged for 46 performances at the New York Metropolitan Opera , including as "Froh" in the Ring of the Nibelung and as "Fool" in Boris Godunow . From 1940 to 1942 he sang at the opera house in Breslau , where he took part in the world premiere of the opera Der Dombaumeister by Hans Stieber on February 7, 1942 . From 1941 he belonged to the ensemble of the Berlin State Opera , where in 1944 he was the "Romeo" at the side of Maria Cebotari at the Berlin premiere of Sutermeister's Romeo and Juliet in 1944. In addition, he designed the "Pinkerton" next to Erna Berger in Madame Butterfly , the "Richard" in A Masked Ball and the farmer "Laca" in Jenůfa .

In 1943 and 1944 he was the "David" in the Meistersinger von Nürnberg at the Bayreuth Festival , where in 1952 and 1953 he also embodied the box in the ring tetralogy .

In the first opera performance in Berlin after the end of World War II on September 4, 1945, Witte was the "Jaquino" in Fidelio . In 1950 he was able to celebrate another brilliant success there in the title role of Parsifal . In 1947 he took on the title role in Peter Grimes at the Städtische Oper Berlin . On September 4, 1955, after the reconstruction of the German State Opera Unter den Linden, he appeared again in the Meistersinger , this time as "Junker Stolzing". In this role he made a guest appearance at the Covent Garden Opera in London in 1957 , where he had also staged the Meistersinger . Previously he had been enthusiastically celebrated there as a lodge, also in his direction of the Ring of the Nibelung .

The hero tenor , who performed with many well-known conductors around the world, stayed at the Staatsoper Unter den Linden until 1960 and sang mainly roles such as the title heroes in Othello or Peter Grimes , the “Florestan” in Fidelio , the “Bacchus” in Ariadne on Naxos , the “ Cavaradossi ”in Tosca , the“ Hoffmann ”in Hoffmann's stories , the“ Don José ”in Carmen and the“ Loge ”.

From 1961 to 1964 he was senior director at the Frankfurt Opera and sang in the world premiere of the opera Alkestiade by Louise Talma . Then he returned to his Berlin headquarters. Increasingly, he shifted to the character subject and embodied the title roles in Shostakovich's The Nose , Joe Hill by Alan Bush (1971) and Master Röckle by Joachim Werzlau (1976). He had his last stage appearances at the age of eighty.

In 1951 he first worked as a director with Richard Mohaupt's Bremen Town Musicians in the Admiralspalast . In the new house on Unter den Linden he staged Tristan , Lohengrin and the ring tetralogy with Franz Konwitschny as conductor , leaning on the Neu-Bayreuth style . Further directing work was Daphne with Otmar Suitner and Arabella as well as the Wagner productions in London.

From 1970 Witte was also a lecturer for singing studies at the "Hanns Eisler" music college .

The German State Opera, to which he had belonged for fifty years, appointed Witte , who had already been awarded the title of Kammersänger , as an honorary member on the occasion of his retirement in 1991.

Witte died just a few days after the death of his wife Josefa, a former member of the Berlin State Opera Ballet.

Discography (selection)

Most of the cast details can be found in entries in the catalog of the German National Library .

  • Der Rosenkavalier , recording from the Metropolitan Opera New York 1939, Naxos
  • Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg , recording from 1943/44, Preiser Records 1994
  • Abu Hassan , recording from 1944, Line Music 2003
  • Hansel and Gretel , recording from 1944, Preiser Records 1996
  • Das Rheingold (Wagner), recording of the Bayreuth Festival 1952, Line Music 2003
  • Das Rheingold (Wagner), recording of the Bayreuth Festival 1953, Line Music 2004
  • Puntila , Deutsche Staatsoper 1968, Berlin Classics 1994
  • Einstein , German State Opera 1978, Edel 1996

literature

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Witte, Erich
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German theater actor, opera singer (tenor) and opera director
DATE OF BIRTH March 19, 1911
PLACE OF BIRTH Graudenz , West Prussia
DATE OF DEATH June 30, 2008
Place of death Berlin