Franz Kelch

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Franz Kelch (1958)
Franz Kelch (2009)

Franz Kelch (* 1. November 1915 in Bayreuth , † 5. June 2013 in Munich ) was a German singer of the vocal range bass-baritone . Kelch is an important song and oratorio singer. His repertoire includes works by Johann Sebastian Bach, Johannes Brahms, Dietrich Buxtehude, Georg Friedrich Händel, Claudio Monteverdi and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.

Life

Growing up in the festival city of Bayreuth and receiving special musical training from choir singing and violin playing, Franz Kelch took singing lessons from 1937 to 1939 with Henriette Klink after graduating from the secondary school in Bayreuth and doing military service. After the war and the end of his English captivity (until 1947), during which he continued to work intensively on his vocal training and gave his first recitals in front of his fellow prisoners, despite all the difficulties of the post-war period, he managed to set foot quickly as a freelance song and oratorio singer to understand.

The extensive, cultivated bass-baritone voice, the high degree of musicality and technical vocal control and a creative talent that explores the depth of the works that set him apart, as well as radio broadcasts, concert performances, recitals and recordings made Franz Kelch one of the most famous song and oratorio singers its time.

Between 1952 and 1957 he took over the bass parts of all major Bach works and numerous cantatas under Karl Richter and his Munich Bach Choir , until 1954 Heinrich-Schütz-Kreis , after he had already performed under Richter's predecessor Michael Schneider for the performances of Heinrich-Schütz -Circle had been engaged. Under Rudolf Lamy he worked in Munich and others. in the Christmas Oratorio , in the Brahms Requiem , in Creation and in 1953 in the southern German premiere of 'Golgotha' by Frank Martin . Günther Ramin engaged him for tours with the Thomaner through Western Europe and brought him to Leipzig for the later award-winning archive production of his St. John Passion . The recording of the St. Matthew Passion was planned with the same cast in 1956, but this was preceded by the sudden death of the St. Thomas Cantor. Between 1957 and 1960, both Bach Passions (Jesus), the Mass in B minor and several cantatas were recorded with Fritz Werner . Under Hans Grischkat , who had already dealt with the historical performance of the St. Matthew Passion in 1935, Franz Kelch sang several times in the Bach Passions in the 1950s, as Jesus or Pilatus. In 1952 two secular cantatas and the four Missae Breves by Bach were recorded under Grischkat .

In the early 1950s, Franz Kelch was hired to make various recordings during the Monteverdi Renaissance, for Seneca in the world's first recording of L'Incoronazione di Poppea under Walter Goehr (1952 or early 1953, which was awarded the Grand Prix du Disque in 1954) ), for the Marienvespers under Hans Grischkat 1953 and the Canti guerrieri et amorosi from the VIII Madrigal Book under Marcel Couraud 1955, published 1956.

Franz Kelch could be heard all over Germany as well as in other European countries. He took part in various festivals and events in Western Europe and gave numerous recitals in Germany and in 1962 in several cities in Ireland, including the Winterreise in Dublin . He sang at several world premieres and German premieres.

His wide-ranging repertoire included sacred musical works and sacred and secular songs from all centuries. He sang all major works as well as works of the concert literature that were performed more rarely. The Bavarian Broadcasting Corporation repeatedly used it for innovative projects with early music and also for contemporary works by Munich composers (including Haas , Jacobi , Zilcher ).

Franz Kelch was particularly valued as the Christ singer of the Bach Passions. His art of internalization, supported by a lived Christian view of life, set standards. He tried to portray the Passion event in all urgency. Here he found his own way of artistic design. Historical audio documents as models for interpretation were as good as not available in the post-war years. The newspaper review of his first St. Matthew Passion in the Michaeliskirche in Hof on March 20, 1949 said: "The noble bass by Franz Kelch, Munich, found in the role of Christ the pure tone of world-conquering grandeur."

The critic of the “ Süddeutsche Zeitung ” KH Ruppel wrote on the occasion of the St. Matthew Passion under Karl Richter, which was performed in 1956 in memory of Günther Ramin in Munich: “The design of the Christ part by Franz Kelch belongs in the spiritual penetration, the warmth of expression and the cultivated leadership of the noble bass voice to the most beautiful thing that can be imagined in the vocal interpretation of Bach. "

Franz Kelch also had an excellent reputation as a song interpreter with a comprehensive song repertoire due to his very modulatory voice and his moving expression, well thought out down to the last detail.

After a recital in Kronach in September 1958, for example, the critic wrote: “Even with the Schubert lieder, Franz Kelch's audience ... was prompted to stormy applause by the gripping design of 'Im Abendrot' and 'Der Wanderer', because the mood was moving fully effective. Franz Kelch presented himself as an excellent lieder singer, whose voluminous bass appeals equally well in terms of height and depth. Kelch is characterized by an exemplary treatment of the text and always hits the whole essence of every song with sparing means of phrasing, whether it be serious or cheerful. The ballads by Robert Schumann , Carl Loewe and Hugo Wolf , whose 'Pied Piper' with its mocking demon, was excellently reproduced, also went very well. While the songs by Richard Strauss made it clear that the heyday of the song came to an end with this composer, Hugo Wolf's Mörike and Eichendorff songs were a thrilling experience. "

In addition to his extensive concert activities, Franz Kelch taught from 1953 to 1978 at the Leopold Mozart Conservatory in Augsburg , today's Leopold Mozart Center . Renowned opera and concert singers emerged from his work as a singing teacher. In 1980 he trained the soloists for the Passion Play in Oberammergau .

Franz Kelch lived in Munich since 1947. He left ten children. His final resting place is in the Obermenzing forest cemetery in Munich.

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Chalice, Franz
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German singer (bass baritone)
DATE OF BIRTH November 1, 1915
PLACE OF BIRTH Bayreuth
DATE OF DEATH 5th June 2013
Place of death Munich