Hans Beirer

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Hans Beirer (born June 23, 1911 in Wiener Neustadt ; † June 24, 1993 in Berlin ) was an Austrian opera singer ( hero tenor ) and chamber singer who was permanently engaged at the Deutsche Oper Berlin , the Vienna State Opera and the Hamburg State Opera . He became internationally known primarily as a Wagner singer .

Life

After graduating from high school , Beirer began studying medicine in Vienna, but switched to studying singing with Tino Pattiera and Paul Neuhaus at the Vienna Music Academy . In 1936 Beirer made his debut at the Landestheater Linz as Hans in the Bartered Bride . In the following years he also appeared as a lyric tenor and sang roles such as Rodolfo in La Bohème , Count Almaviva in the Barber of Seville , the Duke in Rigoletto , Turridu in Cavalleria rusticana and José in Carmen . From 1937 to 1939 Beirer was engaged at the city theaters of Basel and St. Gallen . He then sang operetta roles at the Mellini Theater in Hanover, which is controlled by the KdF . At the beginning of the Second World War , his career was initially interrupted by military service in the Wehrmacht , but he soon appeared again in operetta roles such as Barinkay in the Gypsy Baron and Danilo in The Merry Widow in Berlin at the Theater am Nollendorfplatz . In 1943 he was signed to the German Opera House in Berlin , where he made his debut as Nando in Tiefland .

In the post-war period, Beirer turned to the hero tenor subject and began an international career as a Wagner singer . In 1948 he sang the world premiere of Werner Egk's opera Circe at the Berlin Municipal Opera. As early as 1949 he was a guest at the Rome Opera as Parsifal, with Maria Callas and Cesare Siepi as stage partners. At the Teatro San Carlo in Naples he made guest appearances in 1949/1950 as drum major in Wozzeck . 1950/1951 he sang at La Scala in Milan to Tannhauser , 1951. Parsifal and 1952 Stolzing in Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg , both under the direction of Wilhelm Furtwängler in 1957 he appeared as Tristan at La Scala. In 1955 he sang Siegfried in the Ring des Nibelungen at the Grand Opéra Paris .

Beirer's repertoire included almost all of Richard Wagner's major tenor roles, as well as Florestan in Fidelio , Otello in Verdi 's opera of the same name , Radames in Aida , Pedro in Tiefland , Vasco da Gama in Giacomo Meyerbeer's opera Die Afrikanerin , Samson in Samson et Dalila and Alfred in the bat . Beirer has made guest appearances in Japan , the USA and at various leading opera houses around the world. Between 1958 and 1962 he sang at the Bayreuth Festival to Tannhäuser , Tristan and Parsifal .

Signature of Hans Beirer

In 1958, in addition to his work at the Deutsche Oper Berlin, Beirer was signed to the Hamburg State Opera, where he sang until 1971. From 1962 to 1987 he was also a member of the Vienna State Opera ensemble.

In 1966, Beirer hit the headlines when he started the finale incorrectly at a gala performance of Fidelio under the conductor Lorin Maazel and thus abandoned the performance.

On May 23, 1971, Beirer sang at the Vienna State Opera in the world premiere of Gottfried von Einem's opera The Visit of the Old Lady after Friedrich Dürrenmatt , and in 1976 also in the world premiere of Kabale und Liebe by the same composer.

Even after he was 60, Beirer sang Tristan and until 1981 Siegfried in Wagner 's opera of the same name . In 1986 he appeared in Vienna on his 75th birthday as Herod in Salome . On May 22, 1986 he sang Siegfried in Götterdämmerung for the last time at the Vienna State Opera . He took his stage farewell in 1987 at the Vienna State Opera with the role of Aegisth in Elektra .

Beirer had an indestructible, powerful voice, but no record voice, and so during his active career as a singer there was only one official recording with a cross-section of the Tannhauser opera at Opera . Various recordings of opera performances are now available on CD, such as the Vienna Tannhauser premiere under Herbert von Karajan and the world premiere of Gottfried von Einem's opera The Visit of the Old Lady .

tomb

Hans Beirer was buried in the Berlin forest cemetery in Zehlendorf .

Recognitions

Award

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Henning Smidth Olsen: Wilhelm Furtwängler. Concert programs, operas and lectures 1947 to 1954 , FA Brockhaus Wiesbaden 1972, p. 37 and p. 46.
  2. ^ Spiegel.online Fidelio-Scandal, Der Spiegel, October 17, 1966 .
  3. ^ Dieter David Scholz: Mythos Primadonna , interview with Birgit Nilsson .
  4. Program of the Hamburg State Opera from June 24, 1971.
  5. ↑ https://db-staatsoper.die- Answer.eu/performances/12027
  6. ^ Kutsch and Riemens, Großes Sängerlexikon , digital library CD-Rom, 1999/2000, p. 1644.