Johan Botha (singer)

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Johan Botha as Bacchus with Anne Schwanewilms as Ariadne in Ariadne auf Naxos ( Hamburg State Opera , 2012)

Johan Botha (born August 19, 1965 in Rustenburg , South Africa ; † September 8, 2016 in Vienna ) was a South African - Austrian opera singer ( tenor ).

Life

Johan Botha began his vocal training in South Africa at the age of 13 and made his debut in Roodepoort in 1989 as Max in Der Freischütz . In the summer of 1990 he sang in the Bayreuth Festival Choir and made his debut in the same year as Gustavo in Un ballo in maschera at the Pfalztheater Kaiserslautern . From there he made his way to the Hagen City Theater , the Dortmund Opera House and the Bonn Opera .

Johan Botha has been working as a freelancer since the 1993/94 season. He made his international breakthrough in 1993 as Pinkerton in Madama Butterfly at the Paris Opéra Bastille . He later made his debut in this role at La Scala in Milan . He then made guest appearances at the Komische Oper Berlin , the State Opera Hamburg and the State Opera Berlin .

At the Vienna Volksoper he appeared in La Bohème , Das Land des Smiles , Norma and in Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg . From 1996 the Vienna State Opera became his artistic home, where he has since participated in the new productions Lohengrin , Tannhäuser and the Sängerkrieg auf Wartburg , Die Frau ohne Schatten , I Vespri Siciliani , Daphne , Parsifal , Otello and Die Walküre . In addition, he sang practically the entire spectrum of roles in the repertoire of the Vienna State Opera, including Canio in Pagliacci , Turiddu in Cavalleria rusticana , Cavaradossi in Tosca , Erik in The Flying Dutchman and Florestan in Fidelio . In June 2003 Johan Botha was appointed the youngest Austrian chamber singer to date at the Vienna State Opera.

In January 1997 he made his debut at the Metropolitan Opera New York, where he has since appeared in Lohengrin , Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg , Turandot , Aida , Don Carlos and Otello, among others. Since the summer of 1998 Botha has also appeared at the Salzburg Festival . He also made regular guest appearances at the Royal Opera House Covent Garden in London, Berlin, Hamburg, Paris and, since 2009, in Munich. An international concert activity and CD recordings were also part of the artistic field of activity of the singer. In 2010 he sang the role of Siegmund in the opera Die Walküre at the Bayreuth Festival and took it over in 2013 in the new ring . In 2013 he was the emperor in the premiere of Frau ohne Schatten at the Bavarian State Opera .

Johan Botha was married to his wife Sonja since 1992. The couple had two sons and have lived in Vienna since 1996. In 1998 he also took on Austrian citizenship.

Johan Botha was an honorary ambassador for Blue Shield , the UNESCO- affiliated non-governmental organization for the protection of cultural property in the event of armed conflict and natural disasters. The certificate of honor was awarded to him on June 15, 2012 by the President of the Austrian National Committee, Ursula Stenzel , and the President of the International Association of National Committees Blue Shield in the Vienna State Opera; the laudation was given by Ioan Holender .

Johan Botha's burial place

Botha was diagnosed with liver cancer in December 2015 . After a seven-month break due to illness, he returned to the stage and sang the role of Siegmund in Budapest and Kalaf in Munich . This was followed by a trip to his native South Africa, where he gave a gala concert on August 13, 2016 at the Artscape Opera House in Cape Town . He was also named "Honorary Patron to Cape Town Opera", an honorary member of the Cape Town Opera. In 2016 he was also made an honorary member of the Vienna State Opera .

After returning to Vienna, Johan Botha succumbed to his serious illness at the age of 51. He found his final resting place in the Vienna Central Cemetery (Gr. 40, No. 197) in an honorary grave.

Web links

Commons : Johan Botha  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Star tenor Johan Botha has died . orf.at , September 8, 2016.
  2. ↑ a b star tenor Johan Botha dies . Kurier.at , September 8, 2016
  3. ↑ biography . ( Memento of the original from February 7, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Johan Botha's website, accessed September 8, 2016. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.johan-botha.com
  4. ↑ Johan Botha became Blue Shield Ambassador. Austrian National Committee Blue Shield, accessed on September 8, 2016 .
  5. ^ Obituary Johan Botha - star tenor died in Vienna at the age of 51
  6. ↑ Celebrated Tenor Johan Botha Performs a Special Gala Concert at Artscape
  7. ^ Cape Town Opera Welcomes Internationally Acclaimed tenor, Kammersänger Johan Botha, as Honorary Patron
  8. ^ Vienna State Opera: The Vienna State Opera mourns the loss of Kammersänger and honorary member Johan Botha . Retrieved September 10, 2016.
  9. ↑ Die Welt: In the end, Johan Botha couldn't win . Article dated September 8, 2016, accessed September 10, 2016.
  10. ↑ knerger.de: The grave of Johan Botha
personal data
SURNAME Botha, Johan
BRIEF DESCRIPTION South African-Austrian opera singer (tenor)
DATE OF BIRTH August 19, 1965
PLACE OF BIRTH Rustenburg , South Africa
DATE OF DEATH September 8, 2016
Place of death Vienna