Ursula Wendt-Walther

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Ursula Wendt-Walther (born March 13, 1934 in Berlin , then German Empire ; † February 17, 2016 in Nuremberg ) was a German opera singer ( soprano ).

Life

Training and career start

Ursula Wendt-Walther, née Wendt , was born in Berlin as the daughter of the insurance director Hugo Wendt.

She studied singing at the Berlin Conservatory and the Berlin Music Academy ; She also received private lessons from the Finnish baritone Kari Nurmela in Zurich . As an apprentice , she sang at the State Theater in Hanover from 1956 to 1958 . Annual contracts followed at the Rheydt City Theater (1958–1959) and the Lucerne City Theater (1959–1960). She had her first permanent engagement as a lead singer from 1960–1963 at the Landestheater Detmold , where she made her debut with the title role in La Traviata . In the season 1964/65 she appeared as a guest at the Landestheater Esslingen . Further permanent engagements followed at the Stadttheater Mainz (season 1965/66) and at the Theater Bremerhaven (1966–1970).

Engagement at the Nuremberg Opera House

At the beginning of the 1970/71 season, Wendt-Walther joined the Nuremberg Opera House as a permanent member of the ensemble, to which she belonged for almost 25 years without interruption until she left in 1994. Her first role was the Marzelline in Fidelio . In the course of her engagement in Nuremberg, Wendt-Walther sang over 60 roles in a repertoire that ranged from Monteverdi to modern times. The focus was on the great Mozart roles (Fiordiligi, Donna Elvira in two new Nuremberg productions, Pamina), as well as works by Richard Strauss and Richard Wagner . Eva, Desdemona, Tosca, Marschallin and Arabella in particular were among her Nuremberg “glamorous roles”. In the French subject she sang a. a. the title role in Margaret by Charles Gounod and Micaëla in Carmen .

In the second new production of Othello in Nuremberg (premiere: April 1978; director: Hansjörg Utzerath ; with Karl-Heinz Thiemann as the title hero) she sang Desdemona. In the new Freischütz staging by Peter Beauvais (premiere: 1979/80 season) she was the alternative cast as Agathe alongside Sharon Markovich . She sang this role repeatedly until June 1986. In some performances at the Nuremberg Opera House she also took on Elisabeth von Valois in Don Carlos (including April 1984) and the title role in Madame Butterfly (including January 1985).

Her premiere roles in the 1980s included a. a. Felice in Die vier Grobiane (season 1985/86, premiere: July 1986), the slave Liù in Turandot (season 1986/87, premiere: December 1986, with further performances until July 1989), Chrysothemis in Elektra (premiere: May 1987; Resumption July 1988) in the last premiere production by GMD Hans Gierster and Bertalda in Undine (season 1987/88, premiere: November 1987, director: Peter P. Pachl ).

In the 1986/87 season she also took over as an alternative cast for Antonia in a new production of Hoffmann's stories (director: Hellmuth Matiasek , as partner of Zachos Terzakis ); she sang this role in the following years, most recently from January to March 1989. In the new production of the Strauss opera Der Rosenkavalier (director: Heinz Lukas-Kindermann), Wendt-Walther took over the role of the Nuremberg squat from December 1988 to April 1991 Marshaless; She last sang this role in the 1991/92 season when production was resumed in December 1991. From February 1989 to November 1990 she sang the role of Abigaille in Nabucco in numerous performances as a Nuremberg squat .

As a long-time member of the ensemble, Wendt-Walther also took on numerous small and medium-sized roles, including a. the 1st Lady in Die Zauberflöte (new production 1981/82 season, director: Peter Beauvais), Ortlinde in Die Walküre (new production 1983/84 season) or Echo in Ariadne auf Naxos (new production 1985/86 season). In November 1988 she even stepped in for a sick colleague in Anna's mini-part in Nabucco , since otherwise the performance would have had to be canceled due to a lack of replacement.

She was also on stage in several operettas : u. a. as Rosalinde ( Die Fledermaus ), as Laura ( The Beggar Student ), as Saffi ( The Gypsy Baron ), as Electress Marie ( The Bird Trader ), as Hanna Glawari ( The Merry Widow ) and as Lisa ( The Land of Smiles ).

Wendt-Walther was used at the Nuremberg Opera House in particular as a Wagner singer. In the Wagner subject she was particularly active as Evchen in Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg ( inter alia in the production by Hans-Peter Lehmann ; resumption in May 1981), as Elsa in Lohengrin (also in a production by Hans-Peter Lehmann; resumption in July 1980) , great successes as Elisabeth in Tannhäuser and as Senta ( Der Fliegende Holländer ). The Meistersinger -Eva she sang 1987-1989 and again in Nuremberg's new production of Heinz Lukas-Kindermann . In the new Lohengrin production by Ernst A. Klusen , she was Elsa von Brabant from 1989–1990 as the partner of Karl-Heinz Thiemann, Thomas Sunnegardh and Wolfgang Schmidt . At a Wagner evening in the Nuremberg Opera House in July 1989 she sang Sieglinde in Act 1 of the Walküre under the musical direction of Christian Thielemann . From 1990–1991 she sang Tannhäuser Elisabeth in a new production by Wolfgang Weber . In February / July 1993 she took on the role of Senta in a new production by Petrika Ionesco as the Nuremberg squat .

In April / May 1993 and most recently in March 1994 she sang Donna Elvira, this time in the new Don Giovanni production in Nuremberg by in-house director Wolfgang Quetes . In April 1994 she sang Senta again in the Flying Dutchman in her Nuremberg farewell performance ; with this role she also took her leave of the opera stage.

Commitment to the modern

Wendt-Walther, who "attracted" modernity, also sang numerous roles in contemporary music theater that the Nuremberg audience "stuck in strong memories". She interpreted the role of Marie in the Nuremberg production of The Soldiers (1974). In the world premiere of the Zemlinsky opera Der Traumgörge (1980/81 season) she sang the soprano part of Marei. In the 1980/81 season she took over the role of the school principal Miss Wordsworth in Albert Herring (director: Uwe Kreyssig ). In the Nuremberg premiere of the opera Lear in March 1982 she was the king's daughter Regan. She also took part in operas by Hans Werner Henze , Hans Zender and Wolfgang Rihm .

Guest performances

Wendt-Walther made guest appearances a. a. at the Deutsche Oper am Rhein , at the Nationaltheater Mannheim , at the State Theater Hanover (including the 1982/83 season as Marie in The Bartered Bride ), at the State Theater Wiesbaden , at the State Theater am Gärtnerplatz (including 1979 and the 1981/82 season when Marie sold in Die Bride ), at the Bremen Theater (1979/80 season as Tannhäuser- Elisabeth in a gala performance of the Richard Wagner Association as partner of Hugh Beresford ), at the Regensburg Theater (1981/82 season as Desdemona), at the Ulm Theater (season 1981/82, as Elisabeth de Valois), at the Vienna State Opera (1979, as Isotta in Die Schweigsame Frau ) and at the Theater Basel . In April 1977 she appeared at the Teatro La Fenice in Venice in several performances as the voice of the falcon and guardian of the threshold of the temple in the Strauss opera Die Frau ohne Schatten . In June 1978 she sang at an operetta concert in The Hague .

Private

Wendt-Walther was married to the actor Wolf Walther († 1997). She lived in Lindelburg in the Nuremberg district .

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ The soprano Ursula Wendt-Walther is dead . Death report from April 11, 2016. In: Die Deutsche Bühne . Retrieved November 8, 2018.
  2. ↑ In all biographical and bibliographical reference works, in various music lexicons such as Kutsch / Riemens ... the year of birth 1939 is always given. Since the stage contracts at the Nuremberg Opera House for female ensemble members ended when they reached the age of 60, 1934 can be assumed to be the actual year of birth. This also corresponds with the death report in the Deutsche Bühne in April 2016, according to which Wendt-Walther died “at the age of 82”.
  3. ^ Wilhelm Kosch (Ed.): German Theater Lexicon . Volume VIII. V - Z. De Gruyter, Berlin [et al.]. Page 185. 2020. ISBN 978-3-11-063207-1 (accessed via De Gruyter Online).
  4. ↑ a b c WENDT-WALTHER, Ursula . In: Who's who in the Arts: A Biographical Encyclopedia containing some 13,000 Biographies and Addresses of Prominent Personalities, Organizations, Associations and Institutions connected with the Arts in the Federal Republic of Germany . Volume 2. Page 373. Ottobrunn near Munich. Who's Who-Book & Publishing GmbH 1975. (Excerpts from Google Books). Retrieved November 8, 2018.
  5. ↑ a b c d e f g Ursula Wendt-Walther - Farewell to the Nuremberg Opera Stage . In: Theater Nuremberg. Monthly May 1994, no p.
  6. ↑ a b c d Ursula Wendt-Walther . Biography (after Kutsch / Riemens). Official website of Theaterfreunde Mainz. Retrieved November 8, 2018.
  7. ↑ a b c d e F.S. (= Fritz Schleicher): Farewell to the opera. Ursula Wendt-Walther leaves the company . In. Nürnberger Nachrichten of April 22, 1994.
  8. ↑ STATE THEATER NUREMBERG . In: curt . March 2018 edition. Retrieved November 8, 2018.
  9. ↑ Theater newspapers and monthly issues. Nuremberg Opera House. 1980/81 season, 1981/82 season and 1982/83 season.
  10. ↑ WENDT-WALTHER URSULA . Schedule statistics. Retrieved November 8, 2018.
  11. ↑ Operetteweek in Congresgebouw . Concert review. In: Leidsch Dagblad of June 28, 1978. Page 25. Retrieved November 8, 2018.
personal data
SURNAME Wendt-Walther, Ursula
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Wendt, Ursula (maiden name); Wendt-Walter, Ursula
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German opera singer (soprano)
DATE OF BIRTH March 13, 1934
PLACE OF BIRTH Berlin , German Empire
DATE OF DEATH 17th February 2016
Place of death Nuremberg