Werner Sindemann

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Werner Sindemann (born November 16, 1932 ; † September 18, 2019 in Cologne ) was a German opera singer ( baritone ). He worked at the Cologne Opera House for over 50 years .

Life

Werner Sindemann, born as the son of an engineer in Silesia , grew up in Magdeburg in a Protestant family home. During his school days he sang in the extra choir of the Magdeburg City Theater and in the Magdeburg Cathedral Choir. After mediation by the singer Agnes Giebel , he completed his vocal training at the Folkwang School in Essen , where he studied for a total of five years. In 1958, together with his fellow student Pina Bausch , he received the first Folkwang Prize. Sindemann initially sang in numerous choirs and took part in performances of sacred works, a. a. von Bach and Handel , with.

In 1961 he was engaged by Wolfgang Sawallisch , then music director of the Cologne Opera, under the artistic direction of Oscar Fritz Schuh to Cologne in the "International Cologne Opera Studio" that had just been founded at the time. His debut role was the Alkalde in the Verdi opera Die Macht des Schicksals , his first premiere production was the Offenbach operetta Madame Favart . Sindemann appeared at the beginning of his career in the field of lyric baritone with a focus on German opera and game opera. In his first season in Cologne he sang a. a. Silvio ( Der Bajazzo ) , Prince Ottokar ( Der Freischütz ) and Ping ( Turandot ). In 1963, after his time in the opera studio, Sindemann became a permanent member of the Cologne Opera ensemble. In 1963 he sang “Second Prisoner” under István Kertész in a new production of Fidelio .

During his engagement at the Cologne Opera House, Sindemann sang numerous medium-sized and smaller roles and developed into a long-standing "supporter of the ensemble" in the area of ​​so-called Comprimario roles. He was considered a "specialist for the small but important supporting roles". Sindemann was the judge in Michael Hampe's now legendary Cologne staging of the comic Rossini opera Die diebische Elster (1983/84 season), which was also recorded for television and published as a recording. Michael Hampe also created the "particularly sophisticated mute figure" of the servant in the Cimarosa opera The Secret Marriage , which he also performed in international guest performances, a. a. in Venice . In the 1990/91 season, Sindemann was the courtier Alvarez in a new production of the Offenbach operetta Bluebeard, directed by Willy Decker . In the new operetta production One Night in Venice (1999/00 season) he played one of the three idiot senators alongside Ulrich Hielscher and Michael Vier . In the 2002/03 season he took on the role of steward of the Field Marshal in a new Rosenkavalier production, which he also played in the resumption of production in the 2006/07 season (June 2007) and in a gala performance alongside Kiri Te Kanawa (April 2010) presented again. In October 2006 he took part in the world premiere of the opera Caligula by Detlev Glanert . In the 2009/10 season he was the tailor Augustin Moser in Uwe Eric Laufenberg's new staging of the Wagner opera Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg , a role that he played again and again in subsequent performances of the production until April 2010.

From 1996 Werner Sindemann was part of the ensemble of the newly founded “Cologne Children's Opera”, where he performed in over 800 performances in front of a young audience until he was 80 years old. In the 2012/13 season he sang and played in the new production of the Offenbach operetta Orpheus in der Unterwelt by Elena Tzavara in the children's opera Hans Styx in Cologne . In 2014 he had his last stage appearance in the children's opera Snow White in the role of "Mirror". Sindemann was a member of the Cologne Opera ensemble for 53 years.

Werner Sindemann had numerous guest contracts on German theaters. During his beginners' years he appeared in the 1961/62 season at the Wuppertaler Bühnen as Count Robinson in the comic opera The Secret Marriage . He sang at the Hamburg State Opera (including the 1983/84 season one of the masters in a new Meistersinger production directed by Herbert Wernicke ), at the Hanover State Theater , at the Stuttgart State Opera and at the Frankfurt Opera House . In the 2009/10 season he sang the aged Kaiser Altum at the Aalto-Musiktheater in Essen in a new Turandot production by Tilman Knabe .

In the last years of his life, Sindemann lived a secluded life in his Cologne apartment on Marienplatz near the church of St. Maria im Kapitol . He died in September 2019 at the age of 86 in Cologne University Hospital .

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e Georg Kehren: THE COLOGNE OPERA SORROWS FOR BARITON WERNER SINDEMANN . Official website of the Cologne Opera . Retrieved September 28, 2019.
  2. ↑ a b c d e Baritone Werner Sindemann has died . Obituary. Musik-Heute from September 23, 2019. Retrieved September 28, 2019.
  3. ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Michael Cramer: WERNER SINDEMANN: 52 years on stage - a contemporary witness of the Cologne Opera . In: The opera friend . Volume 44 from December 12, 2013. Accessed on September 28, 2019.
  4. ↑ a b c d e f Werner Sindemann . Vita on Operaweetjes.nl. Retrieved September 28, 2019.
  5. ↑ M. Kosel: COLOGNE: THE DIEBISCHE ELSTER . Performance review. In: Opera glasses . Issue July / August 1984. Page 15/16.
  6. ↑ Ute Herborg: HUT OFF! . Performance review. In: Orpheus . Issue March 3, 1991. Page 46.
  7. ↑ One night in Venice . Cast list and production details. Retrieved September 28, 2019.
  8. ↑ The Rosenkavalier . Criticism with cast list. Online music magazine. Retrieved September 28, 2019.
  9. ↑ The Rosenkavalier . Criticism with cast list. Online music magazine. Retrieved September 28, 2019.
  10. ↑ The Rosenkavalier . Criticism with cast list. Online music magazine. Retrieved September 28, 2019.
  11. ↑ The Mastersingers of Nuremberg . Criticism with cast list. Online music magazine. Retrieved September 28, 2019.
  12. ↑ The Mastersingers of Nuremberg . Cast list and performance dates. Retrieved September 28, 2019.
  13. ↑ Orpheus in the Underworld . Criticism with cast list. Online music magazine. Retrieved September 28, 2019.
personal data
SURNAME Sindemann, Werner
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German opera singer (baritone)
DATE OF BIRTH November 16, 1932
PLACE OF BIRTH Silesia
DATE OF DEATH 18th September 2019
Place of death Cologne , North Rhine-Westphalia , Germany