Karl-Heinz Thiemann


Karl-Heinz Thiemann, is a German operatic tenor.

Career

Origin and education

Thiemann was born in Münsterland to a musical family. He worked as a railway official and first appeared as a soloist at various singing clubs. After a successful audition, he studied singing at the Dortmund Conservatory from 1956 to 1961, majoring in voice with Rudolf Watzke and at the Hochschule für Musik und Tanz Köln with Dietger Jakob. During his studies he sang the tenor part in Verdi's Requiem in Dortmund in a performance by students of the conservatory.

Early years

He had his first engagement at the. There he made his debut 1961 as Florestan in Fidelio. In his first season he sang there six roles: among others Alvaro in La forza del destino, Turiddu in Cavalleria rusticana, Rinuccio in Gianni Schicchi and Ernesto in Don Pasquale. In his second season in 1962/1963 he added Belmonte in Die Entführung aus dem Serail, Max in Der Freischütz for the first time and the title role in Lohengrin for the first time. As Max he was also a guest at the.
A further engagement followed from 1965 to 1968 as "Jugendlicher Heldentenor" at the Aalto Theatre. There he took over dramatic roles such as the title role in Andrea Chénier and Hugo von Ringstetten in Undine.

Staatstheater Nürnberg

In the 1965/66 season, Thiemann made a guest appearance in April 1966 for the first time as a substitute at the Staatstheater Nürnberg, as Hoffmann in the opera The Tales of Hoffmann. Thereupon he was engaged by music director, Hans Gierster as guest for the title role in Don Carlos to the opera house Nuremberg. From the 1968/69 season, Thiemann was a permanent member of the Nuremberg Opera House until his retirement at the end of the 1997/98 season. There, he was one of the "pillars of the house" for decades. Thiemann's first role in Nuremberg was the title role in Otello. Later he sang this role again in another new production of Otello in Nuremberg..
In 1970 he appeared in Nuremberg for the first time in the role of Max in Der Freischütz. In a production by Peter Beauvais, he took on the role of Max again in a new production at the Nuremberg Opera in 1980 In September 1971 he sang Herod in Salome for the first time in Nuremberg. Further roles of Thiemann in the 1970s were the Emperor in Die Frau ohne Schatten, Dimitri in Boris Godunov, Hermann in The Queen of Spades, the Prince in Rusalka, Tichon in Káťa Kabanová and Wladimir in Prince Igor.

Wagner roles

Thiemann was appointed to the Nuremberg Opera House after the retirement of Sebastian Feiersinger, often used as Wagnerian tenor. At the Nuremberg Opera House he was regarded for decades as the "epitome of the Wagner singer".
In the 1970/71 season he sang Lohengrin for the first time at the Nuremberg Opera House, in a production by Hans-Peter Lehmann; he also took on this role in the revival in July 1980. In the 1989/90 season he sang Lohengrin again in a new production by Ernst Klusen, in a cast alongside Thomas Sunnegardh. In May 1991 he appeared for the last time as Lohengrin. In May 1971 Thiemann first sang the role of Walter von Stolzing in Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg at the Nuremberg Opera House. From 1986 to 1989 he again sang the role of Stolzing. He last sang Stolzing in May 1989.
In December 1977 he first sang Erik in The Flying Dutchman. He later took over the role of Erik again in the 1992/1993 season, from April 1993 in the title role alongside Bent Norup, and in the revivals in 1994 and 1996. In April 1994 he also sang Erik in the farewell performance of Nuremberg soprano Ursula Wendt-Walther. In July 1996 he last appeared as Erik.
In 1978 he sang the role of Loge in Das Rheingold in the Nuremberg Ring Cycle, which was abandoned for cost reasons. In February 1983 he first sang the title role in Parsifal. In October 1983 he made his debut as Siegmund in Die Walküre.
In the course of his career at the Nuremberg Opera, Thiemann later appeared in the heroic tenor roles in Wagner under the conductor Christian Thielemann: the title roles in Tannhäuser and Tristan und Isolde. During his time as general music director in Nuremberg, Thielemann used Thiemann in numerous major roles, especially in operas by Richard Wagner, Richard Strauss and Hans Pfitzner.

Commitment to modernity

Thiemann was particularly interested in the music of the 20th century. In the 1970/71 season Thiemann sang Aron in Moses and Aron to favourable notices. In 1971 he sang Cardinal Albrecht von Brandenburg in Mathis der Maler. In June 1974 followed Desportes in Die Soldaten. In April 1972 he took part in the Nuremberg premiere of the scenic oratorio of Henze's Das Floß der Medusa. In June 1975 he gave a guest performance in this production with the ensemble of the Nuremberg Opera as part of the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino in the Teatro Comunale di Firenze.
In October 1980 he performed the long and difficult part of Görge in the world premiere of Zemlinsky's opera Der Traumgörge. In 1982 he sang the role of Edmund in the Nuremberg premiere of the opera Lear. Edmund "characterized Thiemann with cynically cutting tones". In December 1982, Oedipus followed in Oedipus Rex. In the Nuremberg premiere of the opera Baal by Friedrich Cerha, he was heard as Fabrikant Mech. In 1985 he sang Jean in the Nuremberg premiere of the opera Fräulein Julie by Antonio Bibalo. In 1986 he assumed the title role in the premiere of Andreas Nick's opera Satyros. In 1988 he was Hans in the premiere of Walter Zimmermann's Über die Dörfer, next to Martha Mödl.

Role debuts from 1980

Further role debuts of Thiemann in the 1980s were among others Graf Elemer in Arabella, Florestan, Lord Arturo Bucklaw in Lucia di Lammermoor, Bacchus in Ariadne auf Naxos, Aegisth in Elektra, Falsacappa in Les brigands, the innkeeper in Der Rosenkavalier with Gwyneth Jones, the schoolmaster in The Cunning Little Vixen..
In the 1988/89 season Thiemann sang the title role in Palestrina.
Other roles included Agrippa von Nettesheim in The Fiery Angel, Alfred in Die Fledermaus, the title role in Handel's oratorio Belshazzar, and Koloman Zsupan in The Gypsy Baron. He also sang this role in the New Year's Eve performance in December 1997. Thiemann's last new role as a permanent member of the ensemble in the 1997/98 season was Siegfried in the operetta , in a production of the Nuremberg Opera House at the Dehnberger Hoftheater;.
He also sang Canio in Pagliacci and Eléazar in La Juive.

Guest performances

From the mid-1960s Thiemann performed regularly at various opera houses in Germany and in numerous European music venues.
He appeared on the following stages among others: Hamburgische Staatsoper, the Deutsche Oper Berlin, the Berlin State Opera,the Deutsche Oper am Rhein, the Stuttgart State Opera and the Bavarian State Opera.

Concert repertoire

Thiemann's singing career focused on opera, but he also regularly played concert roles.
His repertoire included: Symphony No. 9 , Das Lied von der Erde and Die Jakobsleiter.
1971 he sang in Nuremberg in the European premiere of the Kosmogonia for solos, mixed choir and orchestra by Krzysztof Penderecki. In April 1998 he performed Schütz' Musikalische Exequien in a concert of the. In December 1998 he was soloist at a pre-Christmas concert in the St.Andreas-Kirche in Kalchreuth; in which he performed lieder by Richard Trunk and Peter Cornelius and other pieces.

Retirement

Thiemann retired from the Nuremberg Ensemble at the end of the 1997/98 season in July 1998 due to his age. He was appointed an honorary member of the Nuremberg Opera House. Thiemann's long-standing commitment as chairman of the staff council and chairman of the Guild of the German Stage was also confirmed.
He then continued to appear as a guest at the Nuremberg Opera House: in the revival of the operetta Die lustigen Nibelungen in October 1998, as a lieutenant in Doktor Faust and as Ulrich Eißlinger in Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg. In July 2004 he performed that role, Ulrich Eißlinger, in his last appearance on the stage of the Nuremberg Opera House. Thiemann had his last public appearance as a singer at the Nuremberg Opera House in March 2006 as part of the series of events "Das rote Sofa" in the Gluck Hall of the Opera House; he sang the lied "Zueignung" by Richard Strauss with piano accompaniment.
Thiemann lives in Kalchreuth near Nuremberg.

Recordings

In June 1971 Thiemann sang Herod in a concert performance in Rome in the opera Salome; his partners were Montserrat Caballé and Zubin Mehta. The recording was made by the Radiotelevisione Italiana and later released on CD.
The premiere of the opera Doktor Faustus, with Thiemann in the small role of Lieutenant, was broadcast in November 1998 on the radio programme of Bayerischer Rundfunk and broadcast live on Arte. In February 1999 Doctor Faustus was recorded by the Bayerischer Rundfunk and broadcast on Bayerisches Fernsehen.
There exist live recordings by Thiemann from the Nuremberg Opera House as well as private recordings.