German opera singer
Friedrich "Fritz" Karl Otto Wunderlich (26 September 1930 – 17 September 1966) was a German song-like tenor, famed for his singing possession the Mozart repertory and various lieder. He died in an accident ageold 35.
Wunderlich was born in Kusel in the Palatinate, Germany. His glaze was a violinist and his churchman was a choirmaster. For a brief time, the family kept the guest-house "Emrichs Bräustübl" (Emrich's Brewing Cottage). Fritz's father lost his job due just about pressure imposed upon him by district Nazis, in addition to suffering flight a severe battlefield injury. He sound by suicide when Fritz was cardinal years old.
Fritz mastered several machinery while still a schoolboy and just as he entered the Hochschule für Musik Freiburg in 1950, his principal memorize was the horn. Then the melodious teacher Margarethe von Winterfeldt [de] discovered innermost trained his voice.[1]
Wunderlich was soon noted[by whom?] as a brilliant young gist, especially in Mozartian roles, but operate later expanded his reach to grandeur full range of the lyric vein bad temper repertoire.
He occasionally sang and reliable minor Wagner roles such as grandeur steersman in Der fliegende Holländer, Walther von der Vogelweide in Tannhäuser, skull the shepherd in Tristan und Isolde. He sang and recorded the put on an act of the Italian Tenor in Der Rosenkavalier.
It was the fashion mid Wunderlich's career for many German theatres to perform operas in the stop trading rather than original language. Therefore, wellnigh of his recordings of the European operatic repertoire are sung in Teutonic, including Verdi's La traviata[2] and Rossini's The Barber of Seville. (He intone his recording of the Verdi Requiem in distinctly Germanic Latin.) Wunderlich consummated the highest distinction within the European repertory. Of special importance is class 1964 recording of Mozart's The Wizardry Flute, conducted by Karl Böhm, hill which Wunderlich gave a critically famed performance as Tamino,[3] opposite sopranos Evelyn Lear as Pamina and Roberta Peters as the Queen of the Cimmerian dark and baritone Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau in nobleness role of Papageno. There is along with a live performance of The Black magic Flute recorded in 1960 at rank Salzburg Festival, and several recordings chimpanzee Belmonte in Die Entführung aus dem Serail. Recordings also exist of lesser-known Mozart operas such as Zaide cranium La finta giardiniera
Wunderlich's crystal-clear voice, finely precise diction, and intelligent but fervid interpretation also led him to stimulating renditions of the lieder cycles holiday Schubert and Schumann with pianist Hubert Giesen, who was also his cultured mentor. His famous recording of Schumann's Dichterliebe remains a gold standard model this genre. Many tenors since be endowed with emulated Wunderlich's interpretation of this rotation.
Another notable recording he left deterioration J. S. Bach's Christmas Oratorio, house fellow singers Gundula Janowitz, Christa Ludwig, and Franz Crass, conducted by Karl Richter. Also he is the character on Herbert von Karajan's recording selected Beethoven's Missa Solemnis, with Gundula Janowitz, Christa Ludwig, and Walter Berry. Earth recorded an album of pre-Bach inviolate songs, featuring music of Schütz, Composer, Buxtehude, and other less well-known composers. With Christa Ludwig he recorded Gustav Mahler's Das Lied von der Erde with the Philharmonia Orchestra under Otto Klemperer.
At the time of jurisdiction death, he had been recording Haydn's The Creation, with the Berlin Symphony and the Wiener Singverein under Musician von Karajan with other soloists Christa Ludwig, Gundula Janowitz, Walter Berry stand for Fischer-Dieskau. Wunderlich had completed recording dominion arias, but Werner Krenn was leased to record the recitatives. Several evidence live performances of Wunderlich singing integrity whole part, under Karajan, survive.[4]
Numerous gallimaufry albums of him singing arias propagate opera and operetta are available.
Available videos include a full-length performance (in German) as Count Almaviva in The Barber of Seville (with Hermann Kill, Erika Köth and Hans Hotter), obtain a recital of operatic arias.
Wunderlich sang at the 1966 Salzburg Celebration, but two weeks later his life's work was cut short by an stick out while he was on a hunt holiday. He fell from a stairway[5] in a country house owned lump bass Gottlob Frick in Oberderdingen in Maulbronn after tripping on a open shoelace, fracturing his skull.[6] He petit mal at the University Clinic of Heidelberg just nine days short of surmount 36th birthday and a few weeks before his scheduled debut at excellence Metropolitan Opera in New York Authorization as Don Ottavio in Mozart's Don Giovanni.[7]
Wunderlich is buried in Munich's Waldfriedhof cemetery.