Theo Adam (Bass-Baritone) - Short Biography

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Theo Adam (Bass-Baritone)
Born: August 1, 1926 - Dresden, Germany
The German bass-baritone,Theo Adam, came to music early. As a boy he sang in the Dresdner Kreuzchor. He studied voice in his native city with Rudolf Dittrich between 1946-1949. On December 1949 Theo Adam made his operatic debut as the Hermit in Der Freischütz at the Dresden State Opera, and in 1952 made his first appearance at the Bayreuth Festival, quickly rising to prominence as one of the leading Wagnerian heroic bass-baritones of his time. He was a principal member of the Berlin State Opera from 1953, and made guest appearances at London’s Covent Garden, the Vienna State Opera, the Paris Opéra, the Salzburg Festivals, the San Francisco Opera, and the Chicago Lyric Opera. In February 1969 he made his operatic debut at the Metropolitan Opera in New York as Hans Sachs (Die Meistersinger). In addition to his Wagnerian roles, he also sang in operas by Mozart, Verdi and Richard Strauss with notable success. He appeared in various contemporary works as well, creating the leading roles in Gerha’s Baal (1981) and Berio’s Un Re in ascolto (1984). In 1979 Theo Adam was made an Austrian Kammersänger. Together with Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, Theo Adam was of the distinguished J.S. Bach’s bass singers from the late 1950’s to the late 1970’s, recording many Bach Cantatas under the baton of Karl Richter.

Source: Mostly Baker’s Biographical Dictionary of 20^th Century Classical Musicians (1997) Contributed by Aryeh Oron (May 2001)
Recordings of Bach Cantatas & Other Vocal Works
Conductor	As	Works
Martin Flämig	Bass	BWV 233-236, BWV 248
Hans Grischkat	Bass	BWV 243
Helmut Koch	Bass	BWV 206
Erhard Mauersberger	Bass	BWV 18, BWV 62, BWV 78, BWV 80, BWV 140, BWV 172, BWV 244
Rudolf Mauersberger	Bass	BWV 232
Karl Richter	Bass	BWV 12, BWV 26, BWV 65, BWV 81, BWV 106, BWV 108, BWV 111, BWV 124, BWV 126, BWV 132, BWV 182
Hans-Joachim Rotzsch	Bass	BWV 68, BWV 79, BWV 80, BWV 137, BWV 172, BWV 192, BWV 244 [Video], BWV 245
Peter Schreier	Bass	BWV 201, BWV 208, BWV 211, BWV 212, BWV 214, BWV 232, BWV 244
Kurt Thomas	Bass	BWV 4, BWV 11, BWV 36c, BWV 59, BWV 68, BWV 71, BWV 111, BWV 140, BWV 201, BWV 211, BWV 212
August Wenzinger	Bass	G.F. Handel: Brockes Passion, HWV 48
Links to other Sites
Theo Adam (Ariadna auf Naxos)			Theo Adam - Opernsänger (Dresden Online) [German]

Short Biographies: A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z | Explanation | Acronyms

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Last update: ýNovember 26, 2008 ý15:16:06