Gabriele Schnaut

This is a good article. Click here for more information.
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Gabriele Schnaut
Universität der Künste
TitleKammersängerin
AwardsBavarian Order of Merit

Gabriele Schnaut (24 February 1951 – 19 June 2023) was a German classical singer who started her operatic career as a

Jenufa
.

She performed and recorded works by composers of the 20th century and appeared in the world premieres of operas by Wolfgang Rihm and Jörg Widmann. She portrayed her roles with "dramatic conviction".[1]

Life and career

Born in

Studienstiftung des deutschen Volkes. She achieved, together with Uta-Maria Flake, a first prize at the 1975 Deutscher Musikwettbewerb in Bonn.[3]

Mezzo-soprano

Schnaut's first permanent engagement was as a

Hänsel und Gretel, and became a member of the ensemble.[3]

In 1977 Schnaut performed at the Bayreuth Festival for the first time, singing Waltraute and the Second Norn in the Jahrhundertring staged by Patrice Chéreau and conducted by Pierre Boulez.[4][5] She appeared in these roles in its filmed version Der Ring des Nibelungen.[6] She performed at the festival in 1980 as Wellgunde in Götterdämmerung, and in 1985 as Venus in Tannhäuser and the Third Norn.[4]

Schnaut was a member of the

Nationaltheater Mannheim from 1980, where she performed the role of Ophelia in the premiere of Wolfgang Rihm's Die Hamletmaschine.[4] She performed Marie in Alban Berg's Wozzeck in an authorised version, which was a step on her way into the soprano range.[3]

Soprano

In private study with Hanne-Lore Kuhse in East Berlin, Schnaut developed to a dramatic soprano.[7] She travelled once a month for several days of training.[3] In 1985 she sang the title role of Wagner's Tristan und Isolde at the Theater Dortmund.[4] She portrayed major roles at the Bayreuth Festival, in 1986 Sieglinde in Die Walküre, and in 1987 as Ortrud in Lohengrin.[4] In 1988 she appeared as Isolde at the Hamburgische Staatsoper in the production by Ruth Berghaus which was her international breakthrough.[8][9]

From 1988 she was a member of the Deutsche Oper am Rhein,[4] from 1995 a member of the Hamburgische Staatsoper, and then at the Bayerische Staatsoper.[5] She made her debut in Munich in 1982 as Marie in Wozzeck.[10] In 1992 she appeared on the occasion of the Summer Olympics in Barcelona, both as Venus in Wagner's Tannhäuser in a Hamburg production staged by Harry Kupfer,[11] and in the role of Waldvogel in Arnold Schönberg's Gurre-Lieder.[7] In 1994 she appeared at La Scala in the title role of Elektra by Richard Strauss and as Brünnhilde in Die Walküre. She made her debut at the Metropolitan Opera in New York City in 1996 as Brünnhilde.[4][12] Reviewer Allan Kozinn from The New York Times wrote about her performance, with Plácido Domingo as Siegmund, Deborah Voigt as Sieglinde, Robert Hale as Wotan, and conducted by James Levine:

"Gabriele Schnaut, a German soprano making her Met debut as Brünnhilde, gave a performance that was not unblemished vocally, but her characterization was so finely detailed that one happily overlooked the few flaws. Ms. Schnaut's Brünnhilde undergoes a real transformation: she is unusually spirited in her second-act discussions with Wotan, thoroughly regal at the start of her encounter with Siegmund and disconsolate, but not entirely repentant, in the finale, when she is condemned to life as a mortal."[13]

She performed as Kundry in Wagner's Parsifal at the Wiener Staatsoper from 1996.[14] In Hamburg she sang both the Nurse and the Dyer's Wife in Die Frau ohne Schatten by Richard Strauss.[11] In Munich, she appeared as Elektra in a production staged by Herbert Wernicke, identifying with the role.[10] In 2000, she was Brünnhilde in Der Ring des Nibelungen at the Bayreuth Festival.[4] She performed the title roles of Puccini's Tosca[5] and Turandot, recorded on DVD at the Salzburg Festival in 2002.[15]

In 1997, the magazine Die Deutsche Bühne named her "the only real dramatic singer-actor of our time ("die einzige, echte hochdramatische Sängerdarstellerin unserer Zeit"), for her "impressive stage presence, based on scenic detailed work and psychological insight in her characters".[16]

Character roles

Schnaut changed to

character roles in the mezzo-soprano range from 2008.[9] In Munich she appeared as Emilia Marty in Janáček's Věc Makropulos and mezzo roles Klytämnestra in Elektra and Herodias in Salome. In 2006 she sang the premiere of Wolfgang Rihm's Das Gehege,[11] a monodrama commissioned by the State Opera to be combined in a double bill with Salome, both directed by William Friedkin.[17]

Schnaut appeared as Euphrat in the world premiere of Jörg Widmann's

Aufstieg und Fall der Stadt Mahagonny, and a reviewer noted that she "sang with relish and dramatic conviction and the rough quality of her aging voice was an excellent match for hard-edged sentimentality of Weill's music".[1] In 2019 she portrayed Herodias at the Deutsche Oper Berlin as a distinctive character profile.[9]

Teaching

Schnaut was a professor of voice at the

Universität der Künste in Berlin between 2005 and 2014.[9]

Personal life

The last residence of Schnaut and her husband Walter Knirim was Rottach-Egern.[10]

Schnaut died on 19 June 2023,[20] at age 72, after a short severe illness.[10][8]

Recordings

In the 1970s, Schnaut recorded with

BWV 114).[21] She appears as Waltraute and Second Norn in the film of the Jahrhundertring, filmed in 1980.[6] In 1988 she recorded works by Paul Hindemith conducted by Gerd Albrecht, namely the role of Die Dame in Cardillac with Siegmund Nimsgern in the title role,[22] and the role of the Woman in Mörder, Hoffnung der Frauen with Franz Grundheber as the Man.[23] In 1989 she recorded Schreker's Der Schatzgräber, possibly the first recording of the opera, with Josef Protschka in the title role, again conducted by Albrecht.[24]

Schnaut recorded Leonore in Beethoven's Fidelio with Christoph von Dohnányi (1990). A review devotes a paragraph to her performance, noting:

Her vocal acting is excellent: an example is her eruption after the on-stage plotting ... She starts with steady, controlled recitative before moving into her truly dramatic soprano with some fairly horrible leaps which she hits well. If there is a suggestion of a lack of vocal strength in her lower register and a slight diminishing of tonal beauty on high, it is more than made up for by her evenness of head to chest transfers, her assurance of vocal line and the believable drama with which she invests the role.[25]

Schnaut recorded Brünnhilde in Die Walküre with Dohnányi and the Cleveland Orchestra for Decca. Alan Blyth wrote:

Bright and forceful in her war cry, she shows suitable concern at her father's distress, is wise and dignified in her colloquy with Siegmund, the phrase starting "So wenig achtest du" as inward as it should be. In Act 3 her appeal to Wotan "War es so schmählich?" is lovingly projected ... Even better is the phrase later in the scene, "zu lieben, was du geliebt", where Schnaut's basically bright tone takes on a softer timbre.[26]

Schnaut appeared as Iocaste in Stravinsky's Oedipus Rex with Paavo Järvi,[27] Ortrud in Lohengrin on a DVD of the Bayreuth Festival with Peter Schneider (1990) and Puccini's Turandot on a DVD of the Salzburg Festival with Valery Gergiev (2002).[15]

Awards

Schnaut was honoured with the title Kammersängerin in Hamburg in 1995.[28] In 2003 she was appointed a Bavarian Kammersängerin by the Bavarian Minister of Culture Hans Zehetmair.[29] She was also a recipient of the Bavarian Order of Merit.[30]

References

  1. ^ a b Goldmann, A. J. (6 June 2014). "Aufstieg und Fall der Stadt Mahagonny". metguild.org. Archived from the original on 21 June 2023. Retrieved 21 June 2023.
  2. ^ a b "Gabriele Schnaut gestorben". Wiener Zeitung (in German). 20 June 2023. Archived from the original on 20 June 2023. Retrieved 20 June 2023.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g "Gabriele Schnaut – eine "feurige" Brünnhilde. Zu Gast beim IBS" (PDF). opernfreundemuenchen.de (in German). Retrieved 25 July 2023.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j "Gabriele Schnaut" (in German). Bayreuth Festival. Archived from the original on 15 August 2017. Retrieved 9 December 2013.
  5. ^ a b c "Gabriele Schnaut". Bavarian State Opera. Archived from the original on 13 December 2013. Retrieved 10 December 2013.
  6. ^ a b "Der Ring des Nibelungen". wagnerdiscography.com. Archived from the original on 21 October 2013. Retrieved 11 December 2013.
  7. ^ a b Wördehoff, Bernhard (24 July 1992). "Eine Stimme auf dem Olymp / Gabriele Schnaut gilt als neuer Stern am Opernhimmel. In Barcelona sang sie die Venus im vorolympischen "Tannhäuser"" (in German). Die Zeit. Archived from the original on 29 September 2013. Retrieved 14 December 2013.
  8. ^ a b Stäbler, Marcus (20 June 2023). "Sopranistin Gabriele Schnaut ist tot: Das Böse auf der Bühne". NDR (in German). Archived from the original on 24 July 2023. Retrieved 20 June 2023.
  9. ^ a b c d "Im Gedenken an Gabriele Schnaut" (in German). Deutsche Oper Berlin. Archived from the original on 21 June 2023. Retrieved 21 June 2023.
  10. ^ a b c d Krasting, Malte. "Zum Tod von Gabriele Schnaut" (in German). Bavarian State Opera. Archived from the original on 20 June 2023. Retrieved 21 June 2023.
  11. ^ a b c "Gabriele Schnaut" (in German). Hamburgische Staatsoper. Archived from the original on 13 December 2013. Retrieved 13 December 2013.
  12. ^ "Performances with Gabriele Schnaut". Metropolitan Opera. 2023. Retrieved 25 July 2023.
  13. ^ Kozinn, Allan (2023). "A "Walküre" With Domingo at the Met". The New York Times. Retrieved 25 July 2023.
  14. ^ "Parsifal" (in German). Wiener Staatsoper. Archived from the original on 13 December 2013. Retrieved 13 December 2013.
  15. ^
    Naxos. Archived
    from the original on 1 September 2015. Retrieved 11 December 2013.
  16. ^ Dielitz, Alexandra Maria (20 June 2023). "Hochdramatisch, aber keine Diva". BR. Retrieved 25 July 2023.
  17. ^ Ashley, Tim (3 November 2006). "Das Gehege/Salome, Nationaltheater, Munich". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 24 July 2023. Retrieved 13 December 2013.
  18. ^ Mauró, Helmut (28 October 2012). "Jubel für den babylonischen Untergang" (in German). Süddeutsche Zeitung. Archived from the original on 18 January 2014. Retrieved 13 December 2013.
  19. ^ Luster, Gabriele (8 March 2013). ""Jenufa" – Tragödie unter Strom" (in German). Münchner Merkur. Archived from the original on 13 December 2013. Retrieved 13 December 2013.
  20. ^ "Zum Tod von Gabriele Schnaut". Vienna State Opera (in German). 20 June 2023. Archived from the original on 24 July 2023. Retrieved 20 June 2023.
  21. ^ "Gabriele Schnaut (Soprano, Mezzo-soprano)". Bach Cantatas Website. Archived from the original on 11 May 2013. Retrieved 9 December 2013.
  22. ^ "Sound Recordings (Cardillac op. 39)". Fondation Hindemith. Archived from the original on 13 December 2013. Retrieved 13 December 2013.
  23. ^ "Mörder Hoffnung der Frauen. Paul Hindemith". Oxford Journals. Retrieved 13 December 2013.[dead link]
  24. ^ Clements, Andrew (12 December 2013). "Schreker: Der Schatzgräber – review". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 13 December 2013. Retrieved 13 December 2013.
  25. ^ McKechnie, Robert (1991). "Ludwig van Beethoven (1770–1827) / Fidelio". musicweb-international.com. Archived from the original on 29 August 2013. Retrieved 11 December 2013.
  26. ^ Blyth, Alan (October 1997). "Wagner Walküre". Gramophone. Retrieved 20 June 2023.
  27. ^ "Stravinsky – Oedipus Rex". RTS (in French). 24 February 2011. Archived from the original on 21 June 2023. Retrieved 21 June 2023.
  28. ^ "Frau Kammersängerin". Die Tageszeitung (in German). Berlin. 6 May 1995. Archived from the original on 26 December 2021. Retrieved 1 May 2020.
  29. ^ Deutsches Bühnen-Jahrbuch (in German). F. A. Günther & Sohn. 2004. p. 889. Archived from the original on 24 July 2023. Retrieved 7 November 2016.
  30. ^ "Gabriele Schnaut, Bayerische Kammersängerin, GND: 133658627" (in German). Bavarian Order of Merit database. Archived from the original on 18 September 2020. Retrieved 12 December 2013.

External links

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Gabriele_Schnaut&oldid=1191208221"