Heinrich Knote
Heinrich Knote (26 November 1870 – 15 January 1953) was an outstanding German dramatic tenor with an international reputation.
Born in
Gradually Knote's voice, which had begun as a light lyric tenor, grew in size and stamina. By 1900, he was able to undertake Manrico in
The seeds of Knote's international reputation as a top-flight exponent of Wagnerian operatic parts were planted in 1901 when he sang for the first time at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden. Although his debut season was not an unqualified success, he showed considerable promise, and he was invited back by Covent Garden's management, appearing there again in 1903, 1907–08, and 1913. During these subsequent Covent Garden seasons he sang even more impressively than he had during his first London season, and was now much admired in the Wagnerian roles of Tristan, Siegfried, Tannhauser, Erik, Walther and Lohengrin.
Knote made his
Surprisingly enough, Knote never sang at the
He retired from the operatic stage in Munich in 1932 and taught singing. At the age of 82, he died in Garmisch-Partenkirchen.
Knote had a handsome stage presence and possessed a strong, smooth, resonant voice with a lively, but rarely intrusive, vibrato. He was additionally praised by music critics of the day for the clarity of his diction. Vocal historians regard him as being one of Germany's best ever Wagnerian tenors.
Recordings
Knote made a large number of recordings of operatic arias from circa 1906 to 1930. Some of these are available on CD transfers.
References
- David Ewen, Encyclopedia of the Opera: New Enlarged Edition. New York; Hill and Wang, 1963.
- Michael Scott, The Record of Singing, Volume 1. London; Duckworth, 1977.
- Harold Rosenthal and John Warrack, The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Opera, Second Edition. Oxford University Press, 1979.
