Karl Ridderbusch
Karl Ridderbusch (29 May 1932 – 21 June 1997) was a German operatic
Background and early career
Karl Ridderbusch was born in
Maturity
Ridderbusch's voice ranged over two octaves,[4] allowing him to sing bass-baritone roles, such as Hans Sachs and Don Pizarro, and not just bass parts.[3] Its qualities have been described as "firm clear sonorous and rich in timbre"[5] and as "magnificently resonant [and] dark-coloured".[3] He was known for his ability to maintain beauty of tone even at his loudest.[4] He also had a formidable stage presence.[5]
Ridderbusch appeared at many of the world's major opera houses, including
Away from Wagner, other parts he sang included Rocco,[5] the Doctor in Wozzeck,[3] Caspar,[5] and Sarastro.[3] Among Ridderbusch's comic roles were Baron Ochs, Kecal, and Dr Bartolo. Although he was successful in these, it was the dramatic roles which he excelled.[5] He was honoured as a Kammersänger by the Vienna State Opera in 1978.[4] He also appeared in the concert hall, especially in sacred choral works.[6] Karl Ridderbusch died at his home in Wels, Austria of heart and liver problems.[4] He married twice and had three children.[3]
Recordings
Several of Karl Ridderbusch's studio recordings were in collaboration with Herbert von Karajan. These include the Ring, Mastersingers, Tristan, "Fidelio", Lohengrin and J. S. Bach's Mass in B minor following performances at the Salzburg Easter Festival. Karl Böhm was another frequent studio partner. Their recordings together include Strauss's Capriccio, Beethoven's 9th Symphony and Mozart's Requiem. Other studio collaborations include the Saint Matthew Passion with Nikolaus Harnoncourt, Leonore with Herbert Blomstedt, and Bruckner's Mass in D minor with Eugen Jochum. Among all these, his obituarists have selected Ridderbusch's portrayal of the goldsmith Veit Pogner, the wealthiest of the Mastersingers,[1] and of the impresario La Roche in Capriccio[3] as his most memorable work in the studio.
Recordings from the Bayreuth Festival include Mastersingers under both Böhm and Silvio Varviso, Dutchman under Böhm, Lohengrin under both Rudolf Kempe and Alberto Erede and Parsifal under both Pierre Boulez and Jochum. Live recordings also exist of Ridderbusch singing another role with which he is associated - that of Baron Ochs in Der Rosenkavalier. Ridderbusch's stage presence survives on two commercial videos; as Fafner in Karajan's filming of his Salzburg Rheingold and as Kecal, the marriage broker, in a German-language version of The Bartered Bride.
Solo recordings include Karl Ridderbusch: a portrait and an eponymous double album, both listed by German vendors, and a
References
- ^ a b c Obituaries, Gramophone, September 1997, p.12
- ^ Barry Millington "Meistersinger von Nürnberg, Die", Laura Macy (ed.) The New Grove Dictionary of Opera, Accessed online 9 November 2009
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Elizabeth Forbes Obituary: Karl Ridderbusch, The Independent Tuesday 8 July 1997, accessed 7 November 2009.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j Aryeh Oron Karl Ridderbusch (bass), Bach Cantatas Website, May 2001, accessed 9 November 2009
- ^ a b c d e f g h Gerhard Brunner "Ridderbusch, Karl" The Grove Book of Opera Singers. Ed Laura Macy. Oxford University Press, 2008. Accessed via Oxford Reference Online 28 October 2008
- ^ a b Profile (in German) and list of appearances at festival Archived 2009-08-03 at the Wayback Machine, Bayreuth Festival website, accessed 13 November 2009
External links
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