Claudia Hellmann is a German contralto

Contralto

Contralto is the deepest female classical singing voice, with the lowest tessitura, falling between tenor and mezzo-soprano. It typically ranges between the F below middle C to the second G above middle C , although at the extremes some voices can reach the E below middle C or the second B above...

 singer in opera and concert.

Biography

Claudia Hellmann studied voice in Berlin with Erika Garski.
She made her operatic debut in 1958 at the Bayreuth Festival

Bayreuth Festival

The Bayreuth Festival is a music festival held annually in Bayreuth, Germany, at which performances of operas by the 19th century German composer Richard Wagner are presented...

 in the parts of Wellgunde in Wagner's Der Ring des Nibelungen

Der Ring des Nibelungen

Der Ring des Nibelungen is a cycle of four epic operas by the German composer Richard Wagner . The works are based loosely on characters from the Norse sagas and the Nibelungenlied...

, 4. Edelknabe in Lohengrin

Lohengrin (opera)

Lohengrin is a romantic opera in three acts composed and written by Richard Wagner, first performed in 1850. The story of the eponymous character is taken from medieval German romance, notably the Parzival of Wolfram von Eschenbach and its sequel, Lohengrin, written by a different author, itself...

and 1. Knappe in Parsifal

Parsifal

Parsifal is an opera in three acts by Richard Wagner. It is loosely based on Wolfram von Eschenbach's Parzival, the 13th century epic poem of the Arthurian knight Parzival and his quest for the Holy Grail, and on Chrétien de Troyes' Perceval, the Story of the Grail.Wagner first conceived the work...

. She sang there annually until 1961, including the part of Waltraute in Götterdämmerung

Götterdämmerung

is the last in Richard Wagner's cycle of four operas titled Der Ring des Nibelungen...

in 1960. She was a member of the State Theatre of Münster

Münster

Münster is an independent city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located in the northern part of the state and is considered to be the cultural centre of the Westphalia region. It is also capital of the local government region Münsterland...

 from 1958 to 1960, the Stuttgart Opera, from 1966 the Opera House of Nürnberg

Nuremberg

Nuremberg[p] is a city in the German state of Bavaria, in the administrative region of Middle Franconia. Situated on the Pegnitz river and the Rhine–Main–Danube Canal, it is located about north of Munich and is Franconia's largest city. The population is 505,664...

, and she returned to Stuttgart in 1975, singing there until 1983.

Claudia Hellmann frequently performed the contralto part in the recordings of Bach

Johann Sebastian Bach

Johann Sebastian Bach was a German composer, organist, harpsichordist, violist, and violinist whose sacred and secular works for choir, orchestra, and solo instruments drew together the strands of the Baroque period and brought it to its ultimate maturity...

's cantatas

Bach cantata

Bach cantata became a term for a cantata of the German Baroque composer Johann Sebastian Bach who was a prolific writer of the genre. Although many of his works are lost, around 200 cantatas survived....

, his Christmas Oratorio

Christmas Oratorio

The Christmas Oratorio BWV 248, is an oratorio by Johann Sebastian Bach intended for performance in church during the Christmas season. It was written for the Christmas season of 1734 incorporating music from earlier compositions, including three secular cantatas written during 1733 and 1734 and a...

and his Easter Oratorio

Easter Oratorio

The Easter Oratorio , BWV 249, is an oratorio by Johann Sebastian Bach, Kommt, eilet und laufet , first performed in Leipzig in 1725.- History :...

with the Heinrich-Schütz-Chor Heilbronn, the Pforzheim Chamber Orchestra

Pforzheim Chamber Orchestra

Pforzheim Chamber Orchestra, full German name: Südwestdeutsches Kammerorchester Pforzheim, full English name South West German Chamber Orchestra Pforzheim, is an internationally known German chamber orchestra based in Pforzheim.- History :...

 and Fritz Werner

Fritz Werner

Fritz Werner was a German choral conductor, church music director, conductor, organist and composer...

. She recorded Bach's Magnificat

Magnificat (Bach)

The Magnificat in D major, BWV 243, is a major vocal work of Johann Sebastian Bach. It was composed for orchestra, a five-part choir and four or five soloists. The text is the canticle of Mary, mother of Jesus, as told by Luke the Evangelist .Bach composed an initial version in E flat major in 1723...

and his Missa in F major

Missa (Bach)

A Missa of Johann Sebastian Bach is in general a composition of the Latin Mass by the German Baroque composer.More specifically, Missa refers to one of his four short masses in F major, A major, G minor and G major, BWV 233 to 236...

with Karl Ristenpart

Karl Ristenpart

Karl Ristenpart was a German conductor.Born in Kiel, Germany, he studied at the Stern Conservatory in Berlin and in Vienna. He was heavily involved in creating three orchestras in his lifetime, most notably the Chamber Orchestra of the Saar. With this group he created one of the recorded...

, the Chorale Philippe Caillard, the Saar Radio Chamber Orchestra, Edith Selig

Edith Selig

Edith Selig is a French classical soprano in concert, opera and Lied, known for singing music of Johann Sebastian Bach and French composers. She has been teaching at the École Normale de Musique de Paris.- Professional career :...

, Georg Jelden, Jakob Stämpfli

Jakob Stämpfli (bass)

Jakob Stämpfli is a Swiss bass concert singer and an influential academic teacher and director of the conservatory in Bern, also a teacher in Saarbrücken.-Biography:...

 and Maurice André

Maurice André

Maurice André is a French trumpeter, active in the classical music field.-Biography:He is a classical virtuoso trumpeter, born in Alès, France in the Cévennes into a mining family. His father was an amateur musician....

 (trumpet) in 1964.

In 1963 she recorded the part of Ismene in Orff's Antigonae with Inge Borkh

Inge Borkh

Inge Borkh is a German soprano.Borkh was born Ingeborg Simon in Mannheim, Germany, in 1921. She was initially an actress and had some training in dance, both of which served her well in opera: she became known both for her voice and for her dramatic intensity - the "singing actress" exemplified,...

 as Antigonae, Keith Engen as Chorführer, Hetty Plümacher as Eurydice, Fritz Uhl

Fritz Uhl

Fritz Uhl was an Austrian operatic tenor, particularly associated with Wagner roles.Born in Matzleinsdorf, near Vienna, he studied in Vienna with Elisabeth Radó, and while still a student toured Holland with an operetta troup...

 as Haemon, and Ernst Haeflinger as Tiresias, Ferdinand Leitner

Ferdinand Leitner

Ferdinand Leitner was a German conductor. Leitner studied under Franz Schreker, Julius Prüwer, Artur Schnabel and Karl Muck. He also was a composition student with Robert Kahn. Starting as a pianist, through the help of Fritz Busch, he became a conductor in the 1930s...

 conducting the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra

Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra

The Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, in German Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks is the internationally renowned orchestra of the Bayerischer Rundfunk , based in Munich, Germany. It is one of the three principal orchestras in the city of Munich, along with the Munich Philharmonic...

 and Choir.

External links

• Claudia Hellmann on the website of the Bayreuth Festival, 1999 (in German)
• Entries for recordings by Claudia Hellmann on WorldCat
  WorldCat
  WorldCat is a union catalog which itemizes the collections of 72,000 libraries in 170 countries and territories which participate in the Online Computer Library Center global cooperative...