Hans Hopf
Encyclopedia
Hans Hopf was a German operatic tenor
, one of the leading heldentenors of the immediate postwar period.
He studied in Munich
with Paul Bender, and made his stage debut with a touring opera ensemble, as Pinkerton
, in 1936. He then sang in Augsburg
(1939–42), Dresden
(1942–43), and Oslo
(1943–44). He joined the Berlin State Opera
in 1946, and the Munich State Opera, in 1949. He appeared in Bayreuth in 1951, as Walther, returning as Siegmund
, Siegfried
, Tannhäuser
, and Parsifal
. His performance at Bayreuth in 1951 was also notable for his remarkable contribution to one of the finest recordings of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony ever committed to disk; under the direction of legendary conductor Wilhelm Furtwängler
. He sang Max
at the Salzburg Festival
in 1954. He made guest appearances in Milan, London, New York and Buenos Aires.
A singer with a sturdy and reliable voice, Hopf also won acclaim in a number of Italian operas notably Verdi's Otello
, and the Emperor in Die Frau ohne Schatten
.
Tenor
The tenor is a type of male singing voice and is the highest male voice within the modal register. The typical tenor voice lies between C3, the C one octave below middle C, to the A above middle C in choral music, and up to high C in solo work. The low extreme for tenors is roughly B2...
, one of the leading heldentenors of the immediate postwar period.
He studied in Munich
Munich
Munich The city's motto is "" . Before 2006, it was "Weltstadt mit Herz" . Its native name, , is derived from the Old High German Munichen, meaning "by the monks' place". The city's name derives from the monks of the Benedictine order who founded the city; hence the monk depicted on the city's coat...
with Paul Bender, and made his stage debut with a touring opera ensemble, as Pinkerton
Madama Butterfly
Madama Butterfly is an opera in three acts by Giacomo Puccini, with an Italian libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa. Puccini based his opera in part on the short story "Madame Butterfly" by John Luther Long, which was dramatized by David Belasco...
, in 1936. He then sang in Augsburg
Augsburg
Augsburg is a city in the south-west of Bavaria, Germany. It is a university town and home of the Regierungsbezirk Schwaben and the Bezirk Schwaben. Augsburg is an urban district and home to the institutions of the Landkreis Augsburg. It is, as of 2008, the third-largest city in Bavaria with a...
(1939–42), Dresden
Dresden
Dresden is the capital city of the Free State of Saxony in Germany. It is situated in a valley on the River Elbe, near the Czech border. The Dresden conurbation is part of the Saxon Triangle metropolitan area....
(1942–43), and Oslo
Oslo
Oslo is a municipality, as well as the capital and most populous city in Norway. As a municipality , it was established on 1 January 1838. Founded around 1048 by King Harald III of Norway, the city was largely destroyed by fire in 1624. The city was moved under the reign of Denmark–Norway's King...
(1943–44). He joined the Berlin State Opera
Berlin State Opera
The Staatsoper Unter den Linden is a German opera company. Its permanent home is the opera house on the Unter den Linden boulevard in the Mitte district of Berlin, which also hosts the Staatskapelle Berlin orchestra.-Early years:...
in 1946, and the Munich State Opera, in 1949. He appeared in Bayreuth in 1951, as Walther, returning as Siegmund
Die Walküre
Die Walküre , WWV 86B, is the second of the four operas that form the cycle Der Ring des Nibelungen , by Richard Wagner...
, Siegfried
Siegfried (opera)
Siegfried is the third of the four operas that constitute Der Ring des Nibelungen , by Richard Wagner. It received its premiere at the Bayreuth Festspielhaus on 16 August 1876, as part of the first complete performance of The Ring...
, Tannhäuser
Tannhäuser (opera)
Tannhäuser is an opera in three acts, music and text by Richard Wagner, based on the two German legends of Tannhäuser and the song contest at Wartburg...
, and 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...
. His performance at Bayreuth in 1951 was also notable for his remarkable contribution to one of the finest recordings of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony ever committed to disk; under the direction of legendary conductor Wilhelm Furtwängler
Wilhelm Furtwängler
Wilhelm Furtwängler was a German conductor and composer. He is widely considered to have been one of the greatest symphonic and operatic conductors of the 20th century. By the 1930s he had built a reputation as one of the leading conductors in Europe, and he was the leading conductor who remained...
. He sang Max
Der Freischütz
Der Freischütz is an opera in three acts by Carl Maria von Weber with a libretto by Friedrich Kind. It premiered on 18 June 1821 at the Schauspielhaus Berlin...
at the Salzburg Festival
Salzburg Festival
The Salzburg Festival is a prominent festival of music and drama established in 1920. It is held each summer within the Austrian town of Salzburg, the birthplace of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart...
in 1954. He made guest appearances in Milan, London, New York and Buenos Aires.
A singer with a sturdy and reliable voice, Hopf also won acclaim in a number of Italian operas notably Verdi's Otello
Otello
Otello is an opera in four acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Arrigo Boito, based on Shakespeare's play Othello. It was Verdi's penultimate opera, and was first performed at the Teatro alla Scala, Milan, on February 5, 1887....
, and the Emperor in Die Frau ohne Schatten
Die Frau ohne Schatten
Die Frau ohne Schatten is an opera in three acts by Richard Strauss with a libretto by his long-time collaborator, the poet Hugo von Hofmannsthal. It was written between 1911 and either 1915 or 1917...
.
Selected recordings
- Der FreischützDer FreischützDer Freischütz is an opera in three acts by Carl Maria von Weber with a libretto by Friedrich Kind. It premiered on 18 June 1821 at the Schauspielhaus Berlin...
- Hans Hopf, Elisabeth GrümmerElisabeth GrümmerElisabeth Schilz Grümmer was a German operatic lyric soprano.She was born at Niederjeutz, near Diedenhofen, Alsace-Lorraine to German parents...
, Rita StreichRita StreichRita Streich , was one of the most admired and recorded sopranos of the post-war period.Rita Streich was born in Barnaul in Russia, and moved to Germany with her parents during her childhood. She grew up bilingual, something that was extremely helpful during her later career...
, Alfred Poell, Kurt BöhmeKurt BöhmeKurt Böhme was a German bass.He was born in Dresden, Germany, where he studied with Adolf Kluge at the Dresden Conservatory. He made his debut in 1930 in Bautzen as Kaspar, one of his most important roles further on...
- Cologne Radio Chorus and Orchestra, Erich KleiberErich KleiberErich Kleiber was an Austrian conductor.- Biography :Born in Vienna, Kleiber studied in Prague...
- Cantus Classic (1955) - Il trovatoreIl trovatoreIl trovatore is an opera in four acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Salvadore Cammarano, based on the play El Trovador by Antonio García Gutiérrez. Cammarano died in mid-1852 before completing the libretto...
- Hans Hopf, Christel GoltzChristel GoltzChristel Goltz was a German operatic soprano. One of the leading dramatic sopranos of her generation, she possessed a rich voice with a brilliant range and intensity...
, Ira MalaniukIra MalaniukIra Malaniuk , was an Austrian operatic contralto of Ukrainian descent, who sang a wide range of roles from Mozart to contemporary works.Malaniuk was born in Stanyslaviv, Second Polish Republic. She studied first in Lviv with Adam Didur, and later in Vienna with Anna Bahr-Mildenburg. She made her...
, Josef MetternichJosef MetternichJosef Metternich was a German operatic baritone.Metternich was born in Hermühlheim, near Cologne, he studied in Cologne and Berlin, and sang with the Cologne and Bonn choruses, before making his solo debut in 1941 with the Berlin State Opera in Lohengrin, but his career was delayed by the war, it...
, Wilhelm Schirp - Cologne Radio Chorus and Orchestra, Ferenc FricsayFerenc FricsayFerenc Fricsay was a Hungarian conductor. From 1960 until his death, he was an Austrian citizen.Fricsay was born in Budapest in 1914 and studied music under Béla Bartók, Zoltán Kodály, Ernst von Dohnányi, and Leo Weiner. Fricsay had a meteoric rise to fame, making his first appearance as a...
- Cantus Classic (sung in German, 1953) - Vespri siciliani - Hilde ZadekHilde ZadekHilde Zadek is a German operatic soprano.After her hometown became Polish after World War I, her parents moved to Stettin in 1920, where Zadek spent her youth; however as a Jew she was forced to leave Germany in 1934, and settled in then Palestine, where she worked as a nurse in Jerusalem, while...
, Hans Hopf, Dietrich Fischer-DieskauDietrich Fischer-DieskauDietrich Fischer-Dieskau is a retired German lyric baritone and conductor of classical music, one of the most famous lieder performers of the post-war period and "one of the supreme vocal artists of the 20th century"...
, Gottlob FrickGottlob FrickGottlob Frick was a German bass who sang in opera. He was known for his wide repertory including Wagner and Mozart roles, as well as those of Nicolai and Lortzing.-Career:...
- Cologne Radio Chorus and Orchestra, Mario RossiMario RossiMario Rossi was an Italian conductor, noted for his solid and meticulous readings of a repertory ranging from Italian classics to Russian moderns such as Prokoffiev, to the German operatic classicist Christoph Willibald Gluck.He studied composition in Rome with Respighi and conducting with Giacomo...
- Cantus Classic (sung in German, 1955) - OtelloOtelloOtello is an opera in four acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Arrigo Boito, based on Shakespeare's play Othello. It was Verdi's penultimate opera, and was first performed at the Teatro alla Scala, Milan, on February 5, 1887....
- Hans Hopf, Annelies KupperAnnelies KupperAnnelies Kupper , was a German operatic soprano, particularly associated with Mozart and the German repertory....
, Ferdinand FrantzFerdinand FrantzFerdinand Frantz , was a German operatic bass-baritone. He was well known in his time for his performances in the operas of Richard Wagner....
- Munich Radio Chorus and Orchestra, Eugen JochumEugen JochumEugen Jochum was an eminent German conductor.Born in Babenhausen, near Augsburg, Germany, Jochum studied the piano and organ in Augsburg until 1922. He then studied conducting in Munich...
- Wallhall Eternity (sung in German, 1955) - ToscaToscaTosca is an opera in three acts by Giacomo Puccini to an Italian libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa. It premiered at the Teatro Costanzi in Rome on 14 January 1900...
- Leonie RysanekLeonie RysanekLeopoldine "Leonie" Rysanek was an Austrian dramatic soprano.-Biography:Rysanek was born in Vienna and made her operatic debut in 1949 in Innsbruck. In 1951 the Bayreuth Festival reopened and the new leader Wieland Wagner asked her to sing Sieglinde...
, Hans Hopf, Josef MetternichJosef MetternichJosef Metternich was a German operatic baritone.Metternich was born in Hermühlheim, near Cologne, he studied in Cologne and Berlin, and sang with the Cologne and Bonn choruses, before making his solo debut in 1941 with the Berlin State Opera in Lohengrin, but his career was delayed by the war, it...
- Bavarian Radio Chorus and Orchestra, Richard Kraus - Cantus Classic (sung in German, 1953) - TurandotTurandotTurandot is an opera in three acts by Giacomo Puccini, set to a libretto in Italian by Giuseppe Adami and Renato Simoni.Though Puccini's first interest in the subject was based on his reading of Friedrich Schiller's adaptation of the play, his work is most nearly based on the earlier text Turandot...
- Christel GoltzChristel GoltzChristel Goltz was a German operatic soprano. One of the leading dramatic sopranos of her generation, she possessed a rich voice with a brilliant range and intensity...
, Hans Hopf, Teresa Stich-RandallTeresa Stich-RandallTeresa Stich-Randall was a European-based American soprano opera singer.-Biography:Teresa Stich-Randall was born in New Hartford, Connecticut in 1927 and studied at The Hartt School in West Hartford....
, Wilhelm Schirp - Cologne Radio Chorus and Orchestra, Georg SoltiGeorg SoltiSir Georg Solti, KBE, was a Hungarian-British orchestral and operatic conductor. He was a major classical recording artist, holding the record for having received the most Grammy Awards, having personally won 31 as a conductor, including the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. In addition to his...
- Cantus Classic (sung in German, 1956)
Sources
- Grove Music Online, Harold Rosenthal, May 2008.