Toni Blankenheim is a German opera

Opera

Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...

tic baritone

Baritone

Baritone is a type of male singing voice that lies between the bass and tenor voices. It is the most common male voice. Originally from the Greek , meaning deep sounding, music for this voice is typically written in the range from the second F below middle C to the F above middle C Baritone (or...

. He notably sang the role of Schigolch in the 1981 recording of Alban Berg

Alban Berg

Alban Maria Johannes Berg was an Austrian composer. He was a member of the Second Viennese School with Arnold Schoenberg and Anton Webern, and produced compositions that combined Mahlerian Romanticism with a personal adaptation of Schoenberg's twelve-tone technique.-Early life:Berg was born in...

's Lulu which won a Grammy Award for Best Opera Recording

Grammy Award for Best Opera Recording

The Grammy Award for Best Opera Recording has been awarded since 1961. The award was originally titled Best Classical Opera Production. The current title has been used since 1962....

. He is also on record singing the role of Alberich at Bayreuth

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...

. His memorable Beckmesser with the Hamburg State Opera has been preserved and is available on DVD. This performance is evidence of Blankenheim's charismatic stage presence and acting gifts.

Sources

• Cummings, David (ed.), "Blankenheim, Toni", International Who's Who in Classical Music, Routledge, 2003. p. 77. ISBN 185743174X