Karl-Heinz Thiemann

Karl-Heinz Thiemann (born 1933 in Herbern (Ascheberg) near Münster, Westfalen), is a German operatic tenor.

Thiemann was born in Münsterland to a musical family.

He worked as a railway official and first appeared as a soloist at various singing clubs.

After a successful audition, he studied singing at the Dortmund Conservatory from 1956 to 1961, majoring in voice with Rudolf Watzke and at the Hochschule für Musik und Tanz Köln with Dietger Jakob.

During his studies he sang the tenor part in Verdi's Requiem in Dortmund in a performance by students of the conservatory.

He had his first engagement at the Theater Koblenz.

There he made his debut 1961 as Florestan in Fidelio.

In his first season he sang there six roles: among others Alvaro in La forza del destino, Turiddu in Cavalleria rusticana, Rinuccio in Gianni Schicchi and Ernesto in Don Pasquale.

In his second season in 1962/1963 he added Belmonte in Die Entführung aus dem Serail (1963), Max in Der Freischütz (1963) for the first time and the title role in Lohengrin for the first time (along with Edeltraud Blanke as Elsa von Brabant).

As Max he was also a guest at the Eutiner Festspiele.

A further engagement followed from 1965 to 1968 as "Jugendlicher Heldentenor" at the Aalto Theatre.

There he took over dramatic roles such as the title role in Andrea Chénier and Hugo von Ringstetten in Undine.

In the 1965/66 season, Thiemann made a guest appearance in April 1966 for the first time as a substitute at the Staatstheater Nürnberg, as Hoffmann in the opera The Tales of Hoffmann.

Thereupon he was engaged by music director, Hans Gierster as guest for the title role in Don Carlos (1966, with Janis Martin as Princess Eboli) to the opera house Nuremberg.

From the 1968/69 season, Thiemann was a permanent member of the Nuremberg Opera House until his retirement at the end of the 1997/98 season.

There, he was one of the "pillars of the house" for decades.

Thiemann's first role in Nuremberg was the title role in Otello (premiere: December 1968, with Catarina Ligendza as Desdemona).

Later he sang this role again in another new production of Otello in Nuremberg.

In 1970 he appeared in Nuremberg for the first time in the role of Max in Der Freischütz (director: Hans-Peter Lehmann).

Further roles of Thiemann in the 1970s were the Emperor in Die Frau ohne Schatten (1973; director: Hans-Peter Lehmann, conductor: Hans Gierster, with Astrid Varnay as Amme), Dimitri in Boris Godunov (1973/74 season; with Dunja Vejzović as Marina and Astrid Varnay as Schenkwirtin), Hermann in The Queen of Spades (Premiere: October 1975; director: Werner Düggelin; musical direction: Hans Gierster), the Prince in Rusalka (Premiere: December 1975; director: Bohumil Herlischka, conductor: Hans Gierster), Tichon in Káťa Kabanová (1977) and Wladimir in Prince Igor (1978).

In the 1970/71 season he sang Lohengrin for the first time at the Nuremberg Opera House, in a production by Hans-Peter Lehmann; he also took on this role in the revival in July 1980.

In May 1971 Thiemann first sang the role of Walter von Stolzing in Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg at the Nuremberg Opera House (director: Hans-Peter Lehmann; revival 1981).

Thiemann was appointed to the Nuremberg Opera House after the retirement of Sebastian Feiersinger (1975), often used as Wagnerian tenor.

At the Nuremberg Opera House he was regarded for decades as the "epitome of the Wagner singer".

In December 1977 he first sang Erik in The Flying Dutchman (conductor: Hans Gierster; director: Luca Ronconi; on his first directing debut in Germany).

(Premiere: April 1978; director: Hansjörg Utzerath with Ursula Wendt-Walther as Desdemona).

In 1978 he sang the role of Loge in Das Rheingold (premiere July 1978; director Hansgünther Heyme, conductor Hans Gierster) in the Nuremberg Ring Cycle, which was abandoned for cost reasons.

In a production by Peter Beauvais, he took on the role of Max again in a new production at the Nuremberg Opera in 1980 (premiere: April 1980; conductor: Hans Gierster.) In September 1971 he sang Herod in Salome for the first time in Nuremberg (among others with Claudia Hellmann and Astrid Varnay as Herodias).

In February 1983 he first sang the title role in Parsifal (director Gert Westphal; musical direction: Hans Gierster).

In October 1983 he made his debut as Siegmund in Die Walküre (premiere October 1983; director: Gerhard Klingenberg; musical direction: Hans Gierster).

From 1986 to 1989 he again sang the role of Stolzing (in a new production by Heinz Lukas-Kindermann; premiere: November 1986).

In the 1989/90 season he sang Lohengrin again in a new production by Ernst Klusen, in a cast alongside Thomas Sunnegardh.

He last sang Stolzing in May 1989.

In the course of his career at the Nuremberg Opera, Thiemann later appeared in the heroic tenor roles in Wagner under the conductor Christian Thielemann: the title roles in Tannhäuser (premiere October 1990 until December 1991) and Tristan und Isolde (premiere March 1992; last in June 1993).

During his time as general music director in Nuremberg, Thielemann used Thiemann in numerous major roles, especially in operas by Richard Wagner, Richard Strauss and Hans Pfitzner.

Thiemann was particularly interested in the music of the 20th century.

In May 1991 he appeared for the last time as Lohengrin.

He later took over the role of Erik again in the 1992/1993 season, from April 1993 in the title role alongside Bent Norup, and in the revivals in 1994 and 1996.

In April 1994 he also sang Erik in the farewell performance of Nuremberg soprano Ursula Wendt-Walther.

In July 1996 he last appeared as Erik.