# Hermann Uhde

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{{short description|German opera singer}}

'''Hermann Uhde''' (July 20, 1914 – October 10, 1965) was a [German](/source/German_people) Wagnerian [bass-baritone](/source/bass-baritone). He was born in [Bremen](/source/Bremen_(city)) and died on stage of a heart attack during a performance in [Copenhagen](/source/Copenhagen).

He studied in his hometown, where he gave his début in 1936. During the war, he sang in [Munich](/source/Munich) and at the opera of [The Hague](/source/The_Hague) (then occupied by German troops). He sang at the [Salzburg Festival](/source/Salzburg_Festival) from 1949 on (singing the role of Kreon in the premiere of [Carl Orff](/source/Carl_Orff)'s ''Antigonae''), at the [Bayreuth Festival](/source/Bayreuth_Festival) from 1951 on and at the [Metropolitan Opera](/source/Metropolitan_Opera) from 1955 to 1964.

He began as a low, dark bass, and later moved up to baritone. He continued singing low bass roles occasionally, such as the Grand Inquisitor from ''[Don Carlos](/source/Don_Carlos)''.

The cutting quality of his voice and diction lead to him being cast in villainous roles at the [Bayreuth Festival](/source/Bayreuth_Festival), such as [Telramund](/source/Lohengrin_(opera)) and [Klingsor](/source/Parsifal_(opera)), or in morally ambiguous roles such as [Wotan](/source/Das_Rheingold), [Gunther](/source/Gotterdammerung) or the title role in ''[Flying Dutchman](/source/The_Flying_Dutchman_(opera))''.  In spite of being a famous singer, he often also sang small roles such as Donner in ''[Das Rheingold](/source/Das_Rheingold)'', Melot in  ''[Tristan und Isolde](/source/Tristan_und_Isolde)'', the Grand Inquisitor in ''[Don Carlos](/source/Don_Carlos)'', and Shchelkalov in  ''[Boris Godunov](/source/Boris_Godunov_(opera))''. In the United States, he created a sensation at the Metropolitan Opera in his debut title role as Wozzeck (sung in English), with [Eleanor Steber](/source/Eleanor_Steber) singing Marie.

==Selected discography==
*''Parsifal'' - [Hans Knappertsbusch](/source/Hans_Knappertsbusch), 1951
*''Das Rheingold'' - [Joseph Keilberth](/source/Joseph_Keilberth), 1952
*''Götterdämmerung'' - [Clemens Krauss](/source/Clemens_Krauss), 1953
*''Arabella'' - [Rudolf Kempe](/source/Rudolf_Kempe), 1953 live performance Mandryka
*''Lohengrin''- [Joseph Keilberth](/source/Joseph_Keilberth), 1953; also [Eugen Jochum](/source/Eugen_Jochum), 1954.
*''Der Fliegende Holländer''- [Hans Knappertsbusch](/source/Hans_Knappertsbusch), 1955
*''Das Rheingold'' and ''Siegfried'' - [Rudolf Kempe](/source/Rudolf_Kempe), 1960
*"A Portrait of Hermann Uhde" - Gala, catalogue number 100.749

== External links ==
*[http://www.cantabile-subito.de/Bass-Baritones/Uhde__Hermann/hauptteil_uhde__hermann.html Biography with pictures]
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YC7CwEFQNQE The Flying Dutchman, YouTube]
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zC-zRD6KiH8 Lohengrin (with Astrid Varnay), YouTube]

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Uhde, Hermann}}
Category:German operatic bass-baritones
Category:1914 births
Category:1965 deaths
Category:Musicians who died on stage
Category:Musicians from Bremen (city)
Category:20th-century German male opera singers

{{Germany-opera-singer-stub}}

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Hermann Uhde](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hermann_Uhde) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hermann_Uhde?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.