Theo Adam

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This article is about the opera singer. For the comic-book character, see Black Adam.

Theo Adam is a distinguished bass-baritone opera singer, born on August 1, 1926, in Dresden, Germany. Rudolf Dietrich was his voice teacher between 1946 and 1949. He debuted in his native city in 1949, as the Hermit in Der Freischütz. He appeared at the Bayreuth Festival (from 1952) and the Metropolitan Opera.

At the Met, the bass-baritone debuted as Hans Sachs in Die Meistersinger, conducted by Joseph Rosenstock, in 1969. Through 1972, he also sang in performances of Der Ring des Nibelungen (as Wotan), opposite Birgit Nilsson and Jon Vickers, conducted and directed by Herbert von Karajan. In 1988, Adam returned to that company, in Die Walküre, with Peter Hofmann as Siegmund conducted by James Levine. In 1979, the artist was named a Kammersänger.

His discography includes Così fan tutte (1969), Fidelio (1969 and 1979), Der fliegende Holländer (with Anja Silja, conducted by Otto Klemperer, 1968), Der Freischütz (1973 and 1985), Hänsel und Gretel (1970), Leonore (with Edda Moser and Richard Cassilly, 1976), Die Meistersinger (conducted by von Karajan, 1970), Parsifal (as Amfortas, opposite René Kollo, 1975), Der Ring des Nibelungen (conducted by Karl Böhm, 1966-67, and by Marek Janowski, 1980-1983), Tannhäuser (1968-69), Wozzeck (1974), and Die Zauberflöte (as Sarastro, 1968). Also notable is the recording of the premiere of Berio's Un re in ascolto (with Karan Armstrong, led by Lorin Maazel, 1984).

On DVD is found Adam's 1968 Hamburg film of Fidelio, with Cassilly, Silja and Lucia Popp.

[edit] References

Hamilton, David. (1987). The Metropolitan Opera Encyclopedia: A Comprehensive Guide to the World of Opera. New York, London, Toronto, Sydney, Tokyo: Simon and Schuster. p. 12. ISBN 0-671-61732-X.
Rosenthal, Harold and John Warrack. (1979, 2nd ed.). The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Opera. London, New York and Melbourne: Oxford University Press. p. 2. ISBN 0-19-311318-X.
Sadie, Stanley and Christina Bashford. (1992). The New Grove Dictionary of Opera. London: Macmillan Publishers Ltd. Vol. 1, p. 16. ISBN 0-935859-92-6.
Sadie, Stanley and John Tyrrell. (2001). The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians. London: Macmillan Publishers Ltd. Vol. 1, p. 134. ISBN 0-333-60800-3.
Warrack, John and Ewan West. (1996 3rd ed.). The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Opera. New York: Oxford University Press. p. 2. ISBN 0-19-280028-0.