Siegfried Jerusalem
Encyclopedia
Siegfried Jerusalem is a German opera
tic tenor
. Closely identified with the heldentenor roles of Wagner
, he has performed Siegfried, Siegmund, Lohengrin, Parsifal and Tristan to wide acclaim. Since the 1990s, he has focused on lied
er, particularly those by Strauss
, Mahler
and Schumann
.
, and studied piano, violin and bassoon at the Folkwangschule in Essen
. He began his career as bassoonist, being engaged in Hof
in 1961 and for the next ten years in Reutlingen
: from 1971-77 he was attached to the Radio Symphony Orchestra of the South-German Radio in Stuttgart
. In 1971 he also began taking voice lessons with Hertha Kalcher of Stuttgart. In 1975, when due to perform in the orchestra of a television production of Der Zigeunerbaron
, he stood in for the tenor Franco Bonisolli
at the last minute.
at Stuttgart. His Bayreuth career opened in 1977, where by 1981 he had performed Froh (Das Rheingold
), the Young Sailor (Tristan und Isolde
) and then Lohengrin, Parsifal
and Walter von Stolzing (Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg
).
His Parsifal was also heard in Vienna at that time, and his Siegmund (Die Walküre
) (with Jessye Norman
, Theo Adam
and Yvonne Minton
) in Dresden (1981). In addition to stage appearances he gave various concert performances which, like the Dresden Walküre or the Rome Lohengrin were broadcast internationally. From 1978 he became a regular member of the German Opera in Berlin, and had permanent contract with the companies in Stuttgart, Zürich, Munich and Vienna as well as making international guest appearances.
His Bayreuth
career continued with Siegfried in 1988 (Siegfried
) and 1989 (Götterdämmerung
). In 1990 he appeared at the Metropolitan Opera
with James Levine
, singing both Siegfrieds, as well as the difficult role of Loge. The production was televised, and is available on DVD. In 1993 he debuted as Tristan at the Bayreuth Festival, and took the role to most of the major houses in Europe.
.
at the Met
, Daniel Barenboim
and Pierre Boulez
at Bayreuth, and others made in the 1980s and 1990s.
Jerusalem has also made an attempt at some crossover music in two albums The Glory of Love (1996) and Avalon (2002).
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 tenor
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...
. Closely identified with the heldentenor roles of Wagner
Richard Wagner
Wilhelm Richard Wagner was a German composer, conductor, theatre director, philosopher, music theorist, poet, essayist and writer primarily known for his operas...
, he has performed Siegfried, Siegmund, Lohengrin, Parsifal and Tristan to wide acclaim. Since the 1990s, he has focused on lied
Lied
is a German word literally meaning "song", usually used to describe romantic songs setting German poems of reasonably high literary aspirations, especially during the nineteenth century, beginning with Carl Loewe, Heinrich Marschner, and Franz Schubert and culminating with Hugo Wolf...
er, particularly those by Strauss
Richard Strauss
Richard Georg Strauss was a leading German composer of the late Romantic and early modern eras. He is known for his operas, which include Der Rosenkavalier and Salome; his Lieder, especially his Four Last Songs; and his tone poems and orchestral works, such as Death and Transfiguration, Till...
, Mahler
Gustav Mahler
Gustav Mahler was a late-Romantic Austrian composer and one of the leading conductors of his generation. He was born in the village of Kalischt, Bohemia, in what was then Austria-Hungary, now Kaliště in the Czech Republic...
and Schumann
Robert Schumann
Robert Schumann, sometimes known as Robert Alexander Schumann, was a German composer, aesthete and influential music critic. He is regarded as one of the greatest and most representative composers of the Romantic era....
.
Beginnings
Siegfried Jerusalem was born at OberhausenOberhausen
Oberhausen is a city on the river Emscher in the Ruhr Area, Germany, located between Duisburg and Essen . The city hosts the International Short Film Festival Oberhausen and its Gasometer Oberhausen is an anchor point of the European Route of Industrial Heritage. It is also well known for the...
, and studied piano, violin and bassoon at the Folkwangschule in Essen
Essen
- Origin of the name :In German-speaking countries, the name of the city Essen often causes confusion as to its origins, because it is commonly known as the German infinitive of the verb for the act of eating, and/or the German noun for food. Although scholars still dispute the interpretation of...
. He began his career as bassoonist, being engaged in Hof
Hof
Hof may refer to:In places:* Hof, Germany, a city in Bavaria, Germany** Hof , a district in Bavaria* Hof, Rhineland-Palatinate, a municipality in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany* Hof, Iceland, a small village in Iceland...
in 1961 and for the next ten years in Reutlingen
Reutlingen
Reutlingen is a city in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is the capital of the eponymous district of Reutlingen. As of April 2008, it has a population of 109,828....
: from 1971-77 he was attached to the Radio Symphony Orchestra of the South-German Radio in Stuttgart
Stuttgart Radio Symphony Orchestra
The Stuttgart Radio Symphony Orchestra is an orchestra based in Stuttgart in Germany. The ensemble was founded in 1945 by American occupation authorities as the orchestra for Radio Stuttgart, under the name Sinfonieorchester von Radio Stuttgart...
. In 1971 he also began taking voice lessons with Hertha Kalcher of Stuttgart. In 1975, when due to perform in the orchestra of a television production of Der Zigeunerbaron
The Gypsy Baron
The Gypsy Baron is an operetta in three acts by Johann Strauss II which premiered at the Theater an der Wien on 24 October 1885. Its libretto was by the author Ignaz Schnitzer and in turn was based on Sáffi by Mór Jókai. During the composer's lifetime, the operetta enjoyed great success, second...
, he stood in for the tenor Franco Bonisolli
Franco Bonisolli
Franco Bonisolli was an Italian operatic tenor, particularly associated with the Italian repertory, notably as Manrico and Calaf.-Life and career:...
at the last minute.
Operatic singer
Thenceforth Jerusalem made singing his career. His first major role was Lohengrin in 1976, a role in which he soon appeared at Darmstadt, Aachen, Hamburg and at the Zurich Festival, and later in Munich and the New York Met. He followed this with Max in Der FreischützDer 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 Stuttgart. His Bayreuth career opened in 1977, where by 1981 he had performed Froh (Das Rheingold
Das Rheingold
is the first of the four operas that constitute Richard Wagner's Der Ring des Nibelungen . It was originally written as an introduction to the tripartite Ring, but the cycle is now generally regarded as consisting of four individual operas.Das Rheingold received its premiere at the National Theatre...
), the Young Sailor (Tristan und Isolde
Tristan und Isolde
Tristan und Isolde is an opera, or music drama, in three acts by Richard Wagner to a German libretto by the composer, based largely on the romance by Gottfried von Straßburg. It was composed between 1857 and 1859 and premiered in Munich on 10 June 1865 with Hans von Bülow conducting...
) and then Lohengrin, 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...
and Walter von Stolzing (Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg
Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg
Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg is an opera in three acts, written and composed by Richard Wagner. It is among the longest operas still commonly performed today, usually taking around four and a half hours. It was first performed at the Königliches Hof- und National-Theater in Munich, on June 21,...
).
His Parsifal was also heard in Vienna at that time, and his Siegmund (Die Walküre
Die Walküre
Die Walküre , WWV 86B, is the second of the four operas that form the cycle Der Ring des Nibelungen , by Richard Wagner...
) (with Jessye Norman
Jessye Norman
Jessye Norman is an American opera singer. Norman is a well-known contemporary opera singer and recitalist, and is one of the highest paid performers in classical music...
, Theo Adam
Theo Adam
Theo Adam is a distinguished German classical bass-baritone who had an active international career in operas, concerts, and recitals from the 1940s through the 1990s. He particularly excelled in portraying roles from the operas of Richard Wagner...
and Yvonne Minton
Yvonne Minton
Yvonne Fay Minton CBE is an Australian opera singer. She is variously billed as a soprano, mezzo-soprano or contralto.Yvonne Minton was born in Sydney, New South Wales. She studied voice on a scholarship at the New South Wales Conservatorium of Music. She won the National Eisteddfod in Canberra,...
) in Dresden (1981). In addition to stage appearances he gave various concert performances which, like the Dresden Walküre or the Rome Lohengrin were broadcast internationally. From 1978 he became a regular member of the German Opera in Berlin, and had permanent contract with the companies in Stuttgart, Zürich, Munich and Vienna as well as making international guest appearances.
His 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...
career continued with Siegfried in 1988 (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...
) and 1989 (Götterdämmerung
Götterdämmerung
is the last in Richard Wagner's cycle of four operas titled Der Ring des Nibelungen...
). In 1990 he appeared at the Metropolitan Opera
Metropolitan Opera
The Metropolitan Opera is an opera company, located in New York City. Originally founded in 1880, the company gave its first performance on October 22, 1883. The company is operated by the non-profit Metropolitan Opera Association, with Peter Gelb as general manager...
with James Levine
James Levine
James Lawrence Levine is an American conductor and pianist. He is currently the music director of the Metropolitan Opera and former music director of the Boston Symphony Orchestra. Levine's first performance conducting the Metropolitan Opera was on June 5, 1971, and as of May 2011 he has...
, singing both Siegfrieds, as well as the difficult role of Loge. The production was televised, and is available on DVD. In 1993 he debuted as Tristan at the Bayreuth Festival, and took the role to most of the major houses in Europe.
Awards
On 9 October 1997 he was presented with the German Federal Cross of Merit. His last performance at Bayreuth was in 1999 as Tristan. He currently teaches at the College of Music in NurembergNuremberg
Nuremberg[p] is a city in the German state of Bavaria, in the administrative region of Middle Franconia. Situated on the Pegnitz river and the Rhine–Main–Danube Canal, it is located about north of Munich and is Franconia's largest city. The population is 505,664...
.
Recordings
Jerusalem performs in a series of audio and video recordings of Wagner operas conducted by James LevineJames Levine
James Lawrence Levine is an American conductor and pianist. He is currently the music director of the Metropolitan Opera and former music director of the Boston Symphony Orchestra. Levine's first performance conducting the Metropolitan Opera was on June 5, 1971, and as of May 2011 he has...
at the Met
Metropolitan Opera
The Metropolitan Opera is an opera company, located in New York City. Originally founded in 1880, the company gave its first performance on October 22, 1883. The company is operated by the non-profit Metropolitan Opera Association, with Peter Gelb as general manager...
, Daniel Barenboim
Daniel Barenboim
Daniel Barenboim, KBE is an Argentinian-Israeli pianist and conductor. He has served as music director of several major symphonic and operatic orchestras and made numerous recordings....
and Pierre Boulez
Pierre Boulez
Pierre Boulez is a French composer of contemporary classical music, a pianist, and a conductor.-Early years:Boulez was born in Montbrison, Loire, France. As a child he began piano lessons and demonstrated aptitude in both music and mathematics...
at Bayreuth, and others made in the 1980s and 1990s.
Jerusalem has also made an attempt at some crossover music in two albums The Glory of Love (1996) and Avalon (2002).