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About
Franz Grundheber is a German operatic baritone. At the Hamburg State Opera, he performed over 150 roles from 1966. His voice is flexible enough to sing Italian opera as well as Wagner parts and contemporary opera; he is a stage presence in acting and singing. He has performed at major international opera houses and is known for his performance of the title role of Alban Berg's Wozzeck, filmed for DVD in 1994 in a production staged by Patrice Chéreau.
His career has led Franz Grundheber to all the major opera houses in the world, including Munich, Los Angeles, Bastille Opéra, Arena di Verona, Milan’s La Scala, London’s Covent Garden, Berlin, Rome, New York’s Metropolitan Opera (Debut: 1999 in Rigoletto), Santiago de Chile (Chilean Critics' Award 2001 for International Opera), Tokyo Opera Nomori, Houston Grand Opera, San Francisco Opera, Aalto Theater Essen, Staatstheater Karlsruhe. Hae has worked inter alia together with the conductors: Herbert von Karajan, Lorin Maazel, Kurt Masur, Seiji Ozawa, Colin Davis, Giuseppe Sinopoli, Karl Sollak, Claudio Abbado, Semyon Bychkov, Daniel Barenboim, Simone Young, Riccardo Muti, Fabio Luisi, Justin Brown.
Franz Grundheber has a wide ranging repertoire that ranges from the bel canto of the verismo operas to modern composers. Of the roles with which he achieved world fame and where he feels particularly attached (an interview in Klassik heute in February 2010) are: Wozzeck, Barak in Die Frau ohne Schatten and Simon Boccanegra, as well as Germont in La Traviata, Rigoletto, Macbeth, Iago in Otello, Amonasro in Aida, Amfortas in Parsifal, Der fliegende Holländer, Scarpia in Tosca, Jochanaan in Salome, Orest in Elektra, and Dr. Schön in Lulu.
Franz Grundheber lives with his second wife Angelika in Hamburg-Rissen. Despite his international career, he has remained connected to his hometown. In the 2003-2004 season he appeared as Scarpia at the Stadttheater Trier. In the 2005-2006 season was seen there in Richard Wagner's . In 2007 he made his debut there as a director and directed Alban Berg's Wozzeck, which he also sang in several performances. He is also regularly available for choir concerts in his hometown. He has special connections to the choirs of the Trierer Stadtteile Trier-Biewer and Trier-Ehrang. He is also associated with his adopted city of Hamburg. He supported the choir there Kantorei Sülldorf / Rissen and on November 11-12, 2006 participated in a performance of Felix Mendelssohn.
His recordings include: Don Giovanni (Electrola); Doktor Faust by Ferruccio Busoni (Deutsche Grammophon); Die drei Pintos by Weber/Gustav Mahler (RCA).