Theo Adam (Bass-Baritone)

Born: August 1, 1926 - Dresden, Saxony, Germany
Died: January 10, 2019 - Dresden, Saxony, Germany

The German bass-baritone,Theo Adam, came to music early. As a boy he sang in the Dresdner Kreuzchor. He studied voice in his native city with Rudolf Dittrich between 1946-1949.

On December 1949 Theo Adam made his operatic debut as the Hermit in Der Freischütz at the Dresden State Opera, and in 1952 made his first appearance at the Bayreuth Festival, quickly rising to prominence as one of the leading Wagnerian heroic bass-baritones of his time. He was a principal member of the Berlin State Opera from 1953, and made guest appearances at London’s Covent Garden, the Vienna State Opera, the Paris Opéra, the Salzburg Festivals, the San Francisco Opera, and the Chicago Lyric Opera. In February 1969 he made his operatic debut at the Metropolitan Opera in New York as Hans Sachs (Die Meistersinger). In addition to his Wagnerian roles, he also sang in operas by W.A. Mozart, Verdi and Richard Strauss with notable success. He appeared in various contemporary works as well, creating the leading roles in Gerha’s Baal (1981) and Luciano Berio’s Un Re in ascolto (1984).

In 1979 Theo Adam was made an Austrian Kammersänger. Together with Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, Theo Adam was of the distinguished J.S. Bach’s bass singers from the late 1950’s to the late 1970’s, recording many Bach Cantatas under the baton of Karl Richter.

Sources:
Mostly Baker’s Biographical Dictionary of 20^th Century Classical Musicians (1997)
Contributed by Aryeh Oron (May 2001); Matthias Hansen (Photo 10 - January 2010; Photos 11-12 - May 2010)

Recordings of Bach Cantatas & Other Vocal Works

Conductor

As

Works

Martin Flämig

Bass

BWV 233-236, BWV 248/1-6 [1^st]

Hans Grischkat

Bass

BWV 243

Helmut Koch

Bass

BWV 206

Erhard Mauersberger

Bass

BWV 18, BWV 62, BWV 78, BWV 80, BWV 140, BWV 172, BWV 244
[CR-60] (After 1966? , Radio recording): BWV 60
[CR-116] (1962, Radio recording): BWV 116

Rudolf Mauersberger

Bass

BWV 232

Karl Richter

Bass

BWV 12, BWV 26, BWV 65, BWV 81, BWV 106, BWV 108, BWV 111, BWV 124, BWV 126, BWV 132, BWV 182

Hans-Joachim Rotzsch

Bass

BWV 68, BWV 79, BWV 80, BWV 137, BWV 172, BWV 192, BWV 244 [Video], BWV 245

Peter Schreier

Bass

BWV 201, BWV 208, BWV 211, BWV 214, BWV 232, BWV 244
[C-7] (1975): BWV 211 [1^st recording], BWV 212

Kurt Thomas

Bass

BWV 4, BWV 11, BWV 36c, BWV 59, BWV 68, BWV 71, BWV 111, BWV 140, BWV 201, BWV 211, BWV 212
[CR-57] (1960, Radio recording): BWV 57
[CR-132] (before 1960, Radio recording): BWV 132
[CR-158] (1960?, Radio recording): BWV 158
[CR-164] (1960, Radio recording): BWV 164

August Wenzinger

Bass

G.F. Handel: Brockes Passion, HWV 48

Links to other Sites

Theo Adam (Ariadna auf Naxos)
Theo Adam - Opernsänger (Dresden Online) [German]