August Kindermann (6 February 1817 – 6 March 1891) was a German

bass-baritone A bass-baritone is a high-lying bass or low-lying "classical" baritone voice type which shares certain qualities with the true baritone voice. The term arose in the late 19th century to describe the particular type of voice required to sing three ...

singer and regisseur, particularly noted for his performances in the

opera Opera is a form of History of theatre#European theatre, Western theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by Singing, singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically ...

s of

Richard Wagner Wilhelm Richard Wagner ( ; ; 22 May 181313 February 1883) was a German composer, theatre director, essayist, and conductor who is chiefly known for his operas (or, as some of his mature works were later known, "music dramas"). Unlike most o ...

. He was born in

Potsdam Potsdam () is the capital and largest city of the Germany, German States of Germany, state of Brandenburg. It is part of the Berlin/Brandenburg Metropolitan Region. Potsdam sits on the Havel, River Havel, a tributary of the Elbe, downstream of B ...

. He began his career singing in the chorus of the

Berlin State Opera The Staatsoper Unter den Linden ( State Opera under the Lime Trees), also known as the Berlin State Opera (), is a listed building on Unter den Linden boulevard in the historic center of Berlin, Germany. The opera house was built by order of P ...

in 1836 and made his solo debut there in 1837 in a small role in Spontini's '' Agnes von Hohenstaufen''. He went on to sing

bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Wood * Bass or basswood, the wood of the tilia americana tree Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in th ...

and

baritone A baritone is a type of classical music, classical male singing human voice, voice whose vocal range lies between the bass (voice type), bass and the tenor voice type, voice-types. It is the most common male voice. The term originates from the ...

roles with

Leipzig Opera The Leipzig Opera () is an opera house and opera company located at the Augustusplatz and the Inner City Ring Road at its east side in Leipzig's district Mitte, Germany. History Performances of opera in Leipzig trace back to Singspiel perfo ...

from 1839 to 1846. While at Leipzig, he became a friend of

Albert Lortzing Gustav Albert Lortzing (23 October 1801 – 21 January 1851) was a German composer, librettist, actor and singer. He is considered to be the main representative of the German ''Spieloper'', a form similar to the French ''opéra comique'', which ...

and sang in the premieres of two of his operas: the title role in ''Hans Sachs'' (1840) and Count von Eberbach in '' Der Wildschütz'' (1842). He also sang Gazna in the premiere of

Robert Schumann Robert Schumann (; ; 8 June 181029 July 1856) was a German composer, pianist, and music critic of the early Romantic music, Romantic era. He composed in all the main musical genres of the time, writing for solo piano, voice and piano, chamber ...

's secular

oratorio An oratorio () is a musical composition with dramatic or narrative text for choir, soloists and orchestra or other ensemble. Similar to opera, an oratorio includes the use of a choir, soloists, an instrumental ensemble, various distinguisha ...

'' Das Paradies und die Peri'' (1843). In 1846, Kinderman moved to the

Bavarian State Opera The Bavarian State Opera () is a German opera company based in Munich. Its main venue is the Nationaltheater München, and its orchestra the Bavarian State Orchestra. History The parent ensemble of the company was founded in 1653, under El ...

in Munich where he was a

Kammersänger Kammersänger (male; ) or Kammersängerin (female; ), abbreviated Ks. or KS, is a German Title of honor, honorific title for distinguished singers of opera and classical music. It literally means "chamber singer". Historically, the title was besto ...

and stage director who enjoyed great popularity. In 1855, he directed the company's production of

Wagner Wilhelm Richard Wagner ( ; ; 22 May 181313 February 1883) was a German composer, theatre director, essayist, and conductor who is chiefly known for his operas (or, as some of his mature works were later known, "music dramas"). Unlike most o ...

's '' Tannhäuser'' as well as singing the role of Wolfram. During his time in Munich he sang the role of

Wotan (''The Ring of the Nibelung''), WWV 86, is a cycle of four German-language epic music dramas composed by Richard Wagner. The works are based loosely on characters from Germanic heroic legend, namely Norse legendary sagas and the . The compos ...

in the premieres of both ''

Das Rheingold ''Das Rheingold'' (; ''The Rhinegold''), Wagner-Werk-Verzeichnis, WWV 86A, is the first of the four epic poetry, epic music dramas that constitute Richard Wagner's Literary cycle, cycle ''Der Ring des Nibelungen'' (English: ''The Ring of the Nib ...

'' (1869) and ''

Die Walküre (; ''The Valkyrie''), Wagner-Werk-Verzeichnis, WWV 86B, is the second of the four epic poetry, epic music dramas that constitute Richard Wagner's Literary cycle, cycle ''Der Ring des Nibelungen'' (English: ''The Ring of the Nibelung''). It was ...

'' (1870) as well as

Titurel ''Titurel'' is a fragmentary Middle High German Romance (heroic literature), romance written by Wolfram von Eschenbach after 1217. The fragments which survive indicate that the story would have served as a prequel to Wolfram's earlier work, ''Parzi ...

in the premiere of ''

Parsifal ''Parsifal'' ( WWV 111) is a music drama in three acts by the German composer Richard Wagner and his last composition. Wagner's own libretto for the work is freely based on the 13th-century Middle High German chivalric romance ''Parzival'' of th ...

'' (1882). In addition to the Wagner premieres, Kindermann also sang Count Eckart in the premiere of Josef Rheinberger's opera ''Die sieben Raben'' ''Die sieben Raben'' - opera in three acts by Josef Rheinberger, to a libretto by Franz Bonn and Franziska Jägerhuber Rheinberger based on the German fairy tale '' The Seven Ravens''. Premiered 23 May 1869 in the Nationaltheater München. (1869). August Kinderman's daughters, Franziska Kindermann, Hedwig Reicher-Kindermann, and Marie Kindermann also became opera singers. He died in Munich in 1891 at age 74.

Notes and references

*Carnegy, Patrick (2006
''Wagner and the Art of the Theatre''
Yale University Press, p. 41. * * Meyerbeer, Giacomo (2002
''Briefwechsel und Tagebücher''
Vol. 5, edited and annotated by Sabine Henze-Döhring,

Walter de Gruyter Walter de Gruyter GmbH, known as De Gruyter (), is a German scholarly publishing house specializing in academic literature. History The roots of the company go back to 1749 when Frederick the Great granted the Königliche Realschule in Be ...

, . *Meyerbeer, Giacomo (2002
''The Diaries of Giacomo Meyerbeer: The Years of Celebrity, 1850-1856''
edited and annotated by Robert Ignatius Le Tellier, Fairleigh Dickinson University Press, p. 164. *Rosenthal, H. and Warrack, J. (1979) "Kindermann, August" in ''The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Opera'', 2nd Edition, Oxford University Press. p. 258.

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kindermann, August 1817 births 1891 deaths 19th-century German male opera singers Operatic bass-baritones Musicians from Potsdam