Helmut Holzapfel (born 4 December 1941) is a South-African operatic

tenor A tenor is a type of male singing voice whose vocal range lies between the countertenor and baritone voice types. It is the highest male chest voice type. Composers typically write music for this voice in the range from the second B below m ...

Life

Born in

Robertson, South Africa Robertson is a town in the Western Cape Province of South Africa, known as the valley of wine and roses, at the heart of the wine route - Route 62. Founded in 1853 and named after Dr , a Scottish Dutch Reformed Church minister. Situated in the ...

, Holzapfel, son of a choirmaster and a singer, he studied music at the

Stellenbosch University Stellenbosch University (SU) (, ) is a public research university situated in Stellenbosch, a town in the Western Cape province of South Africa. Stellenbosch is the oldest university in South Africa and the oldest extant university in Sub-Sahara ...

in South Africa and at the

University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna The University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna (, abbreviated MDW) is an Austrian university established in 1817 located in Vienna. With a student body of over three thousand, it is the largest institution of its kind in Austria, and one of t ...

with

Erik Werba Erik Werba (23 May 1918 – 9 April 1992) was an Austrian classical pianist who is especially known as an accompanist of singers. He was also a music critic, conductor, composer, author and academic teacher. Career Werba was born in Baden bei ...

. He made his stage debut at the age of 21 in

Cape Town Cape Town is the legislature, legislative capital city, capital of South Africa. It is the country's oldest city and the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. Cape Town is the country's List of municipalities in South Africa, second-largest ...

as Don Ottavio in ''

Don Giovanni ''Don Giovanni'' (; K. 527; full title: , literally ''The Rake Punished, or Don Giovanni'') is an opera in two acts with music by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart to an Italian libretto by Lorenzo Da Ponte. Its subject is a centuries-old Spanish legen ...

'', but only as a replacement. He had his first permanent engagement at the

Stadttheater Klagenfurt The Stadttheater Klagenfurt is the municipal theatre in Klagenfurt, the capital of Carinthia in Austria. Its present house was designed by the Viennese architecture office Fellner & Helmer, and completed in 1910. History The first theatre in ...

from 1971 to 1972. From 1972 to 1977, he worked at the

Tyrolean State Theatre The Tyrolean State Theatre in Innsbruck () is the state theatre in Innsbruck, Austria, located near the historic Altstadt (Old Town) section of the city. The theatre is surrounded by the Imperial Hofburg, the Hofgarten, and SOWI Faculty of the Un ...

, and since 1977 he has been a member of the

Staatstheater Stuttgart The Staatstheater Stuttgart (Stuttgart State Theatre) is a theatre with three locations, Staatsoper Stuttgart, Oper Stuttgart (Opera Stuttgart), Stuttgart Ballet, Stuttgarter Ballett (Stuttgart Ballet), and Schauspiel Stuttgart (Stuttgart Drama ...

. He sang mainly parts from the feature and character roles such as David in ''

Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg (; "The Master-Singers of Nuremberg"), WWV 96, is a music drama, or opera, in three acts, by Richard Wagner. It is the longest opera commonly performed, taking nearly four and a half hours, not counting two breaks between acts, and is traditio ...

'', Pedrillo in ''

Die Entführung aus dem Serail ' () (Köchel catalogue, K. 384; ''The Abduction from the Seraglio''; also known as ') is a singspiel in three acts by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. The German libretto is by Gottlieb Stephanie, based on Christoph Friedrich Bretzner's . The plot concer ...

'', Basilio in ''

Le nozze di Figaro ''The Marriage of Figaro'' (, ), K. 492, is a ''commedia per musica'' (opera buffa) in four acts composed in 1786 by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, with an Italian libretto written by Lorenzo Da Ponte. It premiered at the Burgtheater in Vienna ...

'', Valzacchi in ''

Der Rosenkavalier (''The Knight of the Rose'' or ''The Rose-Bearer''), Op. 59, is a comic opera in three acts by Richard Strauss to an original German libretto by Hugo von Hofmannsthal. It is loosely adapted from Louvet de Couvrai's novel ''Les amours du cheva ...

''. Also lyrical roles such as Count Almaviva in ''

Il barbiere di Siviglia ''The Barber of Seville, or The Useless Precaution'' ( ) is an ''opera buffa'' (comic opera) in two acts composed by Gioachino Rossini with an Italian libretto by Cesare Sterbini. The libretto was based on Pierre Beaumarchais's French comedy '' ...

'', Ferrando in ''

Così fan tutte (''Women are like that, or The School for Lovers''), Köchel catalogue, K. 588, is an opera buffa in two acts by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. It was first performed on 26 January 1790 at the Burgtheater in Vienna, Austria. The libretto was written ...

'' and Fenton in Verdi's ''

Falstaff Sir John Falstaff is a fictional character who appears in three plays by William Shakespeare and is eulogised in a fourth. His significance as a fully developed character is primarily formed in the plays ''Henry IV, Part 1'' and '' Part 2'', w ...

'' were part of his repertoire. He also performed as a

lied In the Western classical music tradition, ( , ; , ; ) is a term for setting poetry to classical music. The term is used for any kind of song in contemporary German and Dutch, but among English and French speakers, is often used interchangea ...

er singer at the Salzburg

Mozartwoche The Mozart Week () is a classical music festival centred on Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, held every year in his native Salzburg. It was created in 1956 on the 200th anniversary of his birth, and coincides with his birthday 27 January, lasting in fa ...

in 1976 and on a major tour of South America in 1983 (appearances in Buenos Aires, Santiago de Chile, Montevideo, Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo). In 1992, he received his doctorate with a thesis on the South African song composer

Stephanus Le Roux Marais Stephanus le Roux Marais (1 February 1896 – 25 May 1979) was a South African composer known for his significant contribution to Afrikaans art song. Early life and education Stephanus le Roux Marais was born on 1 February 1896, on the farm Aa ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Holzapfel, Helmut South African operatic tenors 1941 births Living people Musicians from Cape Town