Lutz-Michael Harder (4 September 1942 – 24 August 2019) was a German

lyric 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 mi ...

known mostly for his interpretation of

Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 1756 – 5 December 1791) was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period (music), Classical period. Despite his short life, his rapid pace of composition and proficiency from an early age ...

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 ...

roles and as a baroque concert soloist. He was also an academic voice teacher at the

Musikhochschule Hannover A music school is an educational institution specialized in the study, training, and research of music. Such an institution can also be known as a school of music, music academy, music faculty, college of music, music department (of a larger in ...

Life

Born in Langenfeld (today

Długoszyn Długoszyn is a village in the administrative district of Gmina Sulęcin, within Sulęcin County, Lubusz Voivodeship, in western Poland. It lies approximately north-west of Sulęcin, south-west of Gorzów Wielkopolski, and north-west of Zielona ...

), Harder made his

tic debut in 1975 at the as Ferrando in Mozart's ''

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 ...

''. He became a member of the

Oldenburgisches Staatstheater The Oldenburgisches Staatstheater (Oldenburg State Theatre) is a German theater in the city of Oldenburg, Lower Saxony. Beginnings The theatre was first opened in the times of the Grand Duchy of Oldenburg, on 1 February 1833. At that time it w ...

for a year and then was member of the

Staatsoper Hannover Hanover State Opera () is a German opera company based in Hanover, the state capital of Lower Saxony. The company is resident in the Hanover Opera House (), and is part of a publicly-funded umbrella performing arts organisation called Hanover S ...

for several years. In 1978, he sang Don Ottavio in Mozart's ''

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 ...

'' at the

Ludwigsburg Festival The Ludwigsburg Festival (''Ludwigsburger Schlossfestspiele'', also ''Internationale Festspiele Baden-Württemberg'') is a culture festival with programs in music, dance, theatre and literature. The festival is held in Ludwigsburg annually between ...

. In 1985, he starred as

Hans Scholl Hans Fritz Scholl (; 22 September 1918 – 22 February 1943) was, along with Alexander Schmorell, one of the two founding members of the White Rose resistance movement in Nazi Germany. The principal author of the resistance movement's ...

in the world premiere of the second version of Udo Zimmermann's ''

Weiße Rose The White Rose (, ) was a non-violent, intellectual resistance group in Nazi Germany which was led by five students and one professor at the University of Munich: Willi Graf, Kurt Huber, Christoph Probst, Alexander Schmorell, Hans Scholl ...

'' at the

Hamburg State Opera The Hamburg State Opera (in German: ) is a German opera company based in Hamburg. Its theatre is near the square of Gänsemarkt. Since 2015, the current ''Intendant'' of the company is Georges Delnon, and the current ''Generalmusikdirektor'' ...

, a role which he reprised and recorded two years later at the

Vienna State Opera The Vienna State Opera (, ) is a historic opera house and opera company based in Vienna, Austria. The 1,709-seat Renaissance Revival venue was the first major building on the Vienna Ring Road. It was built from 1861 to 1869 following plans by ...

. He went on to perform several roles in major houses throughout Germany, Austria, and Switzerland appearing mainly in the works of Mozart. Harder also had a prolific concert singing career, particularly as a

Bach Johann Sebastian Bach (German: �joːhan zeˈbasti̯an baχ ( – 28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque period. He is known for his prolific output across a variety of instruments and forms, including the or ...

interpreter. In addition to recording Hans Scholl, Harder has recorded the role of Don Ottavio in ''Don Giovanni'', the title role in

Carl Martin Reinthaler Carl Martin Reinthaler (13 October 1822 – 13 February 1896) was a German organist, conductor and composer. Alternative spellings include Karl Martin Reinthaler and Carl Martin Rheinthaler. Biography Reinthaler was born in Erfurt. He received ...

's ''Jephtha'', and several

Bach cantata The cantatas composed by Johann Sebastian Bach, known as Bach cantatas ( German: ), are a body of work consisting of over 200 surviving independent works, and at least several dozen that are considered lost. As far as known, Bach's earliest can ...

s, among others. Harder lectured from 1982 at the

, where he was appointed professor of voice on 15 March 1989. He taught there for 25 years.

References

Alan Blyth Geoffrey Alan Blyth (27 July 1929 – 14 August 2007) was an English music critic, author, and musicologist who was particularly known for his writings within the field of opera. He was a specialist on singers and singing. Born in London, Blyth ...

Choral Music on Record
{{DEFAULTSORT:Harder, Lutz-Michael German operatic tenors 1942 births 2019 deaths 20th-century German male opera singers People from Posen–West Prussia Academic staff of the Hochschule für Musik, Theater und Medien Hannover

Life

References

External links