Wolfgang Brendel

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Wolfgang Brendel (born 20 October 1947, in Munich) is a German opera singer (a baritone).

Brendel grew up in Wiesbaden, where he took singing lessons with Rolff Sartorius during his high school education. In 1971, he debuted at the Pfalztheater in Kaiserslautern as Guglielmo in Così fan tutte. He then spent 15 years contracted to the Bayerische Staatsoper in Munich, where he became the youngest Kammersänger in 1977. His repertoire comprises both the major baritone roles in mainstream opera and roles from opera buffo and operetta.

Brendel is a regular guest performer at all the major opera houses in the world, as well as being a professor at the Munich Hochschule für Musik und Theater. In 1997, he was awarded the Bundesverdienstkreuz (The Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany).

[edit] Sources

Much of the information in this article comes from the German-language Wikipedia article.

Further Sources

'Wolfgang Brendel', The Concise Grove Dictionary of Music, 1994 Oxford University Press.
Louise T. Guinther, 'Head, Body, and Heart: The keys to Wolfgang Brendel's artistry' (cover story), Opera News, January 1998.
Faculty page, Hochschule für Musik und Theater München