Gerhard Stolze

Gerhard Stolze was a German tenor born in Dessau in 1926 and died in Garmisch-Partenkirchen in 1979. He belonged to the generation of singers who shaped the German repertoire in the postwar years. He trained in Dresden and Berlin, and in 1949 began performing at the Dresden Staatsoper, where he made his debut as Augustin Moser in Die Meistersinger.

Between 1953 and 1961 he was a member of the ensemble of the Berlin Staatsoper. At Bayreuth he started with minor roles in 1951, sang David in 1956 and, from 1957 to 1969, performed Mime, a role with which he also made a successful recording of the Ring cycle conducted by Solti. This role led to his Covent Garden debut in 1960. He also took part in premieres of works by composers such as Egk, Erbse, Orff, Martin and Klebe, and in 1968 he sang Loge at the Metropolitan.

His musical intelligence and dramatic gifts made him particularly well suited to character roles, such as Herod, which he recorded to notable acclaim under Solti, the Captain in Wozzeck, and Oberon in Britten's A Midsummer Night's Dream. His legacy lies chiefly in these character roles and in his recordings.