Theo Adam

Theo Adam (born 1 August 1926) is a distinguished German classical bass-baritone who had an active international career in operas, concerts, and recitals from the 1940s through the 1990s. He particularly excelled in portraying roles from the operas of Richard Wagner. On the concert stage, he was a much admired Bach singer and also drew acclaim for his interpretation of the title character of Felix Mendelssohn's Elijah.

Born in Dresden, Adam sang with the Dresdner Kreuzchor as a boy. He studied singing with Rudolf Dietrich between 1946 and 1949. He made his professional opera debut in his native city as the Hermit in Der Freischütz at the Semperoper in 1949. In 1952, he joined the roster of singers at the Berlin State Opera. That same year he made his first appearance at the Bayreuth Festival in a small role. He returned annually to Bayreuth for many years, taking on the role of Heinrich der Vogler in Lohengrin in 1954, Titurel (and one of the Gralsritter) in Parsifal in the same year, Fasolt in Das Rheingold in 1958, and Wotan in Der Ring des Nibelungen in 1963. He eventually added Amfortas in Parsifal, Hans Sachs and Veit Pogner in Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg, and the title role in The Flying Dutchman to his Bayreuth performance credits.

Adam made his début at the Royal Opera, London as Wotan in 1967. He made his first appearance at the Salzburg Festival as Ochs in Richard Strauss's Der Rosenkavalier in 1969, returning there three years later to sing the title role in Alban Berg's Wozzeck. At the Theater an der Wien he portrayed Pizarro in Ludwig van Beethoven's Fidelio in a 1970 production celebrating the composer's 200th birthday. He also portrayed the title role in a new production of Don Giovanni at the Vienna State Opera in 1972.

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