Hans Hotter facts for kids

Hans Hotter, a famous opera singer

Hans Hotter (born January 19, 1909 – died December 6, 2003) was a German opera singer. He had a very deep voice, known as a bass-baritone, which is a mix between a bass and a baritone voice. Hotter was very tall, about 1.93 meters (6 feet 4 inches), and had a strong presence on stage. People easily recognized his voice and how clearly he sang.

Early Life and Start in Opera

Hans Hotter was born in Offenbach am Main, Germany. He studied music in Munich. Before becoming an opera star, he worked as an organ player and led a choir. His first time singing in an opera was in 1930 in Opava.

He sang in Germany and Austria during the time of the Nazi government. He managed to avoid joining the Nazi Party, even though there was pressure on performers to do so. He also performed outside Germany, for example, in Amsterdam with conductor Bruno Walter. Walter advised him to stay in Germany if he couldn't move his family.

Hotter couldn't start a big international career until after World War II. In 1947, he made his debut at the Covent Garden in London. After that, he sang in many famous opera houses across Europe. In 1950, he sang for the first time at the Metropolitan Opera in New York, playing the main character in Der fliegende Holländer. During his four seasons there, he performed 35 times in 13 different roles, mostly from the operas of Richard Wagner.

Famous Roles and Performances

Hans Hotter was most famous for playing the character Wotan in Richard Wagner's opera series, Der Ring des Nibelungen. He started singing Wotan when he was in his early 20s and continued until the mid-1960s. Even though he had some health issues like asthma, he performed Wotan many times, including at the famous Bayreuth Festival in Germany.

His performances as Wotan were recorded several times. One famous recording was part of Decca's Ring Cycle in the early 1960s, led by conductor Georg Solti. He also directed the entire Ring series at Covent Garden from 1961 to 1964.

Hotter also played other important roles. He was admired for his Hans Sachs in Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg. Later in his career, he preferred to sing the role of Pogner in the same opera because it was better suited for his voice as he got older and had a chronic back injury. Similarly, in Parsifal, he first sang the role of Amfortas when he was younger, then switched to Gurnemanz, and later to Titurel. He was also praised for his role as Pizarro in Beethoven's opera Fidelio.

Working with Richard Strauss

Hans Hotter had a special connection with the famous composer Richard Strauss. Hotter performed in the first shows of some of Strauss's later operas. He was the commandant in Friedenstag (1938), Olivier in Capriccio (1942), and Jupiter in Die Liebe der Danae (1944). Strauss even dedicated one of his songs, "Erschaffen und beleben," to Hotter. Hotter's daughter, Gabriele, married Strauss's grandson in 1962, showing their close family connection.

Other Musical Talents

While Hotter was most famous for German operas, he also sang operas by Verdi in German. He was a popular Falstaff in Falstaff and a strong Grand Inquisitor in Don Carlos. He even sang this role in Italian in some theaters, including the Metropolitan Opera. He also recorded non-German opera roles translated into German, such as Count Almaviva (Mozart), Boris Godunov (Mussorgsky), and Don Basilio (Rossini).

Hotter was also known for singing lieder, which are German art songs. He recorded many songs by Franz Schubert, including Winterreise and Schwanengesang. He also sang sacred music, like Johann Sebastian Bach's cantatas and Joseph Haydn's Die Schöpfung. In The Creation, he impressively sang both the very low bass role of Archangel Raphael and the higher baritone role of Adam.

Life During Wartime and Later Years

Hans Hotter was strongly against the Nazis. He would make fun of Adolf Hitler at parties and refused to perform at the Bayreuth Festival during the Third Reich because of its ties to Hitler. It was even said that Hitler had Hotter's records in his personal collection. After the war, when Hotter was questioned about this, he famously replied that the Pope had some of them too.

Hotter never fully retired from the stage. He continued to perform into his nineties, taking on important character roles like Schigolch in Alban Berg's opera Lulu. He was also a notable narrator in Schoenberg's Gurre-Lieder, a role he continued to perform well into his eighties.

Funny Moments on Stage

Even famous opera singers have funny moments during performances!

• In 1961, during a performance of Walküre at Covent Garden, Hotter, playing Wotan, was supposed to slowly leave the stage. After he struck a rock to call for fire, the bright lights blinded him, and he accidentally fell off the stage with a loud crash! Since he was wearing armor, it sounded like a bomb hitting a metal factory. But the opera isn't supposed to end with Wotan falling. So, while the music continued, Hotter bravely climbed back onto the stage, showing the audience he was fine. The opera then finished as it should.

• At an earlier Walküre performance in 1956, also at Covent Garden, Hotter had another funny mishap. He was a bit late for his entrance in Act III, so he rushed backstage and quickly threw a huge cloak over his shoulders. He stormed onto the stage, angrily singing, "Where is Brünnhild?" However, the audience started laughing. Hotter didn't understand why until the end of the opera. For over an hour, he had been singing with a fluffy, pink coat-hanger sticking up from behind his shoulders, completely invisible to him! As one reviewer wrote, he was truly "the only man in the world who can actually step on stage and persuade you that he is God."

See also

In Spanish: Hans Hotter para niños