Günter Wewel | |
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| Born | (1934-11-29)29 November 1934 Arnsberg, Germany |
| Died | 9 May 2023(2023-05-09) (aged 88) Arnsberg, Germany |
| Education | Dortmund Conservatory |
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| Known for | Kein schöner Land |
| Title | Kammersänger |
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| Website | www |
Günter Wewel (German:[ˈɡʏntɐˈveːvl̩]; 29 November 1934 – 9 May 2023) was a Germanoperatic bass and television presenter. Based at theOpernhaus Dortmund for decades, he performed 80 roles in Germany and Europe. He is known for presenting the television seriesKein schöner Land, with more than 150 episodes from 1989 to 2007, which portrays regions in Europe, their landscape, people and folklore, the first such show filmed at the locations.
Wewel was born inArnsberg. After school, he first trained as a civil servant with theDeutsche Bundesbahn.[1][2][3] He then studied voice, especially opera, at the Dortmund Conservatory. He studied further withRudolf Watzke in Dortmund and Johannes Kobeck in Vienna.[1]
Wewel was a member of theOper Dortmund from 1963, withGeneralmusikdirektorWilhelm Schüchter, and remained at the house throughout his career[1] of more than 30 years.[4] From 1965, he appeared as a guest in Germany at theBavarian State Opera, theHamburg State Opera, theStaatstheater Stuttgart, theDeutsche Oper am Rhein, theCologne Opera andStaatstheater Hannover, among others. In Europe, he performed at theBudapest National Opera, in Paris, Strasbourg, Bordeaux, Rouen, Salzburg and theZürich.[1][2]
Wewel performed over 80 roles, including Mozart's Osmin inDie Entführung aus dem Serail, the Komtur inDon Giovanni and Sarastro inDie Zauberflöte, Rocco in Beethoven'sFidelio, Philipp II in Verdi'sDon Carlo, Gremin in Tchaikovsky'sEugen Onegin, Wagner's Daland inDer fliegende Holländer, Heinrich inLohengrin, Marke inTristan und Isolde and Titurel inParsifal. He also performed inoperettas. In the mid-1980s, he performed as Landgrave Hermann in a complete recording of Wagner'sTannhäuser from theTheater Saarbrücken.[1] In 1989, he was awarded the titleKammersänger.[5]
From 1989 to 2007, Wewel was the presenter of the musical entertainment television programmeKein schöner Land.[1][5][6] The series ran at irregular intervals, with more than 150 episodes in total, and was produced bySaarländischer Rundfunk. Wewel took his guests to different regions of Europe and presented people, landscapes and customs. The musical part of the programme ranged from folklore typical for the region to hits, folk music and light classical music, to which Wewel often contributed songs.[5][6] It was the first music programme on television filmed at the original locations and not in the studio.[3][6]
In addition to his opera work, he also recorded numerousVolkslieder.[3]
He was married to Gisela Wewel from 1959; she died on 20 September 2014 at age 76.[5]
Wewel died on 9 May 2023, at age 88.[3][4]
Source:[9]
Source:[2]
Wewel recorded some complete operettas, and excerpts conducted byHeinz Wallberg andWilli Boskovsky, alongside sopranoAnneliese Rothenberger and baritoneHermann Prey, among others.[11][12]
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