Kieth Engen | |
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| Born | Keith Sheldon Engen (1925-04-05)5 April 1925 Frazee, Minnesota, U.S. |
| Died | 2 September 2004(2004-09-02) (aged 79) Murnau am Staffelsee, Germany |
| Other names | Stan Oliver |
| Occupation | Opera singer (bass) |
Kieth Engen (5 April 1925 – 2 September 2004) was an American operaticbass who was a member of Munich'sBavarian State Opera for decades. Although his career was based in Munich, he appeared internationally as a guest singer at major opera houses and festivals and performed and recorded many ofBach'sPassion oratorios andcantatas, primarily with the conductorKarl Richter. He was bornKeith Sheldon Engen inFrazee, Minnesota, and died inMurnau am Staffelsee, Germany at the age of 79. He was given the title ofKammersänger in 1962 and was a recipient of theBavarian Order of Merit. In the mid-1950s he also had a brief parallel career as a pop singer under the pseudonymStan Oliver.
Engen was born inFrazee, Minnesota. He came from a musical family and acquired his love for singing as a young boy. His grandfather had been a conductor and his mother was a singer and singing teacher. He graduated fromBerkeley High School and then went to theUniversity of California. He studied business administration there without much enthusiasm, but on the side studied singing with Amy McMurray who had trained in Germany underLilli Lehmann. After leaving university, he studied German language and literature inZürich on a two-year scholarship. When he returned to California he sang in local concerts and recitals and worked in a warehouse and as a chorus assistant to save enough money to train as an opera singer in Europe. Engen entered Vienna'sWiener Musikakademie in 1951 where he studied underElisabeth Radó,Tino Pattiera, and the bassPavel Ludikar, who also became his friend and role model.[1][2] His first name was originally "Keith", but after several years in Germany, he changed the spelling to "Kieth" to conform to German phonetics.[3]
Engen made his operatic debut in 1952 at theGraz Opera as Monterone inRigoletto and sang various roles with the company during that season, including Zaccaria inNabucco. It was in Graz that he met his future wife, the actress Erika Berghöfer. They married in 1953. At the time, she was a member of theBurgtheater's company in Vienna. In order to remain near her, Engen spent the next two years in Vienna singing in the American musical revues produced by theUnited States Information Service and staged byMarcel Prawy under the slogan "So singt Amerika" (So sings America).[1][2][4]
His first appearance at theBavarian State Opera came in 1954 as Bluebeard in Bartok'sBluebeard's Castle. In a March 2000 interview, Engen said that his height had got him the role. According to Engen,Hertha Töpper, who was singing Judith in the opera, was a tall woman, and the director insisted on an equally tall Bluebeard.[1] In 1955, he became a permanent member of company and went on to perform there until his retirement in 1996, appearing 2122 times in over 125 roles of the bass repertoire. His last appearance was as the Gemeindevorsteher in Reimann's operaDas Schloß. In recognition of his accomplishments he was given the titleKammersänger in 1962 and later theBavarian Order of Merit.[5][6]
In the course of his career, Engen sang most of the leading bass roles. In addition to the title role inBluebeard's Castle and Zaccaria inNabucco, these included: the Mozart roles of Count Almaviva inLe nozze di Figaro, Sarastro inDie Zauberflöte, and the title role inDon Giovanni; Rocco and Don Fernando in Beethoven'sFidelio; Marke in Wagner'sTristan und Isolde and Hunding in hisDie Walküre; Tommaso in D'Albert'sTiefland, La Roche in Richard Strauss'sCapriccio and the Music Master in hisAriadne auf Naxos; the Sultan in Rossini'sIl Turco in Italia; Enrico in Donizetti'sAnna Bolena; Ramfis in Verdi'sAida; Mephisto in Gounod'sFaust; and the Doctor in Alban Berg'sWozzeck.[2]
Although his career was primarily based in Munich, Engen also appeared as a guest singer in other German opera houses and internationally. He appeared at the Bayreuth Festival in 1958 as Heinrich inWieland Wagner's production ofLohengrin and at theSalzburg Festival in 1962 as Achior in Mozart'sBetulia liberata. He performed several times as a guest artist at theVienna State Opera from 1955 to 1972 and made his US debut in 1961 as Raymond Bidebent inSan Francisco Opera's production ofLucia di Lammermoor. During that season he also appeared there as Count Almaviva inLe nozze di Figaro, Don Fernando inFidelio, Fritz Kothner inDie Meistersinger von Nürnberg, Varlaam inBoris Godunov, and Quince inA Midsummer Night's Dream. Further international appearances included London'sRoyal Opera House (1956 and 1968),La Monnaie in Brussels (1963), theParis Opera (1963 and 1989), and theTeatro Colón in Buenos Aires (1967). He also appeared at theMaggio Musicale Fiorentino and theEdinburgh Festival.[7][2][8]
Engen took part in several world premieres, singing Emperor Rudolf in Hindemith'sDie Harmonie der Welt (1957), Alexandre Dumas inNorman Dello Joio'sBlood Moon (1961), Oceanus inCarl Orff'sPrometheus (1968), Senatspräsident inVolker David Kirchner'sBelshazar (1986), and the Czar in Penderecki'sUbu Rex (1991).[2][9]
From 1956, Engen performed and recorded many ofBach's works with theMünchener Bach-Chor, conducted byKarl Richter;[6][10] He was the soloist in Richter's first recording of theKreuzstab Cantata for bass solo in 1957,[11] among many cantatas, and he was thevox Christi (voice of Christ) in both theSt. John Passion (1960 and 1964)[12] and theSt. Matthew Passion (1958),[13] while singing the work's bass arias in a 1969 recording.[14]
In the mid-1950s Engen had a brief parallel career in Germany as a pop singer under the pseudonym "Stan Oliver". He made several recordings on thePolydor label which entered the German charts. These included "Ein Haus in Havanna" (A House in Havana) and '"Das Geisterschiff von Ohio" (The Ghost Ship from Ohio).[15] He also sang under that name in the light comedy filmsDas alte Försterhaus (1956)[16] andDer kühne Schwimmer (1957).[17]
In his retirement years, Engen taught singing and served on the juries of singing competitions.[4] He died at the age of 79 inMurnau am Staffelsee, where he and his wife had lived since 1972.[6] His obituary inDer Spiegel described him as inquisitive, secure in style and intelligent.[7][a] Ronald Adler, former artistic director at the Bavarian State Opera and longtime friend of Engen, wrote that his personality was marked by unwavering benevolence, kindness, and serene wisdom with a focus that was always on the essential—love of music, life and people.[5][b]
Engen's discography includes:
Opera
Oratorio and sacred music
