Wolfgang Brendel appears in Operas world-wide, and teaches master classes in Europe and the United States
Photo: Home in Boston, MA 2009
WOLFGANG BRENDEL: Biography in Brief
Wolfgang Brendel is one of the most sought-after baritones of his generation. Born in Munich, Brendel was handpicked at the age of 16 to attend the Wiesbaden Conservatory of Music. Brendel debuted as Gugliemo in Cosi fan Tutte at the Pfalztheater Kaiserslautern in 1969, where he was discovered by the General Director of the Bavarian State Opera, Dr. Güenther Rennert, and the renowned conductor, Wolfgang Sawallisch, who brought him to perform at the Bayerischestaatsoper in Munich. Since then Brendel has worked with world famous conductors and companies throughout a lauded career that has brought him to perform at major opera houses worldwide. This wealth of experience has contributed to his effectiveness as a teacher and mentor to American and International students alike.
In 1997 Brendel began a second career as Professor of Voice at the University of Music and Performing Arts, University in Munich. He regularly conducts seminars and master classes in the United States and abroad. Brendel continues to perform opera and lieder.
SELECTED PERFORMANCE ACHIEVEMENTS
Throughout an illustrious career Wolfgang Brendel has performed up to 80 roles and has worked with some of the world’s most highly regarded Directors and Conductors of modern Opera.
DIRECTORS
David
Alden, Robert
Wilson, David
Pountney,
Walter Felsenstein,
Jean-Pierre
Ponnelle,
Guenther
Rennert,
Giorgio Strehler,
Otto Schenk,
Franco Zeffirelli,
Goetz Friedrich,
among others.
CONDUCTORS
Stefan
Soltzes,
Giuseppe
Sinopoli,
Daniele
Gatti,
Wolfgang
Sawallisch,
Horst
Stein,
Carlos
Kleiber,
Ferdinand
Leitner,
Carlo
Maria
Giulini,
Riccardo
Muti,
Claudio
Abbado,
Sir George
Solti,
Donald
Runnicles,
Simone
Young,
James
Levine,
and Zubin
Mehta,
among
others.
OPERA HOUSES
Metropolitan
Opera,
New York,
New York;
Staatsoper
Wien,
Vienna,
Austria;
Covent
Gardens,
London,
England;
Bayerische
Staatsoper,
Munich,
Germany;
Chicago
Opera
House,
Chicago,
IL; Scala
di Milano,
Milan,
Italy;
Staatsoper
Berlin,
Berlin
Germany;
New National
Theater,
Tokyo,
Japan,
among
others.
HONORS & AWARDS
Federal Cross of Merit, Berlin, Germany, Presented by German government for outstanding service in the arts, 1995
BAVARIAN
STATE OPERA, Munich,
Germany, Kammersänger, 1977
Youngest
singer,
to date,
to receive
this title.
UNIVERSITY
FOR MUSIC, Manheim,
Germany,
International
Vocal Competition,
First Prize
EDUCATION
Conservatory
Wiesbaden,
Germany,
Full
Scholarship
for the
Gifted,
1964-1969,
Studied
under
Professor
Rolff
Sartorius.