Hans-Hermann Nissen (May 20, 1893, Danzig - March 28, 1980,

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the States of Germany, German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the List of cities in Germany by popu ...

) was a German operatic

bass-baritone A bass-baritone is a high-lying bass or low-lying "classical" baritone voice type which shares certain qualities with the true baritone voice. The term arose in the late 19th century to describe the particular type of voice required to sing thr ...

, particularly associated with

Wagner Wilhelm Richard Wagner ( ; ; 22 May 181313 February 1883) was a German composer, theatre director, polemicist, and conductor who is chiefly known for his operas (or, as some of his mature works were later known, "music dramas"). Unlike most op ...

roles, one of the leading

Wotan (''The Ring of the Nibelung''), WWV 86, is a cycle of four German-language epic music dramas composed by Richard Wagner. The works are based loosely on characters from Germanic heroic legend, namely Norse legendary sagas and the ''Nibelun ...

and Hans Sachs of the inter-war period. He studied in Berlin with Julius Raatz-Brockmann, and made his debut at the

Volksoper Berlin The Theater des Westens (Theatre of the West) is one of the most famous theatres for Musical theatre, musicals and operettas in Berlin, Germany, located at 10–12 in Charlottenburg. It was founded in 1895 for plays. The present house was opened ...

, as Kalif in ''

Der Barbier von Bagdad ''Der Barbier von Bagdad'' (''The Barber of Baghdad'') is a comic opera in two acts by Peter Cornelius to a German libretto by the composer, based on ''The Tale of the Tailor'' and ''The Barber’s Stories of his Six Brothers'' in '' One Thousand ...

'', in 1924. He joined the

Munich State Opera The Bayerische Staatsoper is a German opera company based in Munich. Its main venue is the Nationaltheater München, and its orchestra the Bayerische Staatsorchester. History The parent ensemble of the company was founded in 1653, under Ele ...

in 1925, where he remained until 1967, and was a regular guest at the

Bayreuth Festival The Bayreuth Festival (german: link=no, Bayreuther Festspiele) is a music festival held annually in Bayreuth, Germany, at which performances of operas by the 19th-century German composer Richard Wagner are presented. Wagner himself conceived ...

, where he quickly established himself as a leading Wagnerian. Beginning in 1928, he made guest appearances outside Germany, singing at the

Royal Opera House The Royal Opera House (ROH) is an opera house and major performing arts venue in Covent Garden, central London. The large building is often referred to as simply Covent Garden, after a previous use of the site. It is the home of The Royal Op ...

in London, the Paris Opéra, the Vienna State Opera, the

Salzburg Festival The Salzburg Festival (german: Salzburger Festspiele) is a prominent festival of music and drama established in 1920. It is held each summer (for five weeks starting in late July) in the Austrian town of Salzburg, the birthplace of Wolfgang Amad ...

, La Monnaie in Brussels,

La Scala La Scala (, , ; abbreviation in Italian of the official name ) is a famous opera house in Milan, Italy. The theatre was inaugurated on 3 August 1778 and was originally known as the ' (New Royal-Ducal Theatre alla Scala). The premiere performan ...

in Milan, and the

Liceo The Gran Teatre del Liceu (, English: Great Theatre of the Lyceum), known as ''El Liceu'', is an opera house in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. Located in La Rambla, it is the oldest running theatre in Barcelona. Founded in 1837 at another loca ...

in Barcelona. He made his American debut at the

Chicago Civic Opera The Civic Opera Company (1922–1931) was a Chicago company that produced seven seasons of grand opera in the Auditorium Theatre from 1922 to 1928, and three seasons at its own Civic Opera House from 1929 to 1931 before falling victim to financia ...

in 1930, and at the New York

Metropolitan Opera The Metropolitan Opera (commonly known as the Met) is an American opera company based in New York City, resident at the Metropolitan Opera House at Lincoln Center, currently situated on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. The company is operat ...

in 1938. Beside Wotan and Sachs, other notable roles included;

Wolfram Wolfram may refer to: * Wolfram (name) * Wolfram, an alternative name for the chemical element tungsten * Wolfram Research, a software company known for the symbolic computation program Mathematica ** Wolfram Language, the programming language use ...

, Telramund, Kurwenal, Dutchman in '' The Flying Dutchman'', Orest in '' Elektra'', and Barak in ''

Die Frau ohne Schatten ' (''The Woman without a Shadow''), Op. 65, is an opera in three acts by Richard Strauss with a libretto by his long-time collaborator, the poet Hugo von Hofmannsthal. It was written between 1911 and either 1915 or 1917. When it premiered at the ...

''. He also tackled a few

Verdi Giuseppe Fortunino Francesco Verdi (; 9 or 10 October 1813 – 27 January 1901) was an Italian composer best known for his operas. He was born near Busseto to a provincial family of moderate means, receiving a musical education with the h ...

roles such as di Luna,

Renato Renatus is a first name of Latin origin which means " born again" (natus = born). In Italian, Portuguese and Spanish it exists in masculine and feminine forms: Renato and Renata. In French they have been translated to René and Renée. Renata is ...

Amonasro ''Aida'' (or ''Aïda'', ) is an opera in four acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Antonio Ghislanzoni. Set in the Old Kingdom of Egypt, it was commissioned by Cairo's Khedivial Opera House and had its première there on 24 Decembe ...

, among others. Nissen possessed a rich and sonorous voice and an imposing stage presence.

Sources

Operissimo.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nissen, Hans-Hermann 1893 births 1980 deaths Operatic bass-baritones 20th-century German male opera singers