Heinrich Bensing (26 July 1911 – 30 December 1955) was a German opera singer.

Life

Bensing was born in

Metz Metz ( , , lat, Divodurum Mediomatricorum, then ) is a city in northeast France located at the confluence of the Moselle and the Seille rivers. Metz is the prefecture of the Moselle department and the seat of the parliament of the Grand E ...

. After the Second World War, he had guest contracts with the

Hamburg State Opera The Hamburg State Opera (in German: Staatsoper Hamburg) is a German opera company based in Hamburg. Its theatre is near the square of Gänsemarkt. Since 2015, the current ''Intendant'' of the company is Georges Delnon, and the current ''General ...

(1947-1955), with the Vienna State Opera (1949-1954) and with the Cologne Opera House. After 1945 he sang ''Don José'' in ''

Carmen ''Carmen'' () is an opera in four acts by the French composer Georges Bizet. The libretto was written by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy, based on the Carmen (novella), novella of the same title by Prosper Mérimée. The opera was first perfo ...

'', the title role in '' The Tales of Hoffmann'', the Duke of Mantua in '' Rigoletto'', Radames in '' Aida'', the title role in ''

Don Carlos ''Don Carlos'' is a five-act grand opera composed by Giuseppe Verdi to a French-language libretto by Joseph Méry and Camille du Locle, based on the dramatic play '' Don Carlos, Infant von Spanien'' (''Don Carlos, Infante of Spain'') by Friedri ...

'' and Pinkerton in ''

Madama Butterfly ''Madama Butterfly'' (; ''Madame Butterfly'') is an opera in three acts (originally two) by Giacomo Puccini, with an Italian libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa. It is based on the short story "Madame Butterfly" (1898) by John Luther ...

''. He died in

Frankfurt Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , "Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on its na ...

at age 42.

Repertoire

Bensing was especially considered a valued singer in the Italian repertoire. He belonged to the "small circle of German tenors who possessed vocal brilliance and power for the great parts of Italian opera."

Recordings

On the occasion of the re-release of this radio production of ''

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 ...

'' from the year 1950 (Symphonie-Orchester des Hessischen Rundfunks, conductor: Winfried Zillig) on CD, Bensing's "experience in the Italian sector", his "largely effortless mastery of the unpleasant tessitura" and his " easily understandable youthful heroic tenor" were particularly praised.''Live-Goodies off the beaten track''
review in ''Online Musik Magazin'', 2004

Sources

* Karl-Josef Kutsch,

Leo Riemens Leonardus Antony Marinus Riemens (3 December 1910 – 3 April 1985) was a Dutch musicologist and cultural journalist. He wrote a book about Maria Callas, and together with Karl-Josef Kutsch began a reference book about opera singers in 1962, which ...

: ''

Großes Sängerlexikon ''Großes Sängerlexikon'' (''Biographical Dictionary of Singers'', literally: Large singers' lexicon) is a single-field dictionary of singers in classical music, edited by Karl-Josef Kutsch and Leo Riemens and first published in 1987. The first ...

''. Third, extended edition. Munich 1999. Volume 1: Aarden–Davis, . *

References

External links

*
Heinrich Bensing
on Forgotten opera singers
Heinrich Bensing ''Durch die Wälder, durch die Auen'' Der Freischütz
(YouTube) {{DEFAULTSORT:Bensing, heinrich 1911 births 1955 deaths Musicians from Metz German operatic tenors 20th-century German male opera singers