Kurt Huber (born 4 May 1937) is a Swiss tenor for concert and

Lied In Western classical music tradition, (, plural ; , plural , ) is a term for setting poetry to classical music to create a piece of polyphonic music. The term is used for any kind of song in contemporary German, but among English and French s ...

er.

Career

Born in

Zürich Zürich () is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zürich. It is located in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zürich. As of January 2020, the municipality has 43 ...

, Kurt Huber studied

voice The human voice consists of sound made by a human being using the vocal tract, including talking, singing, laughing, crying, screaming, shouting, humming or yelling. The human voice frequency is specifically a part of human sound production in ...

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

with

Anton Dermota Kammersänger Anton Dermota (June 4, 1910 – June 22, 1989) was a Slovene lyric tenor. Early life He was born in a poor family in the Upper Carniolan village of Kropa in what was then the Austro-Hungarian Empire (and is now in Slove ...

.Kurt Huber
on bach-cantatas He performed solo parts in works of

Johann Sebastian Bach Johann Sebastian Bach (28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque period. He is known for his orchestral music such as the '' Brandenburg Concertos''; instrumental compositions such as the Cello Suites; keyboard w ...

, especially the

Evangelist Evangelist may refer to: Religion * Four Evangelists, the authors of the canonical Christian Gospels * Evangelism, publicly preaching the Gospel with the intention of spreading the teachings of Jesus Christ * Evangelist (Anglican Church), a c ...

in his

passions ''Passions'' is an American television soap opera that originally aired on NBC from July 5, 1999, to September 7, 2007, and on DirecTV's The 101 Network from September 17, 2007, to August 7, 2008. Created by screenwriter James E. Reilly and pro ...

and

oratorio An oratorio () is a large musical composition for orchestra, choir, and soloists. Like most operas, an oratorio includes the use of a choir, soloists, an instrumental ensemble, various distinguishable characters, and arias. However, opera is mus ...

s. On 19 March 1967 he performed the Evangelist in the ''

St Matthew Passion The ''St Matthew Passion'' (german: Matthäus-Passion, links=-no), BWV 244, is a '' Passion'', a sacred oratorio written by Johann Sebastian Bach in 1727 for solo voices, double choir and double orchestra, with libretto by Picander. It sets ...

'' in the Tonhalle Zürich with the Zuercher Bach Chor. He sang in the Konstantinbasilika with the Trierer Bachchor, in 1971 in the ''

Christmas Oratorio The ''Christmas Oratorio'' (German: ''Weihnachtsoratorium''), , is an oratorio by Johann Sebastian Bach intended for performance in church during the Christmas season. It is in six parts, each part a cantata intended for performance on one of t ...

'', along with

Julia Hamari Julia Hamari (born 21 November 1942) is a Hungarian mezzo-soprano and alto singer in opera and concert, appearing internationally. She is an academic voice teacher in Stuttgart. Professional career Julia Hamari was born in Budapest where she re ...

, in 1973 in the '' St. John Passion'', with

Wolfgang Schöne Wolfgang Schöne (born 9 February 1940) is a German bass-baritone in opera and concert. Career Schöne was born in Bad Gandersheim. He began his studies of voice at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater Hannover with Naan Põld in 1964 and mo ...

, and in 1980 in the ''St. Matthew Passion'', with

Hildegard Laurich Hildegard Laurich (15 January 1941 – 11 February 2009), was a German classical contralto singer. Professional career Born in Halle, Laurich studied at the Hochschule für Musik Detmold, in Berlin with Hermann Weissenborn, and in private study ...

. He sang the ''St John Passion'' in

Ulm Ulm () is a city in the German state of Baden-Württemberg, situated on the river Danube on the border with Bavaria. The city, which has an estimated population of more than 126,000 (2018), forms an urban district of its own (german: link=no, ...

with the choir Ulmer Kantorei on 4 May 1985. Kurt Huber frequently performed the tenor part in the recordings of

Bach cantata The cantatas composed by Johann Sebastian Bach, known as Bach cantatas (German: ), are a body of work consisting of over 200 surviving independent works, and at least several dozen that are considered lost. As far as known, Bach's earliest can ...

s with the Heinrich-Schütz-Chor Heilbronn, the

Pforzheim Chamber Orchestra Pforzheim Chamber Orchestra (full German name: Südwestdeutsches Kammerorchester Pforzheim; full English name: South-west German Chamber Orchestra Pforzheim) is an internationally known German chamber orchestra based in Pforzheim. History The or ...

and

Fritz Werner Fritz Werner (15 December 1898 – 22 December 1977) was a German choral conductor, church music director, conductor, organist and composer. He founded the Heinrich-Schütz-Chor Heilbronn in 1947 and conducted it until 1973. Career Born in Berli ...

, also the Evangelist of Bach's ''

Ascension Oratorio Ascension or ascending may refer to: Religion * "Ascension", "Assumption", or "Translation", the belief in some religions that some individuals have ascended into Heaven without dying first * Ascension of Jesus * Feast of the Ascension (Ascen ...

''. A reviewer described his performance:

He sings with excellent, plangent tone and is wonderfully fluent in the very difficult chromatics of his aria ... Much though I admire
Helmut Krebs Helmut is a German name. Variants include Hellmut, Helmuth, and Hellmuth. From old German, the first element deriving from either ''heil'' ("healthy") or ''hiltja'' ("battle"), and the second from ''muot'' ("spirit, mind, mood"). Helmut may refer ...
I think that Huber actually makes a more ingratiating sound. He seems, dare I say it, more polished than his distinguished colleague and his voice is certainly more even.

Kurt Huber has appeared in Handel's oratorios ''

Messiah In Abrahamic religions, a messiah or messias (; , ; , ; ) is a saviour or liberator of a group of people. The concepts of ''mashiach'', messianism, and of a Messianic Age originated in Judaism, and in the Hebrew Bible, in which a ''mashiach'' ...

'', ''

Judas Maccabaeus Judah Maccabee (or Judas Maccabeus, also spelled Machabeus, or Maccabæus, Hebrew: יהודה המכבי, ''Yehudah HaMakabi'') was a Jewish priest (''kohen'') and a son of the priest Mattathias. He led the Maccabean Revolt against the Seleu ...

'', ''

Israel in Egypt ''Israel in Egypt'', HWV 54, is a biblical oratorio by the composer George Frideric Handel. Most scholars believe the libretto was prepared by Charles Jennens, who also compiled the biblical texts for Handel's ''Messiah''. It is composed ent ...

'', ''

Samson Samson (; , '' he, Šīmšōn, label= none'', "man of the sun") was the last of the judges of the ancient Israelites mentioned in the Book of Judges (chapters 13 to 16) and one of the last leaders who "judged" Israel before the institution o ...

'', ''

Saul Saul (; he, , ; , ; ) was, according to the Hebrew Bible, the first monarch of the United Kingdom of Israel. His reign, traditionally placed in the late 11th century BCE, supposedly marked the transition of Israel and Judah from a scattered tri ...

'' and ''

Joshua Joshua () or Yehoshua ( ''Yəhōšuaʿ'', Tiberian: ''Yŏhōšuaʿ,'' lit. 'Yahweh is salvation') ''Yēšūaʿ''; syr, ܝܫܘܥ ܒܪ ܢܘܢ ''Yəšūʿ bar Nōn''; el, Ἰησοῦς, ar , يُوشَعُ ٱبْنُ نُونٍ '' Yūšaʿ ...

''. He sang in Haydn's '' The Creation'' and '' The Seasons'', in Mozart's masses and ''

Requiem A Requiem or Requiem Mass, also known as Mass for the dead ( la, Missa pro defunctis) or Mass of the dead ( la, Missa defunctorum), is a Mass of the Catholic Church offered for the repose of the soul or souls of one or more deceased persons, ...

'', Beethoven's '' 9th Symphony'' and ''

Missa solemnis {{Audio, De-Missa solemnis.ogg, Missa solemnis is Latin for Solemn Mass, and is a genre of musical settings of the Mass Ordinary, which are festively scored and render the Latin text extensively, opposed to the more modest Missa brevis. In French ...

''. Oratorios from the period of

Romanticism Romanticism (also known as the Romantic movement or Romantic era) was an artistic, literary, musical, and intellectual movement that originated in Europe towards the end of the 18th century, and in most areas was at its peak in the approximate ...

have included Liszt's ''

Christus Christus may refer to: * Christ (title) People * Petrus Christus (c. 1410s – c. 1475), Dutch painter * Sir Christus (1978–2017), Finnish musician Music * ''Christus'' (Liszt), an oratorio * ''Christus'' (Mendelssohn), an unfinished oratorio ...

'' and Mendelssohn's ''

Elijah Elijah ( ; he, אֵלִיָּהוּ, ʾĒlīyyāhū, meaning "My God is Yahweh/YHWH"; Greek form: Elias, ''Elías''; syr, ܐܸܠܝܼܵܐ, ''Elyāe''; Arabic: إلياس or إليا, ''Ilyās'' or ''Ilyā''. ) was, according to the Books of ...

'' and '' Paulus''. He has performed in Bruckner's masses, Dvořák's

and ''

Stabat Mater The Stabat Mater is a 13th-century Christian hymn to Mary, which portrays her suffering as Jesus Christ's mother during his crucifixion. Its author may be either the Franciscan friar Jacopone da Todi or Pope Innocent III.Sabatier, Paul ''Life o ...

'', Verdi's

and works by

Gustav Mahler Gustav Mahler (; 7 July 1860 – 18 May 1911) was an Austro-Bohemian Romantic composer, and one of the leading conductors of his generation. As a composer he acted as a bridge between the 19th-century Austro-German tradition and the modernism ...

and Franz Schmidt. In 1963 Kurt Huber participated in the Swiss premiere of Mozart's '' Apollo und Hyacinth''. With the Heinrich-Schütz-Chor

Heilbronn Heilbronn () is a List of cities and towns in Germany, city in northern Baden-Württemberg, Germany, surrounded by Heilbronn (district), Heilbronn District. With over 126,000 residents, it is the sixth-largest city in the state. From the late Mid ...

he sang in concert Bach's '' Hohe Messe in h-moll'' with Herrad Wehrung,

Claudia Hellmann Claudia Hellmann (25 November 1923 – 24 May 2017) Death notice
''

...

Jakob Stämpfli Jakob Stämpfli (23 February 1820 – 15 May 1879) was a Swiss politician and member of the Swiss Federal Council (1854–1863). He was elected to the Federal Council of Switzerland on 6 December 1854, and handed over office on 31 December 1863. ...

Maurice André Maurice André (21 May 1933 – 25 February 2012) was a French trumpeter, active in the classical music field. He was professor of trumpet at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique in Paris where he introduced the teaching of the pic ...

(trumpet),

Hermann Baumann Hermann Baumann may refer to: * Hermann Baumann (social anthropologist) (1902–1972), German Africa expert * Hermann Baumann (musician) Hermann Baumann (born 1 August 1934) is a German horn player. Biography After starting his musical career ...

(horn), the Württembergisches Kammerorchester Heilbronn, conducted by Fritz Werner in 1967, in Mendelssohn's ''Elias'' with

Siegmund Nimsgern Siegmund Nimsgern (born 14 January 1940) is a German bass-baritone, born in Sankt Wendel, Saarland, Germany. After leaving school in 1960 he studied singing and musical education at the Hochschule für Musik Saar with Sibylle Fuchs, Jakob St� ...

in the title role in 1968, and in Handel's ''Messias'' with the Württembergisches Kammerorchester Heilbronn in 1985, also in the Stadtkirche

Bad Wimpfen Bad Wimpfen () is a historic spa town in the district of Heilbronn in the Baden-Württemberg region of southern Germany. It lies north of the city of Heilbronn, on the river Neckar. Geography Bad Wimpfen is located on the west bank of the River ...

. With the choir Philharmonischer Chor

Schwäbisch Gmünd Schwäbisch Gmünd (, until 1934: Gmünd; Swabian: ''Gmẽẽd'' or ''Gmend'') is a city in the eastern part of the German state of Baden-Württemberg. With a population of around 60,000, the city is the second largest in the Ostalb district a ...

he performed Haydn's ''Die Schöpfung'' (The Creation) in 1971 with

Ursula Buckel Ursula Buckel (11 February 1926 – 5 December 2005) was a German soprano singer, known for singing works of Johann Sebastian Bach. Career Born in the Thuringian town of Lauscha, Ursula Buckel studied singing in the School of Church Music in B ...

and

Roland Hermann Roland Hermann (born 17 September 1936; died 17 November 2020) was a German operatic baritone and former professor at the Hochschule für Musik Karlsruhe. A member of the Opernhaus Zürich, he performed leading roles internationally, not only in ...

Bruckner Josef Anton Bruckner (; 4 September 182411 October 1896) was an Austrian composer, organist, and music theorist best known for his symphonies, masses, Te Deum and motets. The first are considered emblematic of the final stage of Austro-Germ ...

's Mass No. 3 and

Te Deum The "Te Deum" (, ; from its incipit, , ) is a Latin Christian hymn traditionally ascribed to AD 387 authorship, but with antecedents that place it much earlier. It is central to the Ambrosian hymnal, which spread throughout the Latin Chur ...

with

Kari Løvaas Kari Løvaas (born 13 May 1939) is a Norwegian operatic soprano who made an international career outside Scandinavia, mostly using the German spelling of her name, Kari Lövaas. She has performed at international festivals such as the Salzburg Fes ...

Hildegard Rütgers Hildegard Rütgers (born 1930) is a German classical contralto singer in opera and concert. She began her training with Hermann Weißenborn in Berlin, then studied briefly in Italy and then with Hilde Wesselmann at the Folkwangschule in Essen. A ...

and

Günter Reich Günter Reich (22 November 1921 – 15 January 1989), also spelled Günther Reich and Gunther Reich, was an Israeli baritone of German birth. He was a member of the Staatsoper Stuttgart for more than 20 years and is known for interpreting the wo ...

, and Verdi's ''Messa da Requiem'' in 1987, also in the Münster of the

Zwiefalten Abbey Zwiefalten Abbey (german: Kloster Zwiefalten, Abtei Zwiefalten or after 1750, ) is a former Benedictine monastery situated at Zwiefalten near Reutlingen in Baden-Württemberg in Germany. History The monastery was founded in 1089 at the time of ...

. In 1982 he performed the tenor part of Puccini's ''

Messa di Gloria ''Messa di Gloria'' is a nine movement mass, composed by Gioacchino Rossini for the Arciconfraternità di San Luigi. First performed on 24 March 1820 in the Chiesa di San Ferdinando in Naples, it is in the traditional form of a "Gloria" mass, ...

''.Konzerte
concerts of Oratorienchor

Ellwangen Ellwangen an der Jagst, officially Ellwangen (Jagst), in common use simply Ellwangen () is a town in the district of Ostalbkreis in the east of Baden-Württemberg in Germany. It is situated about north of Aalen. Ellwangen has 25,000 inhabitants. ...

(in German) Kurt Huber has been a teacher at the Musikhochschule Zürich.

Recordings

Huber's recordings besides Bach have included rare repertoire such as Carissimi's oratorio '' Jephte'', a ''

Magnificat The Magnificat (Latin for "

y soul Y, or y, is the twenty-fifth and penultimate letter of the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. According to some authorities, it is the sixth (or seventh ...

magnifies

he Lord He or HE may refer to: Language * He (pronoun), an English pronoun * He (kana), the romanization of the Japanese kana へ * He (letter), the fifth letter of many Semitic alphabets * He (Cyrillic), a letter of the Cyrillic script called ''He'' ...

) is a canticle, also known as the Song of Mary, the Canticle of Mary and, in the Eastern Christianity, Byzantine tradition, the Ode of the Theotokos (). It is traditionally incorporated ...

'' of

Claudio Monteverdi Claudio Giovanni Antonio Monteverdi (baptized 15 May 1567 – 29 November 1643) was an Italian composer, choirmaster and string player. A composer of both secular and sacred music, and a pioneer in the development of opera, he is considered ...

and a

Magnificat The Magnificat (Latin for "

magnifies

) is a canticle, also known as the Song of Mary, the Canticle of Mary and, in the Eastern Christianity, Byzantine tradition, the Ode of the Theotokos (). It is traditionally incorporated ...

Heinrich Schütz Heinrich Schütz (; 6 November 1672) was a German early Baroque composer and organist, generally regarded as the most important German composer before Johann Sebastian Bach, as well as one of the most important composers of the 17th century. He ...

, all with the Spandauer Kantorei and

Helmuth Rilling Helmuth Rilling (born 29 May 1933) is a German choral conductor and an academic teacher. He is the founder of the Gächinger Kantorei (1954), the Bach-Collegium Stuttgart (1965), the Oregon Bach Festival (1970), the Internationale Bachakademie S ...

, German Lieder by

Ludwig Senfl Ludwig Senfl (born around 1486, died between December 2, 1542 and August 10, 1543) was a Swiss composer of the Renaissance, active in Germany. He was the most famous pupil of Heinrich Isaac, was music director to the court of Maximilian I, Holy R ...

, and the oratorio ''Das Gesicht Jesajas'' (The Vision of

Isaiah Isaiah ( or ; he, , ''Yəšaʿyāhū'', "God is Salvation"), also known as Isaias, was the 8th-century BC Israelite prophet after whom the Book of Isaiah is named. Within the text of the Book of Isaiah, Isaiah himself is referred to as "the ...

) op. 41 of

Willy Burkhard Willy Burkhard (17 April 1900 – 18 June 1955) was a Swiss composer and academic teacher, influential in both capacities. He taught music theory at the Berne Conservatory and the Zürich Conservatory. His works include an opera, oratorios, cantat ...

, with

Adele Stolte Adele Stolte (12 October 1932 – 26 September 2020) was a German soprano singer in concert and Lieder, and an academic voice teacher. Biography Born in Sperenberg, Stolte attended schools in Lübeck and Potsdam. She studied voice with Anneli ...

and the Berner Symphonieorchester conducted by

Martin Flämig Martin Flämig (19 August 1913, in Aue – 13 January 1998, in Dresden) was a German church musician, and the cantor of the Dresdner Kreuzchor from 1971 to 1991. Biography Martin Flämig studied since 1934 in Dresden with Alfred Stier and in Le ...

References

External links

Entries for recordings by Kurt Huber
on

WorldCat WorldCat is a union catalog that itemizes the collections of tens of thousands of institutions (mostly libraries), in many countries, that are current or past members of the OCLC global cooperative. It is operated by OCLC, Inc. Many of the OCL ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Huber, Kurt 1937 births Living people Swiss academics Swiss tenors