Leonardus Antony Marinus Riemens (3 December 1910 – 3 April 1985) was a Dutch

musicologist Musicology is the academic, research-based study of music, as opposed to musical composition or performance. Musicology research combines and intersects with many fields, including psychology, sociology, acoustics, neurology, natural sciences, f ...

and cultural journalist. He wrote a book about

Maria Callas Maria Callas (born Maria Anna Cecilia Sophia Kalogeropoulos; December 2, 1923 – September 16, 1977) was an American-born Greek soprano and one of the most renowned and influential opera singers of the 20th century. Many critics praised ...

, and together with

Karl-Josef Kutsch Karl-Josef Kutsch, also known as K. J. Kutsch, (born 11 May 1924) is a German physician and music biographer. With the Dutch musicologist Leo Riemens he co-authored the ''Großes Sängerlexikon'', the standard reference for opera singers. Life ...

began a reference book about opera singers in 1962, which grew to ''

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 fi ...

'', the standard reference in the field.

Background and career

Born in

Zevenbergen Zevenbergen is a Dutch city which is a part of the municipality of Moerdijk. Zevenbergen is located in the northwest of the province of North Brabant near Breda. History Zevenbergen (literal translation: Seven Mountains) is presumably named aft ...

, Riemens grew up in a family of physicians in Amsterdam. He studied musicology in Amsterdam and worked from 1931 as a feature editor for the newspaper '. Later he was a member of the extreme-right NSB. During the Second World War he worked for the nazified ''Nederlandsche Omroep''. From 1954 to 1976 he was an opera and television critic for the newspaper ''

De Telegraaf ''De Telegraaf'' (; ) is the largest Netherlands, Dutch daily morning newspaper. Haro Kraak,Gaat Paul Jansen de crisis bij De Telegraaf oplossen?, ''de Volkskrant'', 2015. Retrieved 1 August 2015. Paul Jansen has been the editor-in-chief since ...

''. Riemens published numerous articles in the professional journals ''

Opera Opera is a form of History of theatre#European theatre, Western theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by Singing, singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically ...

'', ', ''

Gramophone A phonograph, later called a gramophone, and since the 1940s a record player, or more recently a turntable, is a device for the mechanical and analogue reproduction of sound. The sound vibration waveforms are recorded as corresponding physic ...

'' and ''

Opera News ''Opera News'' was an American classical music magazine. It was published from 1936 to 2023 by the Metropolitan Opera Guild—a non-profit organization, located at Lincoln Center, that was founded to promote opera and support the Metropolitan ...

''. He wrote an opera guide and a biography about

. At Radio Hilversum he designed the series ''Uren der Zangkunst''. Riemens owned one of the largest record collections of his time. For the record series ''Lebendige Vergangenheit'' published by Jürgen Schmidt he wrote cover texts for almost unknown singers. Gottfried Cervenka
''Apropos Oper. Leo Riemens (1910–1985)''

ORF eins ORF 1 (''ORF eins'', ''Österreichischer Rundfunk 1'') is an Austrian public television channel owned by ORF (broadcaster), ORF. It was the first television channel in Austria, started in 1955, with regular programming started in 1957 when it now ...

, 14 December 2010 Riemens published a small vocal encyclopedia in German with

in 1962 under the title ''Unvergängliche Stimmen: kleines Sängerlexicon'' mmortal Voices: Concise Dictionary of Singers which was expanded in 1966 and translated into English, expanded, and annotated by Harry Earl Jones and published as ''A Concise Biographical Dictionary of Singers'' in 1969. Expanded versions in German followed in 1975 (with a supplement in 1979) and in 1982 as ''Unvergängliche Stimmen: Sängerlexikon''. After his death, this reference work was expanded into the ''

'', first published in two volumes in 1987. The fourth edition of the ''Biographical Dictionary of Singers'', in seven volumes, appeared in 2003, reissued in 2012 as an anniversary edition (''Jubiläumsausgabe'') with 18,760 entries. It is regarded as the standard reference in the field. Riemens died in

Maastricht Maastricht ( , , ; ; ; ) is a city and a Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the southeastern Netherlands. It is the capital city, capital and largest city of the province of Limburg (Netherlands), Limburg. Maastricht is loca ...

and is buried with Rietje Hendriks at the Tongerseweg cemetery. The gravestone bears the inscription ''Pace, pace, mio dio''.

Publications

* Peter van der Spek (ed.): ''Groot operaboek''. Abcoude : Uniepers, 1993 * with Karl-Josef Kutsch: ''

''. Since 1962 several editions and revised editions * ''Maria Callas''. Utrecht: Bruna, 1960 * ''De opera''. Bilthoven: Nelissen, 1958 * ''Uren der zangkunst. Opera's beroemde zangers en zangeressen''. Amsterdam: De Bezige Bij, 1954 * Thomas Russell Ybarra: ''Caruso : een gouden stem verovert de wereld''.''Caruso : een gouden stem verovert de wereld''
on Amazon Translation from the English by Leo Riemens. Bilthoven: Nelissen, 1955

References

External links

*
Riemens Collectie
muziekweb.nl (in Dutch) * {{DEFAULTSORT:Riemens, Leo 1910 births 1985 deaths People from Moerdijk Dutch musicologists Dutch music journalists 20th-century musicologists 20th-century Dutch journalists