Death of a leading Heldentenor, 83

Death of a leading Heldentenor, 83

RIP

norman lebrecht

October 09, 2023

A stalwart of the Berlin State Opera, the tenor Reiner Goldberg died this weekend, days before his 84th birthday.

He was first engaged at Bayreuth as Siegfried in 1983 but was rejected by the conductor Georg Solti. Re-engaged in 1986 as Tannhäuser, he made his Siegfried debut in a 1988 Ring conducted by Barenboim, with whom he worked closely in Berlin. He sang major Wagner roles at the Met and Covent Garden, making his farewell appearance three years ago in a small role in Fidelio.

Comments

  • A.L. says:

    Fortunately, Reiner Goldberg is featured in many commercial recordings. May he rest in peace.

  • msc says:

    His Florestan in Haitink’s recording (with Norman) is very good. His worn voice and its imperfections were actually an asset there as one could believe the character were a weakened and abused prisoner.

  • Guus Mostart says:

    He was not rejected by Solti but sacked after the disastrous dress rehearsal of Siegfried in Bayreuth.

  • Anthony Sayer says:

    Reiner Goldberg was a legend. It was a shame he had such problems with nerves. I have several colleagues who remember him very fondly from Bayreuth and Berlin. RIP, and thank you.

  • Joel Kemelhor says:

    Reiner Goldberg’s non-Wagnerian roles included Bacchus in the Strauss opera DAPHNE, which he recorded for EMI with Bernard Haitink and Lucia Popp.

    • Anthony Sayer says:

      I hadn’t realised that Bacchus had made a guest appearance in Daphne. Apollo probably had something to say about that and I imagine he was missed on Naxos.

  • Ernest Blanc says:

    He was Siegfried in the Levine Ring recording and Siegmund in the Haitink Walkure

  • IP says:

    Well, Solti also rejected Björling, didn’t he. The most memorable event in his much too long career.

    • Tom Phillips says:

      As was his wont, Bjorling showed up drunk to the Decca Ballo recording sessions. Replaced by the exemplary Bergonzi, hardly a tragic outcome. Solti will be remembered far longer than any contemporary conductor especially for his legendary Ring cycle.

  • Novagerio says:

    The true story was, that Solti had finally – in his own words – found “a true Heldentenor”, but it showed soon that Goldberg had problems memorising both Siegfrieds.

    • Guus Mostart says:

      Not only musically but also dramatically. Goldberg could not remember his moves, which drove Peter Hall to despair. Intellectually, he was not really involved in the production and showed no interest in interacting with Hildegard Behrens as Brünnhilde. Decca made recordings of various rehearsals in the Festspielhaus but on the order of Wolfgang Wagner and after Goldberg left the production, they were never released. If you are interested you should read Stephen Fay’s riveting book “The Ring, Anatomy of an Opera” which gives a full account of the Hall/Solti Ring.

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