Bartel, Reinhold

Opera singer (tenor)

born: 01.03.1926 in Trier

died: 10.08.1996 in Wiesbaden

Bartel sang Rosillon in Lehár's operetta "Die lustige Witwe" at the theater in Bonn while he was still a student at the Cologne University of Music. He began his stage career in 1953 at the Stadttheater Trier; in 1956 he moved to the Hessisches Staatstheater Wiesbaden, where he remained until his retirement in 1977. He became famous as a lyric tenor in the title role of Handel's opera "Xerxes", as Idamante in "Idomeneo", Don Ottavio in "Don Giovanni" and Tamino in "The Magic Flute" by Mozart or as Lenski in "Eugene Onegin" by Tchaikovsky. He later also sang character roles such as the Hauptmann in Alban Berg's "Wozzeck" and Schwalb in Hindemith's "Mathis der Maler".

His participation in the world premiere of Wilhelm Killmayer's opera "Yolimba" is worth mentioning. Bartel was also an esteemed operetta singer and occasionally made forays into pop music and television entertainment programs. In addition to his stage presence, he also had a successful career as a concert and oratorio singer. From 1976, Bartel worked as a teacher at the University of Mainz.