René Kollo
As the grandson of operetta composer Walter Kollo (1878 - 1940) and the son of Willi Kollo, likewise a composer of light music, René Kollo began his career as a pop singer and operetta tenor. He made the transition to concert and opera in 1965, at Brunswick, singing the title role in Stravinsky's Oedipus rex. In 1969, he attracted international attention at Bayreuth as the Steersman in Wagner's Der fliegende Holländer, and in 1970 debuted at La Scala as Matteo in Richard Strauss' Arabella.
Although not yet a "dramatic tenor" (and never a true Heldentenor despite his repertoire later on), the die had been cast. Kollo sang Lohengrin in 1971 -- also his American debut role at the Met in 1976 -- then Walther in Die Meistersinger in 1973, Parsifal in Wolfgang Wagner's new Bayreuth production in 1975, and a year later Siegfried in Patrice Chéreau's centennial staging of Der Ring at Bayreuth, conducted by Pierre Boulez. For his London debut, he switched from Siegfried to Siegmund in Die Walküre, later adding Tristan to his Wagner repertoire in Jean-Pierre Ponnelle's scandalous Bayreuth production of 1981. At Geneva he performed Tannhäuser for the first time in 1986, and even sang in a complete production of Wagner's Rienzi, a five-act marathon that daunted bigger voices than Kollo's.
By no means, however, was Wagner his only operatic specialty: He sang Paul in Korngold's Die tote Stadt for the Munich Radio in 1974, then Florestan in Bernstein's 1978 Fidelio at the Vienna Staatsoper for Unitel, which also preserved his Matteo in Arabella under Solti, and Bacchus in Strauss' Ariadne auf Naxos under Böhm. Kollo's repertory embraced Gherman in Tchaikovsky's Pique Dame, Canio in Pagliacci, Dmitri in Boris Godunov, the title role in Pfitzner's Palestrina, and at age 51 Otello in Frankfurt for the first time. At Munich in 1991 he scored a personal triumph in Britten's Peter Grimes.
As a concert singer, Kollo recorded Mahler's Eighth Symphony in Vienna with Solti and the Chicago Symphony (on tour); also Das Lied von der Erde with Bernstein in Israel. He was the tenor soloist in Bernstein's Vienna recordings of the Beethoven Ninth and Missa solemnis as well as the Ninth in Berlin for Unitel with Karajan conducting. He became a regular in Karajan's "repertory company" of the 1970s and early '80s.
Contributing to Kollo's success were his physical trimness and good looks, even in middle age, and his uncommon gifts as an actor, even after the voice had developed a widening vibrato and tonal rawness in the upper register. Though it was already evident before age 35, Kollo could minimize Wagnerian wear-and-tear by lightening his voice in frequent operetta appearances (as the Chinese prince in Das Land des Lächelns, Wiener Blut, Gräfin Mariza, Csárdásfürstin, La belle Hélène, and of course Die Fledermaus); several of these are preserved on video.
In the final period, before retiring from the stage in June 2000, he was a member of the Deutsche Oper in Berlin, although he began staging operas at Darmstadt in 1986 (Parsifal), and Ulm in 1991 (d'Albert's Tiefland). For one unsuccessful season (1996 - 1997) he was director of Berlin's Metropol Theater, which specialized in operettas but had deteriorated between 1961 and the reunification of East and West. Today he calls the island of Majorca home, but claims it bores him except for the sun. Like Giuseppe di Stefano earlier on, he continues to sing light music within the current restrictions of a voice put to hard use for 30 years in the Heldentenor wars.
© TiVo
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Discography
21 album(s) • Sorted by Bestseller
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Beethoven: Mass In D, Op.123 "Missa Solemnis" (Live)
Edda Moser, Hanna Schwarz, René Kollo, Kurt Moll, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Leonard Bernstein
Classical - Released by Deutsche Grammophon (DG) on Jul 18, 1979
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Wagner: Die Meistersinger Von Nurnberg
Norman Bailey, Bernd Weikl, René Kollo, Hannelore Bode, Wiener Philharmonic Orchestra, Sir Georg Solti
Classical - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on Jan 1, 1976
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Mahler: Das Lied von der Erde
Christa Ludwig, René Kollo, Berliner Philharmoniker, Herbert von Karajan
Classical - Released by Deutsche Grammophon (DG) on Jan 1, 1975
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
WAGNER, R.: Opera Arias (Kollo, Berlin Staatskapelle, Suitner)
René Kollo, Staatskapelle Berlin, Otmar Suitner
Opera - Released by Eterna on Jan 1, 1975
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Schlagererfolge
Pop - Released by 2014 Autarc Media GmbH, CH. on Feb 7, 2016
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Meine große Liebe
Germany - Released by TELAMO - WM Germany on Sep 4, 2020
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Romantische Abendlieder
René Kollo, Jay Alexander, Mitteldeutsches Kammerorchester
Classical - Released by Berlin Classics on Feb 11, 2022
24-Bit 88.2 kHz - Stereo -
Wagner : Tannhäuser
Helga Dernesch, René Kollo, Sir Georg Solti, Wiener Philharmonic Orchestra
Full Operas - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on Nov 3, 1971
The Qobuz Essential Discography16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
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Weill: The Threepenny Opera
Classical - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on Jan 1, 1988
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Weber: Der Freischütz
Classical - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on Jan 1, 1980
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Meeting Venus (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) [Highlights from Wagner’s Tannhäuser]
Kiri Te Kanawa, René Kollo, Hakan Hagegard, Waltraud Meier, Philharmonia Orchestra, Marek Janowski
Film Soundtracks - Released by Warner Classics on Jan 1, 1991
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
WAGNER, R.: Opera Arias (Kollo)
René Kollo, Staatskapelle Berlin, Otmar Suitner
Opera - Released by Eterna on Jan 1, 1975
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
René Kollo - From Mary Lou To Meistersinger
Classical - Released by Deutsche Grammophon (DG) on Nov 10, 2017
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Fernsehwunschkonzert mit
Germany - Released by DA Records on Mar 24, 2006
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Yvonne Minton Sings Mahler
Sir Georg Solti, Chicago Symphony Orchestra (CSO), René Kollo, Yvonne Minton
Classical - Released by Universal Music Australia Pty. Ltd. on Sep 14, 2018
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Kurt Weill: Die Dreigroschenoper
Ute Lemper, René Kollo, Milva, Rias-Sinfonietta Berlin, John Mauceri
Classical - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on Jan 1, 1988
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
René Kollo singt Wagner & Strauss
Classical - Released by Warner Classics on Jan 14, 2013
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Wie könnt' ich von dir gehen
Germany - Released by DA Records on Oct 28, 2002
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
SCHUBERT, F.: Winterreise (Kollo, Pohl)
Vocal Music (Secular and Sacred) - Released by Oehms Classics on Jan 1, 2004
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
René Kollo: Essential Recordings
Classical - Released by UME - Global Clearing House on Nov 18, 2022
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo