Eberhard Wächter
Eberhard Wächter (the name is sometimes rendered "Waechter") was an important baritone in the middle part of the twentieth century, and, after his singing career, an opera administrator.
He took piano and music theory at the University of Vienna beginning in 1950, then moved to the Vienna Academy of Music. After leaving the Conservatory in 1953, he began to take private voice lessons with Elisabeth Rado.
He debuted at the Vienna Volksoper in I Pagliacci as Silvio. In 1954, he received a contract as a member of the company of the Vienna State Opera and quickly became a Viennese favorite, particularly after scoring a major success as Posa in Verdi's Don Carlos, then as the Count in Mozart's The Marriage of Figaro, which he also sang in his London debut at Covent Garden.
This led to his being engaged to sing the role of Donner in Wagner's Das Rheingold in the historic and classic first-ever recording of the opera produced by John Culshaw and conducted by Georg Solti on Decca records, a set that has never gone out of print since its release in the first years of stereophonic LPs.
He began singing Wagnerian roles, and in 1958 made his first Bayreuth appearances as Amfortas (Parsifal) and Wolfram (Tannhäuser). He soon played all the principal houses of Europe. He debuted at the Metropolitan in January 1961, as Wolfram.
He received the distinction of being named a Kammersänger of Austria in 1963. Commentators agree that he made a mistake when he undertook the role of Wotan in 1964 in Das Rheingold. He was evidently better suited for more lyrical baritone roles, such as Escamillo in Carmen, Simon Boccanegra, Scarpia, Danilo, Ford in Falstaff, Jokanaan in Strauss' Salome, Danilo in The Merry Widow, and Danton in Gottfried von Einem's Dantons Tod, and Alban Berg's Wozzeck. He also excelled as Orestes in Richard Strauss' Elektra.
He was especially famed for his portrayal of Mozart's Don Giovanni, and his recording of it is considered by many to be the finest version of that opera-some would say of any Mozart opera-on disc.
He had a warm yet brilliant voice, which could take on a tenor-like edge. He also had a noble stage bearing.
After retiring from the stage, he became the director of the Vienna Volksoper in 1987. In 1991, he also became director of the Vienna State Opera, but died the next year while still holding that position.
© TiVo
Discography
19 album(s) • Sorted by Bestseller
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Richard Strauss : Salome (Remastered)
Birgit Nilsson, Grace Hoffman, Gerhard Stolze, Eberhard Wächter, Wiener Philharmonic Orchestra, Sir Georg Solti
Full Operas - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on 1 Jan 1962
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Brahms: Ein deutsches Requiem, Op.45
Gundula Janowitz, Eberhard Wächter, Berliner Philharmoniker, Herbert von Karajan, Wiener Singverein
Classical - Released by Deutsche Grammophon (DG) on 1 Jan 1964
The Qobuz Essential Discography24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Mozart: Don Giovanni (Mono Version)
Philharmonia Orchestra, Carlo Maria Giulini, Eberhard Wächter, Dame Joan Sutherland
Classical - Released by BNF Collection on 1 Jan 1961
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Strauss, J.: Die Fledermaus
Gundula Janowitz, Eberhard Wächter, Renate Holm, Wiener Philharmonic Orchestra, Karl Böhm
Classical - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on 1 Jan 1972
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Mozart: Don Giovanni
Eberhard Wächter, Dame Joan Sutherland, Elisabeth Schwarzkopf, Carlo Maria Giulini, Philharmonia Orchestra
Opera - Released by Warner Classics on 1 Jul 1997
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Berg: Wozzeck
Anja Silja, Eberhard Wächter, Hermann Winkler, Wiener Staatsopernchor, Wiener Philharmonic Orchestra, Christoph von Dohnányi
Classical - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on 1 Jan 1989
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Brahms: Ein Deutsches Requiem
Gundula Janowitz, Eberhard Wächter, Berliner Philharmoniker, Herbert von Karajan, Wiener Singverein
Classical - Released by Deutsche Grammophon (DG) on 1 Jan 1964
The Qobuz Essential Discography16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Strauss, R: Salome
Birgit Nilsson, Eberhard Wächter, Gerhard Stolze, Wiener Philharmonic Orchestra, Sir Georg Solti
Classical - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on 1 Jan 1962
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Schumann: Dichterliebe; 4 Heine Lieder
Eberhard Wächter, Alfred Brendel
Classical - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on 22 Jun 1962
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Mozart: Don Giovanni
Dame Joan Sutherland, Eberhard Wächter, Elisabeth Schwarzkopf, Luigi Alva, The Philharmonic Orchestra
Classical - Released by Past Classics on 10 Jan 2010
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Art Of Irmgard Seefried – Volume 7
Irmgard Seefried, Raili Kostia, Waldemar Kmentt, Eberhard Wächter, Erik Werba, Günther Weissenborn
Classical - Released by Universal Music Australia Pty. Ltd. on 1 Jan 1962
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Don Giovanni
Eberhard Wächter, Dame Joan Sutherland, Elisabeth Schwarzkopf, Chorus & Philharmonia Orchestra, Carlo Maria Giulini
Full Operas - Released by Musical Concepts on 1 Jan 1992
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Eberhard Wächter - Balladen von Carl Loewe
Classical - Released by Preiser Records on 19 Sep 2006
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Eberhard Waechter
Classical - Released by Preiser Records on 5 Sep 2006
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Strauss, J. II: Die Fledermaus - highlights
Gundula Janowitz, Renate Holm, Wolfgang Windgassen, Eberhard Wächter, Karl Böhm, Wiener Philharmonic Orchestra
Classical - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on 1 Jan 1994
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Mozart · Don Giovanni
Eberhard Wächter, Dame Joan Sutherland, Carlo Maria Giulini, Philharmonia Orchestra
Classical - Released by G.O.P. on 29 Aug 2023
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Mozart · le nozze di figaro
Eberhard Wächter, Elisabeth Schwarzkopf, Carlo Maria Giulini, Philharmonia Orchestra
Classical - Released by G.O.P. on 12 Mar 2023
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Mozart: Don Giovanni, K. 527
Classical - Released by Infinity on 24 Aug 2022
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Der Zigeunerbaron
Eberhard Wächter, Karl Schmitt-Walter, Rudolf Schock
Vocal Music (Secular and Sacred) - Released by Sinetone PCA on 29 Jan 2016
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo