Wohlfahrt, Erwin (1932-1968)

Wohlfahrt, Erwin

SINGER (GERMANY)

BORN 13 Jan 1932, Nürnberg, Bayern - DIED 28 Nov 1968, Hamburg
CAUSE OF DEATH blood disease
GRAVE LOCATION Hamburg: Friedhof Ohlsdorf, Fühlsbüttler Strasse 756 (Bk 69, 1457/1458)

Erwin Wohlfahrt studied at the Conservatory in Nuremberg. He wanted to become a conductor, but he switched to singing and studied with Willi Domgraf-Fassbaender. When he was 22 years old he was engaged in Aachen (1955-1957) and after that he sang the the Comical Opera in Berlin from 1957 to 1959. His next engagements were at the Opera House in Cologne (1959-1963) and at the State Opera in Hamburg (1963-1968).

In 1963 he sang the part of Mime the evil dwarf in Cologne in Wieland Wagner's production of Wagner's "Ring". In the same he also appeared the Festspiele in Bayreuth, where he was David in the "Meistersinger". From 1965 to 1967 he sang the part of Mime in "Das Rheingold" and "Siegfried" in Bayreuth. A record exists of the performance from 1967 conducted by Karl Böhm. His last appearance as Mime took place in 1968 in Salzburg under Herbert von Karajan. Shortly after that a viral illness forced him to cancel his engagement at the Metropolitan Opera in New York that was planned for November 1968. He died in that month in Hamburg.

Images

The grave of Erwin Wohlfahrt at the Friedhof Ohlsdorf in Hamburg.
Picture by Androom (04 Feb 2023)