Heinz Zednik's autobiography Mein Opernleben
Heinz
Zednik's autobiography Mein Opernleben (Edition Steinbauer) has recently
been released. Zednik is one of those great artists that found his
niche in the minor roles and developed it to mastery. Instead of pushing
the limit and move into a repertory that other singers had better capacity
to master, he chose to refine his art as a character tenor.
That way he became the ideal Loge and Mime. In fact he set the standard for those two roles: Loge in Das Rheingold and Mime in Siegfried. His main successes in these roles he experienced in Bayreuth and at the Met.
Zednik is both gentle and humble, but also has enough ego to say that no one can replace him, as he said in an interview. "Ich war ich," he says. This does not mean that other singers cannot be better vocally, or even when it comes to acting, but Zednik is a one and only - the same way every great artist is unique.
In his autobiography he tells about the opera houses he has visited, conductors and directors he has worked with and of course about the roles that made him famous - at least famous in the opera world. At Wiener Staatsoper, he has been part of the soloist ensemble for nearly his whole career. Zednik made great success at Metropolitan, not to mention Bayreuth. A large chapter is devoted to his Bayreuth success. Indeed, Zednik's appearances at the Bayreuth Festival, especially in the Chéreau/Boulez Ring, opened the doors to the world for him.
It doesn't come as a surprise to anyone that Patrice
Chéreau and Pierre Boulez are mentioned as two important persons in his career. The incredible success of the Chéreau/Boulez
Ring practically made his career. 31 years after the success of the Centennial Ring, Zednik worked with "the French connection" again, this time in Janaceks From the House of the Dead
But Loge and Mime are only two of his "Paraderollen". For more than 40 years he has delighted audiences in Vienna, Frankfurt, Stuttgart, Bayreuth, New York, Salzburg, Milano, Munich, Paris and other cities as Don Basilio (Le nozze di Figaro), Herodes (Salome) , Pedrillo (Die Entführung aus dem Serail), Hauptmann (Wozzek), der Hirt (Tristan und Isolde), Monostatos (Der Zauberflöte), Bardolfo (Falstaff) and many others.
The Vienna State Opera House found the talented singer as a young man in Graz and gave him an opportunity to develop and mature in his repertoire. In the foreword he writes about his good relationship to his colleagues and indescribable gratitude towards those in the orchestra pit: "es gab - beim Blick in den graben der Wiener Staatsoper - das unbeschreibliche Dankbarkeitsgefühl diesem einzigartigen Orchester gegenüber." One cannot object to this - the orchestra in this opera house is really outstanding.
Since most of us associate Heinz Zednik with the provoking Chéreau Ring, it is rather surprising to see him attacking the younger directors from the so called "Regietheater". It was the pre-"Regitheater" of the mid-70's (if I may call it that) that opened the doors for his world career. His conservative attitude to what he calls "Regiewahn" is very surprising. What seems incomprehensible today, we will take for granted tomorrow. In my opinion, it is all a question about whether a performance is good or bad. Does the performance make me understand a little bit more of the opera? Is the performance fresh and thought provoking? But I suppose one gets more conservative the older one gets. And Wiener Staatsoper is probably not the right place to learn to love thought provoking opera productions. It may also well be the old tale of going from opposition to position.
It was Gerhard Stolze - the marvellous character tenor that we all know at least from the Solti Ring where he sang Mime in Siegfried - who recommended Zednik to Bayreuth. The rather unknown young man from the opera in Graz came, sang and won. In Bayreuth he has sung Ulrich Eisslinger (Meistersinger), Mime (Das Rheingold and Siegfried), ein junger Seemann and ein Hirt (Tristan), David (Meistersinger), Loge (Rheingold) and two of die Knappen (Parsifal). Speaking of Parsifal, if you read the book, you will probably get a good laugh reading about some practical jokes involving Donald McIntyre, some heavy weights and last but not least a really, really smelly cheese.
It is a sad thing that I have never had the opportunity to see Zednik
live. Now it is probably too late, so I'll have to do with his his
recordings and DVDs
The book unfortunately lacks an Index (which all biographies should have), and the discography is incomplete. All the same: Heinz Zednik's autobiography Mein Opernleben is recommended to all opera lovers!
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