Heinz Zednik
The character tenor Heinz Zednik is one of the most remarkable Wagner interpreters that we have seen in Bayreuth. Although only doing minor roles, his strong scenic presence and interpretative skills contributed to the great success of the Centenary Ring staged by Patrice Chéreau (1976-80).
It was another great character tenor that recommended him for Bayreuth: Gerhard Stolze. Heinz Zednik did his first Bayreuth performances in 1970, as Ulrich Eisslinger (Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg) and 4. Knappe (Parsifal). The next year he sang Steuermann (Der fliegende Holländer), 2. Edler (Lohengrin) and 4. Knappe (Parsifal).
In 1972 he was asked to sing Mime in Das Rheingold and Siegfried.
Zednik owned the role as Mime in Siegfried from 1972 to 1980. With the Centenary Ring, he reached his peak as a Bayreuth star, making remarkable interpretations as Loge in Das Rheingold and Mime in Siegfried all the five years the Chéreau Ring was being played.
The Chéreau/Boulez Ring was first a great scandal, but became one of the greatest successes in the history of the Bayreuth Festival. At curtain fall of the last Götterdämmerung of this production, there was a 85 minutes long ovation.
Heinz Zednik at the Bayreuth Festival
In his autobiography, Heinz Zednik recounts his own experiences at the Bayreuth Festival, reflecting on his artistic work, institutional responsibilities, and the cultural climate that shaped his years on the Green Hill.
Heinz Zednik’s years at Bayreuth, as he himself recounts them, document a formative intersection between an exceptional singing actor and a decisive phase in the post-war history of the Bayreuth Festival. His account situates his work not merely within individual performances, but within a broader aesthetic, institutional, and social transformation of the Festival during the era associated with the so-called “New Bayreuth.”
Zednik’s Bayreuth experience is inseparable from the Ring des Nibelungen production staged by Patrice Chéreau and conducted by Pierre Boulez. The decision to entrust the centenary Ring to Chéreau is presented as evidence of the intellectual acuity with which Wolfgang Wagner guided the Festival at the time. Zednik emphasizes that the production’s relocation of the Ring to the Industrial Age was not conceived as provocation for its own sake, but as a deliberate attempt to articulate a new, critically informed perspective on Wagner’s work—one that consciously detached itself from inherited lines of transmission.
The reception of this production, as Zednik recalls, was sharply divided. Audience resistance manifested itself audibly, most memorably during the Forest Bird scene in Siegfried, where a live blackbird on stage triggered whistling protests from opponents of the staging. Zednik’s emphasis, however, lies not on scandal but on professionalism: performances continued uninterrupted despite disruption, underscoring a collective discipline that he regards as a defining professional ethic.
Zednik’s own artistic profile at Bayreuth was shaped above all by his portrayals of Loge and Mime. He stresses the extraordinary intensity of the rehearsal process under Chéreau, made possible by Bayreuth’s extensive rehearsal facilities and by the Festival structure itself, which allowed sets and costumes to remain in place over long periods. This thorough preparation enabled a level of role mastery that Zednik describes in almost absolute terms, while also acknowledging the risk of artistic fatigue inherent in such exhaustive rehearsal regimes.
A striking episode illustrating the demands of Chéreau’s staging concerns the injury of René Kollo, who sang Siegfried in the early seasons of the production. When Kollo broke his thigh in an accident unrelated to performance, the physical complexity of the staging rendered substitution impossible in conventional terms. Chéreau himself assumed the stage action, while Kollo sang from the wings—an arrangement that encapsulates both the practical challenges and the collective adaptability of the Bayreuth ensemble during this period.
Beyond the stage, Zednik portrays Bayreuth as an all-encompassing social environment. Performers became part of a tightly knit community, integrated into the life of the town and bound together by formal and informal rituals, from shared festivities to auxiliary events surrounding the Festival. At the same time, he records the lingering presence of Bayreuth’s problematic past, particularly through encounters with Winifred Wagner and the visible remnants of National Socialist associations at Wahnfried. Against this background, Zednik credits Wolfgang Wagner with decisively opening Bayreuth to the wider world and continuing the reformist trajectory initiated by Wieland Wagner.
Zednik also assumed institutional responsibility as spokesperson for the soloists, mediating between singers and management on matters ranging from ticketing disputes to contractual negotiations. His role extended to persuading colleagues to agree to the release of an audio recording of the Chéreau Ring, which he regarded as both artistically and strategically justified given the existence of a televised version.
His farewell to Bayreuth in 1980, during the final Götterdämmerung of the Chéreau cycle, is described in deeply personal terms. Although aware of future artistic opportunities beyond the “Green Hill,” Zednik experienced his departure as an emotional rupture. Official recognition followed, notably in a letter from Bayreuth’s mayor praising his contribution to making Siegfried a “living opera,” and in critical assessments that singled him out as an unsurpassed singing actor.
Short biography
Heinz Zednik was born 1940 in Vienna. In 1964 he sang at the opera in Graz. After Graz he became a member of the soloist ensemble at the Vienna State Opera.
At the Richard Wagner Festival in Bayreuth he has sung Steuermann (Der fliegende Holländer), Ein Hirt (Tristan und Isolde), David (Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg), Loge (Das Rheingold) and Mime (Siegfried). See all his Bayreuth productions here.
At the Salzburg Festival he has sung Valzacchi (Der Rosenkavalier), Pedrillo (Die Entführung aus dem Serail), Monsieur Taupe (Capriccio), Bardolfo (Falstaff), Monostatos (Die Zauberflöte) etc. In 1964 Zednik made his debut at the Wiener Staatsoper in Richard Wagner's Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg (Augustin Moser).
He is Österreichischer Kammersänger and Honorary Member of Wiener Staatsoper.
One of Zednik's successors in Bayreuth as Loge and Mime was the British character tenor Graham Clark. Read an interview with Graham Clark here.
Heinz Zednik's Wagner on CD and DVD
DVD
- Der Ring des Nibelungen (Chéreau/Boulez): Das Rheingold (Loge), Siegfried (Mime)
- Der Ring des Nibelungen (Schenk/Levine): Das Rheingold (Mime), Siegfried (Mime) .
CD
- Der Ring des Nibelungen (Chéreau/Boulez): Das Rheingold (Loge), Siegfried (Mime)
- Der Ring des Nibelungen (Chéreau/Boulez): Das Rheingold (Mime), Siegfried (Mime)
- Tristan und Isolde (Leonard Bernstein): Ein Hirt
Heinz Zednik in Bayreuth
1970
Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg (Ulrich Eisslinger)
Parsifal (4. Knappe)
1971
Parsifal (4. Knappe)
Lohengrin (2. Edler)
Der fliegende Holländer (Steuermann)
1972
Das Rheingold (Mime)
Siegfried (Mime)
Parsifal (4. Knappe)
Lohengrin (2. Edler)
1973
Das Rheingold (Mime)
Siegfried (Mime)
Parsifal (4. Knappe)
1974
Das Rheingold (Mime)
Siegfried (Mime)
Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg (David)
Tristan und Isolde (Hirte + Junger Seemann)
1975
Das Rheingold (Mime)
Siegfried (Mime)
Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg (David)
Tristan und Isolde (Hirte + Junger Seemann)
1976
Das Rheingold (Loge)
Siegfried (Mime)
Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg (Augustin Moser – 3. Act celebration performance)
Parsifal (3. Knappe)
Tristan und Isolde (Hirte + Junger Seemann)
1977
Das Rheingold (Loge)
Siegfried (Mime)
1978
Das Rheingold (Loge)
Siegfried (Mime)
1979
Das Rheingold (Loge)
Siegfried (Mime)
1980
Das Rheingold (Loge)
Siegfried (Mime)
Sources:
Wolfgang Wagner: Lebens-Akte
Wagners Werk und Wirkung: Festspielnachrichten Beiträge
1957-1982
Heinz Zednik: Mein Opernleben
Selected Biographies
