Ridderbusch, Karl
Ridderbusch, Karl
Ridderbusch, Karl , admired German bass; b. Recklinghausen, May 29, 1932; d. Wels, near Linz, June 21, 1997. He was a student of Rudolf Schock at the Duisburg Cons. and of Clemens Kaiser-Breme in Essen. In 1961 he made his operatic debut in Münster. After singing in Essen (1963–65), he appeared with the Deutsche Oper am Rhein in Düsseldorf (from 1965). In 1967 he made his debut at the Bayreuth Festival as Titurel, and sang there regularly until 1976. He appeared for the first time in Paris in 1967. On Nov. 21, 1967, he made his Metropolitan Opera debut in N.Y. as Hunding, and returned there as Hans Sachs in 1976. In 1968 he appeared for the first time in Vienna and at the Salzburg Easter Festival. In 1971 he made his debut at London’s Covent Garden. He also sang with many other leading opera houses and toured widely as a concert singer. He was especially noted for his Wagnerian roles. In addition to those already noted, he excelled as King Marke, Fafner, Hagen, and Daland. Among his esteemed non-Wagnerian roles were Rocco, Boris Godunov, Baron Ochs, and the Doktor in Wozzeck.
—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire