Zoltán Kelemen (baritone)

Zoltán Kelemen (March 12, 1926 – May 9, 1979) was a Hungarian bass-baritone. He was born in Budapest and died in Zurich. He began studying music at the Franz Liszt Academy of Music before leaving Hungary in order to study in Rome. When he left Rome in 1959 he established himself in Germany, first in Augsburg and later in Cologne.

In the late 1960s and early 1970s Kelemen was a favorite singer of Herbert von Karajan, with whom he recorded "Fidelio" in the role of Don Pizarro, "Der Ring des Nibelungen" as Alberich, "Boris Godunov" as Rangoni, "Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg" as Fritz Kothner, "The Merry Widow" as Mirko Zeta, and others. Kelemen also recorded the role of Klingsor in "Parsifal" with Georg Solti (1971). At the Bayreuth Festival Kelemen succeeded Gustav Neidlinger in the role of Alberich, in which he debuted in 1962 and with which he became identified just as Neidlinger had been. He notably sang it several times under the direction of Pierre Boulez.

Persondata
NAME=Keleman, Zoltán
ALTERNATIVE NAMES=
SHORT DESCRIPTION=Hungarian opera singer
DATE OF BIRTH=March 12 1926
PLACE OF BIRTH=Budapest
DATE OF DEATH=May 9 1979
PLACE OF DEATH=Zurich