- Prey, Hermann
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▪ 1999German opera and concert singer (b. July 11, 1929, Berlin, Ger.—d. July 23, 1998, Berg, near Munich, Ger.), was a celebrated baritone who was one of the foremost contemporary interpreters of the songs of Franz Schubert; he was also noted for his charismatic stage presence and musical clarity. Prey's father was a merchant, and his mother was a talented amateur singer who encouraged his love for music. Prey briefly served in the army at the age of 15 during World War II but then sang with a band and began entertaining British and American troops. He enrolled (1949) in the Hochschule für Musik in Berlin to study under Günter Baum and in 1952 won a Meistersinger contest, which resulted in his American concert debut with the Philadelphia Orchestra, under the baton of Eugene Ormandy. That same year he made his stage debut in Wiesbaden, Ger., as Moruccio in Eugen Albert's Tiefland. He went on to the Hamburg State Opera, where he sang a large number of supporting roles, and in 1955 at the Vienna State Opera he sang Figaro in Gioacchino Rossini's The Barber of Seville to great acclaim. Though Prey received mixed reviews for his 1960 debut at the Metropolitan Opera in New York City as Wolfram in Tannhäuser, later appearances, including as Count Almaviva in The Marriage of Figaro, Eisenstein in Die Fledermaus, and Papageno in The Magic Flute, were more successful. Another of his unforgettable roles was as Beckmesser in Die Meistersinger. Whereas previous singers had turned the role of the town clerk into a caricature, Prey's portrayal was remarkably sympathetic and emotional. He also specialized in the songs (lieder)—from medieval to contemporary—of Robert Schumann, Gustav Mahler, and Carl Loewe.
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Universalium. 2010.