Hauptmann, Cornelius
Hauptmann, Cornelius
Hauptmann, Cornelius, German bass; b. Stuttgart, 1951. He studied at the Stuttgart Hochschule für Musik (graduateci, 1982), and with Jakob Stampili at the Bern Cons., Fischer-Dieskau in Berlin, and Tappy and Schwarzkopf in Salzburg. In 1981 he joined the Stuttgart Opera, where he first attracted notice as Masetto. From 1985 to 1987 he sang with the Heidelberg Opera, where he portrayed King Philip and Osmin. In 1987 he joined the Karlsruhe State Theater and appeared in such roles as Monteverdi’s Plutone, Mozart’s Sarastro and Figaro, and Verdi’s Sparafucile. His appearance as a soloist in the St. Matthew Passion under Gardiner’s direction in Stuttgart in 1988 led to frequent appearances with leading conductors of the day. In 1991 he sang Osmin at the Royal Festival Hall in London and Sarastro at the Deutsche Oper in Berlin. He portrayed the Speaker in Die Zauberflöte at the Opéra de la Bastille in Paris in 1993. In 1995 he was engaged as Sarastro at the Lyons Opera, where he returned in 1996 as Rocco. He also pursued an active career as a lieder artist.
—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire