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The Wiener Staatsoper in Vienna, where Adam sang several times, announced the news of his death. Dominique Meyer, the director of the opera, called him "one of the most important performers of the twentieth century".
Adam, a bbad-baritone, was a regular at the Bayreuth Festival in Germany in the early 1950s. In February 1969, he made his New York Metropolitan Opera debut in one of his leading roles, Hans Sachs in "Die Meistersinger. "
At a time when singing was the only thing that mattered to many operators, Adam brought the sensibility of an actor as well as a beautiful voice on stage.
"Mr. Adam has developed the vocal and histrionic aspects of his art with the same care and the same success," writes Allen Hughes in the New York Times reviewing Adam's debut Met. "His voice is relatively light in weight and texture, and he sang here with finesse and flexibility that the bbad does not always have. "
"Mr. Adam is not a tall man, he's not allowed to get fat and he's moving slowly," added Hughes. "Indeed, his movements, so magnificently measured and timed, made of his game a joy to follow. "
By the time he retired in 2006, he had participated in operas and recitals around the world. For his last performance in November at the Semperoper Dresden, he took over the role of hermit in "Der Freischütz" Carl Maria von Weber, he played for the first time in 1949 in the same house.
Theo Adam was born on August 1, 1926 in Dresden. He sang in the Dresden Kreuzchor, a reputed boys' choir, and was enlisted in the German army at the end of the Second World War. After the war, he studied singing before making his debut at Semperoper in 1949.
Adam joined the Bayreuth and Berlin opera formations in 1952. He played Wotan in Wagner's Ring operas in 1963, and in 1967 he took his Wotan to the Royal Opera House in London.
Viewers of the Metropolitan Opera saw him in "Die Walküre" in 1969, just after his Met debut, Hans Sachs. He was back at the Met in 1972 in the same role and, as often, even critics who were not caught with a particular performance found something to like.
"He sang the role dryly and had to root out some serious notes," wrote the Times' Harold C. Schonberg in 1972. "It's a performance that has been redeemed by intense musicality, dignity and presence. theatrical style. "
Adam has written several books about his musical life.
Survivor information was not immediately available.
Adam was also known for many other roles, including the lead character in Alban Berg's "Wozzeck." Philip Borg-Wheeler, reviewing a recording of this opera for Music Web International in 1973, said about Adam's performance: "Wozzeck is recorded.
It is one of the many recordings on which Adam is heard, including not only operas but also mbades, oratorios and other types of music. In 1997, Joseph McLellan, critic for the Washington Post, reviewed a compilation of two CDs of songs by various composers that Adam had recorded.
"It's a nice selection of the best lieder for a bbad voice," he wrote, sung by the great Theo Adam with an impressive style and deep emotional commitment.
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