Opera Scotland

Helmut Krebs Suggest updates

Born Dortmund, 8 October 1913.

German tenor.

In his later years, Krebs was noted as a particularly successful interpreter of works by J S Bach. Shortly before the war he joined the company at the Berlin Volksoper, and after war service he resumed at Dusseldorf, then at the Berlin Staatsoper. During these early years he sang light lyric roles such as David in Die Meistersinger and Pelléas. From 1949 he was a regular at the Städtische Oper, Berlin, in a repertoire that included lyric roles such as Don Ottavio, Belmonte, Jaquino and Albert Herring. He also sang character and dramatic roles including Herod and Oedipus Rex, as well as Alfred in Liebermann's recently premiered Leonore 40/45. His British debut came at the Glyndebourne Festival in 1953 as Belmonte before appearing in Idomeneo at Edinburgh.