Waldemar Kmentt
Mozart: Qual mi conturba i sensi - Fuor del mar (2. Akt: Idomeneo; aus: Idomeneo KV 366)
Mozart: Nein! Nein! Dorabella vermochte das nie (1. Akt: Ferrando, Guglielmo, Alfonso; aus: Cosi fan tutte KV 588)
Mozart: Seinen Armen eil' ich entgegen (2. Akt: Fiordiligi, Ferrando; aus: Cosi fan tutte KV 588)
Gluck: Nur einen Wunsch, nur ein Verlangen (2. Akt: Pylades; aus: Iphigenie auf Tauris)
Beethoven: Jetzt Schatzchen, jetzt sind wir allein (1. Aufzug: Jaquino, Marzelline; aus: Fidelio op. 72)
Rossini: Holdes, geliebtes Zeichen (2. Akt: Don Ramiro, Chor; aus: La Cenerentola)
Gounod: Quel trouble inconnu - Salut! demeure chaste et pure (3. Akt: Faust; aus: Faust)
Gounod: Il se fait tard (3. Akt: Marguerite, Faust, Mephistopheles; aus: Faust)
Offenbach: Ja, vom Kleinzack! Es war einmal am Hofe (Prolog: Hoffmann, Nathanael; aus: Les Contes d'Hoffmann)
Offenbach: Sie wollen geh'n - Hab' alles verspielt (2. Akt: Giulietta, Hoffmann; aus: Les Contes d'Hoffmann)
Smetana: Wart' nur, wart'! - Wie war's denn moglich (2. Akt: Hans; aus: Die verkaufte Braut)
Janacek: Siehst du, Laca (3. Akt: Jenufa, Laca; aus: Jenufa)
Strawinsky: Mach doch dein Lied, o London, neu! (2. Akt: Tom; aus: The Rake's Progress)
R.Strauss: Mein Herr Haushofmeister! (Vorspiel: Musiklehrer, Haushofmeister; aus: Ariadne auf Naxos)
R.Strauss: Di rigori armato il seno (1. Aufzug: Sanger - aus: Der Rosenkavalier)
Waldemar Kmentt (Tenor)
Hilde Guden (Sopran)
Walter Berry (Bariton)
Karl Donch (Tenor)
Irmgard Seefried (Sopran)
Wilma Lipp (Sopran)
Hermann Uhde (Bariton)
Anja Silja (Sopran)
Kurt Equiluz (Tenor)
Sena Jurinac (Sopran)
Peter Weber (Bariton)
Chor der Wiener Staatsoper (Chor)
Orchester der Wiener Staatsoper (Orchester)
Jaroslav Krombholc (Dirigent)
Karl Bohm (Dirigent)
Horst Stein (Dirigent)
Alberto Erede (Dirigent)
Georges Pretre (Dirigent)
Josef Krips (Dirigent)
Leonard Bernstein (Dirigent)
Oscar Danon (Dirigent)
Live at Wiener Staatsoper, 1955-1996 (Mono & Stereo)
In 1955, he was already singing Jaquino in the production of Beethoven' s Fidelio for the reopening of the Vienna State Opera, and performed internationally in roles such as Mirko Zeta in The Merry Widow until the turn of the century. During all this time, the tenor Waldemar Kmentt gave countless dazzling performances on the world' s greatest opera stages. From lyric tenor to roles bordering on youthful heroic tenor, there is hardly a part he has not sung.
This portrait in honour of his 80th birthday is an impressive reflection of his versatility, with excerpts from roles he performed at the Vienna State Opera, where he was always based, even when travelling for guest performances between Bayreuth and Buenos Aires, and where he received the title of "Kammersanger" and was eventually made an honorary member. The flexibility and brilliant timbre of his voice brought him many roles at the State Opera, both in the legendary Mozart Ensemble under Karl Bohm and as an 'Italian' tenor (though, as usual at that time, mostly in German).
Thus the portrait includes his Idomeneo and Ferrando in Cosi fan tutte as well as Don Ramiro in La Cenerentola. Not quite so well-known is the fact that Kmentt increasingly sang the French fach in the 1960s; the excerpt included in the CD is Gounod' s Faust under Georges Pretre - here in the original language, with Wilma Lipp. His duet with Anja Silja from Offenbach' s Tales of Hoffmann (under Josef Krips) testifies to Kmentt' s exceptional talent as a musical partner. This is also evident in his performance of Janacek' s Jenufa together with Sena Jurinac, as well as in the dialogue with Peter Weber' s Music Master in Strauss' s Ariadne auf Naxos, where, in a 1996 recording of the speaking part of the Major-Domo, Waldemar Kmentt' s precise articulation and vocal skill are clearly audible. Thus it is hardly surprising that even in less frequently performed works such as Gluck' s Iphigenie auf Tauris (Pylade) and Stravinsky' s classicistic The Rake' s Progress, he gave a striking though lyrical portrayal of his characters - and also a brilliant rendering of dreaded short roles such as the Italian tenor in Strauss' s Rosenkavalier at the premiere of the opera in 1968 under Leonard Bernstein. This aria concludes the cross-section of the prodigious career of a tenor who, ever modest, never relied on mere showmanship. ( Orfeo )
