Heinz Kruse

After vocal studies in Hamburg, he began as a chorister in 1964. In 1968, he became a comprimario tenor in Basel; from 1970, he sang at the Hamburg opera, still as a comprimario: Pedrillo, Vašek, David and so on. As a guest, he already sang in Paris or in Bayreuth (1977, very small parts).

From 1987, he began to sing heldentenor roles: Florestan in Mainz, Erik at the Berlin Staatsoper, Parsifal and Kaiser in Braunschweig, Loge and Siegmund in Hannover, Tristan in Kiel, Stolzing in Karlsruhe, young Siegfried in Essen. Soon, he sang those parts also at larger theaters: Vienna Staatsoper, Deutsche Oper Berlin, Dresden, Hamburg, Monte Carlo, Edinburgh Festival, Amsterdam, where he sang both Siegfrieds in 1998 (and had a grave accident on stage in Götterdämmerung). In Hamburg, he was also Tannhäuser (2000).

Reference: Kutsch & Riemens