Winkelmann wanted to become a piano manufacturer like his father. He was sent to Paris to learn his trade. There his voice was discoverd when he was
singing in the German male choral society Teutonia. Hugo Wittmann advised him to learn singing. Winkelmann
started his studies
in Paris, then he moved to Hannover to continue with Koch.
Winkelmann made his debut at the Hoftheater in Sondershausen (Thuringia) in 1875 as Manrico.
In 1876, he was at the Hoftheater in Altenburg; from 1878, at the Stadttheater in Hamburg. At that time, the house
had a very high level under the management of Bernhard Pollini.
There he took part in the world premiere of Rubinstein's Néron on November 1st, 1879 with Rosa Sucher, Maria
Prochazkova, Franz Krükl,
Josef Wolff,
with Anton Rubinstein conducting. In 1883, Winkelmann sang Jean in the German premiere of Massenet's Hérodiade.
Soon he was a renowned Wagner tenor.
Wagner admired him. As a result, he created Parsifal on July 26th, 1882 in Bayreuth. He sang Parsifal in Bayreuth until 1888.
He also sang Stolzing there (1888 and 1889).
In 1882, he made guest appearances at the Drury Lane in London with the Hamburg opera company under Hans Richter; Winkelmann
sang Stolzing and Tristan there.
In Hamburg, he also sang Loge (1878) und Siegfried in Götterdämmerung (1879). Winkelmann remained in Hamburg until
1883.
In 1884, he travelled to the USA. He sang in a Wagner festival organized by
Theodore Thomas in New York, Boston, Chicago, Philadelphia, and Cincinnati.
Winkelmann became a member of the Vienna Staatsoper in 1883. He had previously sung there as guest in 1880 (Lohengrin,
December 12th). In Vienna, Winkelmann sang: Vasco, Radames, Admeto (Alceste by Gluck), Alamiro (Belisario), Rodrigue (Le Cid),
Dalibor (Vienna premiere), Armand (Les deux journées by Cherubini),
Adolar, Florestan, Erik, Max, Siegfried (both), Arnold, Harold (Harold by Carl Pfeffer), Idomeneo, Karabinier (Im Feldlager by
Johann Nepomuk Fuchs), Pylades (Iphigénie en Tauride), Achille (Iphigénie en Aulide), Éléazar,
Assad, Don Diego (Los amantes de Teruel by Bretón), Eddin (Mara by Ferdinand Hummel), Stolzing, Faust, Merlin (Merlin by
Goldmark, world premiere, November 19th, 1886), Oswald (Mirjam by Richard Heuberger), Néron,
Pollione, Otello (Vienna premiere), Jean de Leyde, Froh, Rienzi, Robert,
Masaniello, Tannhäuser (total 176), Ivanhoe (Der Templer und die Jüdin by Marschner), Tito, Tristan (Vienna
premiere), Manrico, Edgar Aubry (Der Vampyr), Siegmund
and Walther (Walther von der Vogelweide by Albert Kauders) for a total of 1,259 performances, the last of which was on January
2nd, 1909 as Siegmund.
Winkelmann made guest appearances at the Hofoper Dresden (1875), Hofoper Berlin (1887), in Leipzig (1877) and
at the Deutsches Theater Prague (1901/02).
After retiring, he taught singing.
His son Hans Winkelmann (1881–1943) was also a tenor and voice teacher.
He recorded for Berliner (1900), G & T (1905/06) and Favorite (1906).
Reference: Kutsch & Riemens
Chronik der Wiener Staatsoper 1869–2009, Vienna 2009