伝説的オペラ歌手ペーター・シュライヤー氏死去　８４歳

【フランクフルトＡＦＰ＝時事】20世紀を代表するリリック・テノールとして広く知られるドイツのオペラ歌手・指揮者のペーター・シュライヤー氏が25日、出身地のドレスデンで亡くなった。84歳だった。同氏の秘書が26日、明らかにした。長い闘病生活を続けていたという。（写真はドイツのオペラ歌手・指揮者のペーター・シュライヤー氏）
　シュライヤー氏は２０００年に、舞台で恋する若者を演じるには年を取り過ぎたという理由により６５歳でオペラから引退したが、数年間はリサイタルを続けた。その後は健康状態が悪化するまで、教育活動と指揮に専念した。
　ドイツ各社の報道によると、シュライヤー氏は背中や腰に問題があり、糖尿病を患っていた。
　シュライヤー氏は、ドイツのベルリンからオーストリアのウィーン、ザルツブルク、イタリアのミラノさらには米ニューヨークまで、世界の一流の歌劇場や音楽祭で定期的に公演した。
　数十年にわたるキャリアを通じ６０以上の役をこなしたシュライヤー氏は、ヨハン・セバスチャン・バッハとウォルフガング・アマデウス・モーツァルトの歌い手としておそらく最もよく知られているが、レパートリーにはその他リヒャルト・ワーグナーも含まれる。同氏は１９６６年に、ワーグナー作品の祭典で有名なバイロイト音楽祭でも歌声を披露した。
　シュライヤー氏は過去に独ＤＰＡ通信に対し、「音楽のない日は無駄に過ごした日」と語っている。【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】
〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2019/12/27-08:20）

German singer and conductor Peter Schreier, widely regarded as one of the leading lyric tenors of the 20th century, has died at the age of 84 after a long illness, his family said.
Schreier, one of the few international stars to emerge from former communist East Germany, passed away in his beloved home city of Dresden on December 25.
Although Schreier retired from opera at the age of 65 in 2000 because he felt too old to be playing young lovers on stage, he continued to give Lieder or song recitals for a few more years and then focussed on teaching and conducting until his health problems became too severe.
Schreier suffered from heart issues, back and hip pain and had diabetes, according to German media.
In a career that spanned decades and encompassed more than 60 different roles, Schreier performed regularly in some of the world's most prestigious opera houses and festivals, from Berlin, Vienna and Salzburg to New York and Milan.
He was perhaps most famous for his interpretations of Bach and Mozart, but his repertoire also included Wagner and he even sang at the legendary Bayreuth Festival in 1966.
A day without music is a wasted day, DPA news agency quoted him as saying.
Culture Minister Monika Gruetters tweeted that Germany had lost a great musician and one of our country's most impressive voices.
Schreier's wife Renate, mother to their two grown sons, told Bild newspaper that the couple had celebrated Christmas together before he took a turn for the worse and was rushed to hospital.
His heart was too weak. I held his hand during his final hours, she said.
Born on July 29, 1935 in the small town of Gauernitz near Dresden in Saxony state, Schreier's singing talent soon became apparent to his father, a church cantor.
At the age of eight, Schreier joined Dresden's famous Kreuzchor boys' choir and went on to study singing and conducting in the city which was heavily destroyed by Allied bombing during World War II.
- Mozart breakthrough -
Schreier made his operatic debut in the role of First Prisoner in Beethoven's Fidelio at the Dresden State Opera.
But his breakthrough came a little later in two key Mozart roles -- Belmonte in The Abduction from the Seraglio and Tamino in The Magic Flute.
While critics did not always describe his voice as beautiful, they praised the intensity and intelligence of his performances.
A pivotal member of the Berlin State Opera at Unter den Linden in then East Berlin, Schreier enjoyed rare privileges in the tightly-controlled GDR -- without being a member of the ruling SED communist party.
In 1972, he took up the baton and went on to conduct some of the world's leading orchestras, including the New York Philharmonic and the Vienna Philharmonic.
But Schreier always insisted his heart belonged to Dresden.
I would be missing something if I couldn't live in Dresden, he used to say.
He finally took his leave from the concert stage in 2005 at a performance of Bach's Christmas Oratorio in Prague, when he both conducted and also sang the role of the Evangelist.
That same year, he told German media he was looking forward to relaxing at his countryside villa on the outskirts of Dresden and cooking for his wife.
I've really sung enough and would just like to enjoy a few more peaceful years now, he said.