Helmut Kretschmar

Helmut Kretschmar (born 3 February 1928) is a German classical tenor who spent most of his career performing in concerts and recitals with major orchestras and at important music festivals internationally. Although he focused his career mainly within the concert repertoire, Kretschmar did appear two times on the opera stage, notably singing in the world premiere of Arnold Schoenberg's Moses und Aron in 1954. Possessing a rich and warm lyric tenor voice, Kretschmar excelled in the concert repertoire of Johann Sebastian Bach, George Frideric Handel, Joseph Haydn, and Felix Mendelssohn. Also an admired interpreter of Lieder, Kretschmar performed and recorded a number of works by Franz Schubert, Robert Schumann, and Hugo Wolf.

Kretschmar was born in Kleve (Niederrhein). He studied at the Hoch Conservatory in Frankfurt with Kurt Thomas and Hans Emge followed by further studies at the Musikhochschule Detmold under Professor Frederick Husler. He won first prize in the singing competition for the German colleges of music in 1953. That same year, he embarked on a career as a concert tenor, often appearing in the oratorios and other concert works of Mendelssohn and Haydn. He sang the role of the Youth in the world premiere of Arnold Schoenberg's Moses und Aron on the 12 March 1954 under conductor Hans Rosbaud. His only other opera role was as Florestan in Beethoven's Fidelio which he recorded. In 1958 he won the Big Art Prize of the Country North-Westphalia.