Max Lorenz

Max Lorenz (born Max Sülzenfuß; 10 May 1901 – 11 January 1975) was a German heldentenor famous for Wagner roles.

Lorenz was born in Düsseldorf, and studied with Ernst Grenzebach in Berlin in the 1920s. He made his debut at the Semperoper in Dresden in 1927, becoming a principal tenor. From 1929 to 1944 he was a member of the ensemble at the Berlin State Opera, appearing also at the New York Metropolitan Opera (1931–34), the Bayreuth Festspielhaus (1933–39, 1952, 1954) and the Royal Opera House Covent Garden (1934 and 1937). He sang, too, at the Vienna State Opera (1929–33, 1936–44, 1954).

Audiences at the Salzburg Festival also heard him, and he created roles in such post-World War II works as Gottfried von Einem’s Der Prozess (Josef K, 1953), Rolf Liebermann’s Penelope (1954) and Rudolf Wagner-Régeny’s Das Bergwerk zu Falun (1961).

Lorenz's operatic and recital career lasted almost three decades. He became known as one of the world's leading heldentenors, particularly renowned for his performances as Tristan.

At his best in the 1920s and 1930s and 1940s, Lorenz possessed a powerful, ringing voice which he used in an impassioned manner. Some of his recordings of operatic arias have been issued on CD. Notably, he was recorded live in a performance of Die Meistersinger at the Bayreuth Festival (1943), under the baton of Furtwängler; and, in a performance of Götterdämmerung, also at Bayreuth (1952), under the baton of Josef Keilberth. He was also a notable Otello, Bacchus and Herod.