William Pearson (baritone)

William Pearson ( * September 10, 1934, † June 18, 1995 in Cologne) was an American baritone. He spent most of his career in Europe, especially in Germany. He was known for his broad repertoire, which ranged from Bach and Handel to spirituals and avant-garde compositions.

Life

Pearson was born in Tennessee and studied at the School of Music at the University of Louisville, Kentucky. In 1956 he was a Fulbright Scholarship to Europe. He was the first black singer who received the scholarship. After further studies at the Musikhochschule in Cologne with Ellen Busenius and Clemens Glettenberg he sang at various opera houses, such as in Budapest, Hamburg, Helsinki and Paris. From 1963, he led the singing class at the Robert Schumann Conservatory in Dusseldorf. He scored a great success in 1965 as Porgy in Gershwin's Porgy and Bess at the European premiere in Helsinki; the work accompanied him through his whole career. With Gloria Davy and the Nuremberg Symphony Orchestra was founded in 1968 an LP Porgy & Bess recorded.

Pearson gave concerts and recitals throughout Germany and Europe as well as in the most important cultural centers of Europe, the U.S. and Australia.

Contemporary composers have written music for him, including György Ligeti Aventures 1962, Sylvano Bussotti 1960 Pearson Piece, wrote the text for the Pearson, and Dieter Schnebel 1970 Maulwerke and 1970/71 breaths.

Hans Werner Henze composed the dramatic chamber Revue El Cimarron (1969/1970) for Pearson after an edited by Hans Magnus Enzensberger autobiography of the Cuban slave Esteban Montejo. The premiere took place on June 22, 1970 the nobility Burgh Festival.

Henze Pearson paid tribute after his death: " El Cimarron ' has been composed with lively performances from Billy, his voice, his expression, his ever- charismatic expectant look. Our friendship was funny and is indestructible. "

1983 Pearson began working with the actor and director Franz -Josef Heumannskämper. The first production was Dadazuerich with Gisela Saur Kontarsky and Ingo Metzmacher, stage Gerhard Naschberger, which was performed in 1985 at the Frankfurt Feste at the Alte Oper in Frankfurt. 1994-1995 William Pearson took over the musical direction of " violet " color opera by Wassily Kandinsky, directed by Franz -Josef Heumannskämper for the Sprengel Museum Hannover, with guest appearances including London, Amsterdam and Luxembourg.

Music critic Gerhard R. Koch called Pearson in an obituary as " visually and musically as changeable as a chameleon - and how this nevertheless always identical with itself, integer precisely in its adaptability artistic and creative openness for extreme requirements. "

Franz -Josef Heumannskämper, the significant Pearson, whose estate gave the Cologne city archive. The estate, including original scores and correspondence with Hans Werner Henze and Mauricio Kagel, was lost in the collapse of the building in March 2009. Heumannskämper complained unsuccessfully before the Regional Court of Cologne for damages. The appointment takes place before the Higher Regional Court of Cologne; the procedure is stopped until the assessments are completed.