Wilhelm Gruning by Hoffert

as Siegfried 'Der Ring des Nibelungen" Wagner

Wilhelm Gruning
1858-1942
German Tenor

Studied in Berlin with Julius Stern and Jenny Meyer .Debut 1881 at the Stadttheater in Gdansk . 1883-1885 the Opernhaus in Dusseldorf, 1885-1887 Deutschen Theater in Rotterdam. 1888 to 1895 Hoftheater in Hannover, 1895-1898 Stadttheater in Hamburg. 1898-1911 Hofoper in Berlin, .1891 to 1897 at the Bayreuth festival as Parsifal, Tannhäuser, Siegfried and Walther von Stolzing in ‘’Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg’’. Created title role in ‘’Rienzi’’ by Wagner . 1899 at the Berlin Hofoper in the premiere of the (posthumous) operas ‘’Briseïs’’ of E. Chabrier, ‘’Cain’’ (1900) by E. d'Albert, ‘’Samson et Dalila’’ (1901) of C. Saint-Saëns, ‘’Der Pfeifertag’’ (1902) by M. von Schillings (after premiere in 1899 at the Hoftheater in Schwerin). He appeared as Faust in C. Gounod’s ‘’Faust’’ . 1901. On 13. 12. 1904 he sang at the Berlin Hofoper in the unsuccessful premiere of the opera ‘’Der Roland von Berlin’’ by Leoncavallo. 21. 3. 1899 he sang also in the premiere of A. Lortzing’s opera ‘’Regina’’ He made guest appearances in London and Amsterdam and in the 1895-1896 season sang with the Damrosch Opera Company in the USA. Retired about 1911 and was active in Berlin as vocal teacher