Hans Hotter

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Lore & Background

Hotter's best known vocal achievement was his Wotan in Der Ring des Nibelungen, beginning with the Rheingold Wotan and ending with the Siegfried Wanderer, which he first sang in the German provinces in his early 20s, and adding the Walküre shortly thereafter at the German theatre in Prague. He played the roles until the mid-1960s, by which time his voice underwent a brief crisis owing to severe asthma, causing him to miss the first season of the post-war Bayreuth Festival in 1951, but he sang there for several years starting in 1952. His interpretation of Wotan was first recorded in a 1930s studio version of Act II of Die Walküre. In Die Walküre and Siegfried he was recorded in Decca's famous Ring Cycle in the early 1960s, conducted by Georg Solti and produced by John Culshaw. His interpretation of the role of Wotan was also captured in live recordings at the Bayreuth Festival conducted by Clemens Krauss, Joseph Keilberth and Hans Knappertsbusch in the mid-1950s. He also directed a complete Ring at Covent Garden from 1961 to 1964. Hotter had a close working relationship with Richard Strauss. He performed in the premieres of the Strauss late operas: as the commandant in the 1938 opera Friedenstag, as Olivier in Capriccio in 1942 and the Jupiter in private dress rehearsal in 1944 of Die Liebe der Danae. Strauss dedicated his song 'Erschaffen und beleben' to Hotter, who also recorded many of the songs of Strauss. Hotter's daughter Gabriele married Strauss' grandson Richard in 1962.

Reader's Guide

A passionate anti-Nazi, Hotter used to make fun of Hitler at parties and refused to take part in the Bayreuth Festival during the Third Reich because of the Festival's association with Hitler and his politics. According to Hotter's obituary in The Times, Hitler kept Hotter's records in his private collection. When Hotter was interrogated about this at a postwar denazification hearing, he answered that the Pope had some of them too. Hotter never completely retired from the stage, making his final public appearance in his nineties after several seasons singing such significant character roles as Schigolch in Alban Berg's twelve-tone opera Lulu. He was a notable narrator in Schoenberg's Gurre-Lieder, a role he continued to take well into his eighties. At a brilliant performance of Walküre in Covent Garden in 1961 a mishap occurred during the final scene when Wotan is supposed to ever so slowly, silently depart from the stage. Right after striking Brünnhild's rock to call on Loge to surround it with a cordon of fire, Hotter was blinded by the light and lost his footing, falling off the stage with a crash. As he was covered in armour, he hit ground like a bomb on a corrugated-iron factory. Hotter did not want to suggest to the audience that he had jumped off the mountain in remorse, so as the music continued, Hotter gallantly climbed back on stage, reassuring the audience that he was still alive and well and the music continued to the last chord.

Did You Know?

• Hotter stood 6 feet 4 inches (1.93 m) and his appearance was striking.
• He made his operatic debut in Opava in 1930 after working as an organist and choirmaster.
• Hitler kept Hotter's records in his private collection, according to Hotter's obituary in The Times.
• Hotter's daughter Gabriele married Richard Strauss's grandson Richard in 1962.
• At a 1961 Covent Garden Walküre, Hotter fell off the stage in full armour, then climbed back on to finish the opera.