Aldo Baldin

Aldo Baldin (January 1, 1945 - January 5, 1994) was a Brazilian classical tenor, known for his interpretations of music by Johann Sebastian Bach. He performed internationally and made many recordings. He was professor of voice at the Hochschule für Musik Karlsruhe.

Education

Aldo Baldin was born in Urussanga, Santa Catarina. A child prodigy in music, he was awarded a scholarship in Brazil for studies in piano and cello. He learned singing with Heloisa Nemoto Vergara and cello with Jean-Jacques Pagnot at the Music School of the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS) in Porto Alegre. He graduated in vocal studies alongside Roberto Miranda and Eliane Sampaio from the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro.

Conductor Karl Richter was instrumental in securing a scholarship from DAAD for Baldin to study with Martin Gründler at the Musikhochschule Frankfurt, where he received a Performing Arts degree. He continued to study with Margarethe von Winterfeldt in Berlin and participated in summer courses with Conchita Badia and Noemi Perugia in Paris.

Singing career

While still studying, Baldin was already active as a concert and oratorio soloist and Lied interpreter and was also in demand as a recording artist for radio and record companies.

His career as an opera singer began at the Pfalztheater in Kaiserslautern, in 1975, and soon led to the Mannheim National Theatre. In 1980, he debuted at the Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires and, in 1981, at the Teatro alla Scala in Milan. He was also hired as a guest performer at the Deutsche Oper Berlin and at other internationally known opera houses. He undertook extended concert tours, which brought him to France, Holland, Italy, Portugal, Spain, Switzerland, Israel, Russia, Poland, Czech Republic, Latvia, Iceland, the US and South America. He worked with conductors such as Sir Neville Marriner, Helmuth Rilling, Herbert von Karajan, Rolf Beck, Karl Richter, Isaac Karabtchevsky and Peter Schreier. With Neville Marriner, Baldin recorded Haydn's Die Schöpfung (Philips Records - 1981 Grammy Winner ) and Mozart's Die Zauberflöte and Le nozze di Figaro (Philips - 1986 Grammy Nomination ).

The great versatility of his voice enabled him to perform music from the Renaissance to contemporary. In opera, he focused on Mozart, Donizetti and Rossini; in concert, he focused on Bach's music, particularly the role of the Evangelist, but also works by Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Bruckner, Rossini and Verdi. Baldin's song repertoire covers not only German Lieder, but also the Spanish, Italian, and French literature, as well as songs by contemporary Brazilian composers.

Concert Repertoire

+ Composer Works Johann F. Agricola Christmas Cantata Johann S. Bach St. Matthew Passion and St. John Passion (Evangelist and Arien), Mass in B minor, Christmas Oratorio, Magnificat and Sacred and Secular Cantatas Carl P. E. Bach Magnificat Johann Bach Wie fein und lieblich Cantata Johann C. Bach Magnificat Johann L. Bach Die mit Tränen säen Beethoven Missa Solemnis, Symphony No. 9, Mass in C major, Ne giorni miei felice, Christ on the Mount of Olives and Friedens Cantata Hans G. Bertram The Rich Man and Poor Lazarus Bizet Te Deum Brahms Rinaldo Britten Serenade and Les lluminations Bruckner Te Deum and Mass No. 3 Buxtehude Magnificat Cornelius Stabat Mater and Großer Dominus Dvorak Requiem, Stabat Mater and Mass in D major Gabrieli In Ecclesiis Gounod Missa Solemnis Händel Messiah, Judas Maccabeus, Israel in Egypt, Preis der Tonkunst, Ode for St. Cecilia's Day and Alexander's Feast Haydn The Creation, The Seasons, Stabat Mater, Salve Regina and Masses Honegger King David Janáček Glagolitic Mass and Pater Noster Kodaly Psalmus Hungaricus and Missa Brevis Lisz Christus and Psalms 23, 110 F. Martin Golgatha and La Nativité du Jesu Christ José Mauricio Credo and Te Deum Mendelssohn Elias, Paulus, The First Walpurgis Night and Symphony No. 2 (Lobgesang) Monteverdi Marian Vespers, Dixit Secondo and Canti Guenerie Amore Mozart Requiem, Vesperae de Dominica, Vesperae solennes de confessore, Freimaurer Cantata, Davidde penitente, Concert Arias, Regina Coeli and Masses L. Nono Sul ponte di Hiroshima Orff Carmina Burana and Catulli Carmina Penderecki Dies irae Puccini Messa di Gloria Reger Requiem-Satz and O Sacred Head, Now Wounded Rossini Stabat Mater and Petite Messe Solennelle Saint-Saens Christmas Oratorio Santoro Verborgenheit and Cantata D. Scarlatti Missa di S. Cecilia and Große Messe in D Schubert Stabat Mater, Lazarus and Masses Schütz Christmas Story, Resurrection History, Musikalische Exequien, Magnificat, Vater Abraham - erbarme dich mein, Symphoniae Sacrae Nr. 7, 8, 9, 10 and Psalms Nr. 23, 130, 136 Schumann Faust-Szenen, Requiem, Der Königssohn and Paradise and the Peri Strawinsky Les Noces, Cantata, Pulcinella and Wind Mass in B minor Telemann Der Tag des Gerichts, Jauchzet - ihr Christen, Süße Hoffnung - wenn ich frage and Psalms K. Thomas Messe in a Verdi Requiem Vivaldi Magnificat

Opera Repertoire

+ Composer Opera Role Auber Fra Diavolo Lorenzo Beethoven Fidelio Jaquino Bellini La Somnambula (The Sleepwalker) Elvino Bizet Les pêcheurs de perles (The Pearl Fishers) Nadir Cherubini AnacréonLodoïska AnacréonFloreski Donizetti L'elisir d'amoreDon Pasquale NemorinoErnesto Egk Der Revisor Bobtschinskij de Falla La Vida Breve (The Brief Life) Paco Fortner Bluthochzeit Der Mond Gounod FaustMireille FaustVincent Haydn Philemon und BaucisL'Infedeltà Delusa (Deceit Outwitted) PhilemonFilippo Hindemith Cardillac Cavalier Lortzing Zar und Zimmermann (Tsar and Carpenter) Chateauneuf (French Ambassador) Massenet ManonWerther Des GrieuxWerther Mozart The Magic FluteThe Abduction from the SeraglioCosì fan tutte (Women are like that)Don GiovanniIdomeneoThe Marriage of FigaroThe Clemency of TitusLa Finta Giardiniera (The Pretend Garden-Girl) TaminoBelmonteFerrandoDon OttavioIdamantesArbaceBasilioTitoCount Belfiore Nicolai The Merry Wives of Windsor Fenton Puccini Gianni Schicchi Rinuccio Ravel The Child and the Spells The Tree FrogWedgwood TeapotThe Little Old Man Rossini The Barber of SevilleThe Italian Girl in AlgiersCinderella Count AlmavivaLindoroDon Ramiro J. Strauss The Flittermouse Alfred R. Strauss The Knight of the RoseArabella Italian SingerCount Elemer Strawinsky Oedipus Rex OedipusShepherd Verdi La TraviataOtelloFalstaff AlfredoCassioFenton Wagner The Master-Singers of NurembergTannhäuserTristan and IsoldeThe RhinegoldParsifal DavidWalther von der VogelweideYoung SailorShepherdGod of SpringSunshine3rd Squire Zeller The Bird Seller Count Stanislaus

Lied Repertoire

+ Composer Lied Beethoven Scottish Songs with Piano TrioAn die ferne GeliebteGellert Lieder Brahms Liebeslieder Walzer Debussy Fêtes Galantes Falla Siete Canciones Populares Españolas Fauré Poème d'un Jour Poulenc Trois Chansons de F. García Lorca Schubert Die schöne MüllerinWinterreise Schumann DichterliebeLiederkreis, Op. 39 Turina Poema en Forma de Canciones

Teaching career

Among other institutions, Baldin taught at the music academies of Blumenau, Brazil, in 1975. From 1978 to 1980, he was a lecturer in vocal music at the Musikhochschule of Heidelberg and, in 1983, he became a professor at the Hochschule für Musik Karlsruhe. His students included Reginaldo Pinheiro, Fernando Portari, Roberto Saccà, Marc Marshall, Hernán Iturralde, Ulf Bästlein, Hans Christoph Begemann, Georg Heckel, Winfried Toll and Ralf Willershäuser.

Aldo Baldin died in Waldbronn, on January 5, 1994, at age 49.

Documentary In 2011, after receiving the Research and Development of Feature Film award from the Cinemateca Catarinense, filmmaker Yves Goulart started a research on Aldo Baldin's life and career to make his biographical documentary called Aldo Baldin - A Life for Music. The film was released in Brazil in July 2025 by Bretz Filmes.

Discography Baldin's discography covers a wide range of recordings of oratorios, Lieder and operas on well-known labels. He used to work regularly with the world's noted conductors and orchestras and performed at international music festivals, as well as in nearly all great concert halls and opera houses in the world. His recordings of complete operas include:

Basilio in Le nozze di Figaro – José van Dam, Barbara Hendricks, Ruggero Raimondi, Lucia Popp, Agnes Baltsa, Robert Lloyd, Felicity Palmer – The Ambrosian Opera Chorus, Academy of St Martin in the Fields, Sir Neville Marriner (Philips Classics, 1986) Christ in Die Schuldigkeit des ersten Gebots – Margaret Marshall, Ann Murray, Inga Nielsen, Hans Peter Blochwitz – Radio-Sinfonieorchester Stuttgart, Sir Neville Marriner (Philips Classics, 1989) Filippo in L'infedeltà delusa – Edith Mathis, Barbara Hendricks, Claes H. Ahnsjö, Michael Devlin – Orchestre de Chambre de Lausanne, Antal Doráti (Philips Records, 1980) Hirte in Oedipus Rex – Gabriele Schreckenbach, Werner Hollweg, Roland Hermann, Roland Bracht, Jochen Bartels – Sinfonieorchester des Südwestfunks, Ferdinand Leitner (Intercord, 1989) Tenor soloist in L'incontro improvviso – Claes H. Ahnsjö, Linda Zoghby, Margaret Marshall, Della Jones, Domenico Trimarchi, Benjamin Luxon – Orchestre de Chambre de Lausanne, Antal Doráti (Philips Records, 1979; only featured in the appendix numbers) Monostatos in Die Zauberflöte – Samuel Ramey, Cheryl Studer, Kiri Te Kanawa, Francisco Araiza, Olaf Bär, Eva Lind, José van Dam, Yvonne Kenny, Iris Vermillion, Anne Collins – The Ambrosian Opera Chorus, Academy of St Martin in the Fields, Sir Neville Marriner (Philips Classics, 1989)

His oratorio and cantata work include:

A majority of Johann Sebastian Bach's sacred cantatas, as well as his St. John Passion, under Helmuth Rilling for Hänssler and CBS. A 1980 recording of Joseph Haydn's The Creation under the direction of Sir Neville Marriner, with fellow soloists Edith Mathis and Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, which garnered a Grammy Award at the 1981 ceremony. A recording of Gaetano Donizetti's rarely-performed Messa di Requiem under Miguel Angel Gomez-Martinez for Orfeo.