Kurt Hübenthal

Kurt Hübenthal (30 November 1918 – 13 March 2007) was a German operatic bass baritone, director and music teacher. He was professor for singing at the Hochschule für Musik Franz Liszt, Weimar.

Life Hübenthal was born in 1918 as one of two sons in Halle (Saale). He and his brother were members (soprano) of the and, with the financial support of the choir, attended the school . After their parents separated, the brothers moved to the orphanage of the Francke Foundations. They left school without a degree. Kurt Hübenthal completed a locksmith apprenticeship at the Reichsbahnausbesserungswerk in Halle.

During the Second World War, the brothers were drafted into the Wehrmacht (his brother was killed). During his deployment in the North African campaign at the turn of the year 1941/42, both were victims of eardrums burst. In 1942, he became a British prisoner of war and was taken on the to a prison camp in the Canadian Rockies. A camp choir and orchestra was formed in captivity. He also took part in an opera performance of Lortzing's Zar und Zimmermann. There he also met Kammersänger Karl Marstatt and Kapellmeister Hans Oncken, who trained him in voice teaching and solo singing as well as choral conducting and theory. After the war he was moved to England, where he gave camp concerts and taught British officers. Hübenthal also sang in Handel oratorios like Alexander's Feast, Judas Maccabaeus, Messiah, Salomon and Samson and modern choral works were part of his repertoire. A memorial service for Johannes R. Becher led him to Moscow in 1958.

After a guest performance in 1955 as Farasmane in the Handel opera Radamisto, he was engaged on 1 August 1956 as Italian and character baritone at the Halle Opera House and was one of its most important ensemble heads until 1966. where he was promoted to prorector.

Hübenthal last lived with his daughter in Zwickau, where he died in 2007 at the age of 88.

Awards 1959: Kammersänger 1959: Nationalpreis der DDR,