Peter Minich

Peter Minich (29 January 1927 – 29 July 2013 ) was an Austrian stage actor who became a tenor performing in operas, operettas and musical films. He was for decades the lead tenor of the Volksoper in Vienna, focused on Viennese operetta.

Life Family and early years Minich was born the son of an innkeeper in St Pölten. An early ambition to work in automobile design led him to attend the , a technical college for mechanical engineering at Mödling, just outside Vienna. But it was not long before he discovered his love of theatre. He undertook training in acting during the post-war period, attending both the Max Reinhardt Seminar and the . The training included acting, stagecraft and singing. He also made his official debut as a singer in St. Pölten, appearing in a bass role as Colonel Franz Ollendorf in Millöcker's Der Bettelstudent. During this period in St. Pölten he met "the first great love of his life", the operetta singer Eleonore Bauer (1927–1965), whom he subsequently married.

St. Gallen Between 1951 and 1955, Minich's principal venue was the Theater St. Gallen (subsequently torn down, relocated and rebuilt: ). He was then principally engaged at the Graz Opera between 1955 and 1960.

Volksoper Minich starred in several guest roles at the Volksoper, notably in 1956 as Petruchio in Porter's Kiss Me, Kate and then in 1957 as Eisenstein in Die Fledermaus by Johann Strauss. In September 1960, he made his first stage appearance after joining as a full-time Volksoper ensemble member as Count Tassilo in Kálmán's Countess Maritza.

During nearly twenty years as a member of the Volksoper company, Minich took on many of the classic tenor light opera roles from the mainstream light opera repertoire.

A particular highlight of Minich's career came in 1964 when he sang alongside Mimi Coertse in the premiere at the Volksoper of Frühjahrsparade by Robert Stolz. Still at the Volksoper, in 1973 he took on the role of Jimmy Mahoney in Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny by Weill and Brecht. This was, and would remain, one of Minich's very few serious opera (as opposed to light opera) roles.

In 1962 and again in 1963 he took part in the Salzburg Festival, appearing in Mozart's Die Entführung aus dem Serail as the Pasha Bassa Selim (a speaking role). He came to the attention of a wider audience during this period through a succession of television productions involving, notably, major roles in a number of "operetta films". He reprised the part of Adam in a television version of Der Vogelhändler (1967), starring alongside Lucia Popp and Renate Holm.

By the 1980s he was no longer typically cast for young man roles. He nevertheless joined the Volksoper tours of the Soviet Union in 1982 and Japan in 1983 as a guest performer. and his 1983 return with the Volksoper company to the part of Colonel Franz Ollendorf in Der Bettelstudent.

Beyond the Volksoper During the final years of his career, Minich increased the proportion of his work undertaken outside the Volksoper, while remaining in the Lower Austria region surrounding Vienna. His focus continued to be on operettas, but increasingly on speaking roles. In 1998 he appeared at the in Baden bei Wien as Honoré Lachailles in Gigi. There were further appearances at the Langenlois Castle Festival, as Prince Ypsheim-Gindelbach in Wiener Blut (2000) and at the as Donna in Il Campiello by Carlo Goldoni (2001). In 2005 he returned to the Stadttheater Baden, appearing in Frühjahrsparade by Robert Stolz, this time taking the part of the emperor. His final major stage role came in 2007 when he appeared in a speaking role as old Pastor Cerny in Der Pfarrer von Kirchfeld by Ludwig Anzengruber. was also a member of the cast. Although the role is written as an old man, there is nothing in the writers' stage directions about confining the character to a wheel-chair. Minich's wheel-chair bound performance generated tears in the audience.

Minich's last public appearance came in December 2009 in the context of the Volksoper Christmas concert.

Death

In January 2005, Minich was diagnosed with early-stage Parkinson's disease.

Literature Karl-Josef Kutsch, Leo Riemens: Großes Sängerlexikon. Fourth, extended and updated edition. Volume 5 Menni - Rappold. K. G. Saur, Munich 2003, (7 volumes)