Siegmund Nimsgern: Difference between revisions

German bass-baritone (1940–2025)

Siegmund Nimsgern (14 January 1940 – 14 September 2025) was a German bass-baritone who made an international career. He appeared at the La Scala in Milan and the Metropolitan Opera in New York, and portrayed Wotan in Wagner’s Der Ring des Nibelungen at the Bayreuth Festival from 1983 to 1986.

Nimsgern was born in Sankt Wendel, Saarland, on 14 January 1940.^[1] After leaving school in 1960 he studied musicology, German and philosophy at the University of Saarbrücken,^[2] He studied voice and musical education at the Hochschule für Musik Saar with Sibylle Fuchs, Jakob Stämpfli and Paul Lohmann.^[2][3] He won the International Vocal Competition ‘s-Hertogenbosch and the Mendelssohn Competition in Berlin.^[2]

He made his debut at the Saarländisches Staatstheater in Saarbrücken in 1967 with Lionel in Tchaikovsky’s Maid of Orleans.^[1] In 1971, he went to the Deutsche Oper am Rhein in Düsseldorf and Duisburg. One of his early successes was Escamillo in Bizet’s Carmen.^[4]

Nimsgern performed at La Scala in Milan,^[2] in 1973 at the Opéra de Montréal and the San Francisco Opera. He appeared at the Royal Opera House in London as Amfortas in Wagner’s Parsifal in 1973. He performed the role at the Paris Opéra in 1974, Kreon in Stravinsky’s Oedipus rex from 1978, and both Telramund in Wagner’s Lohengrin and Pizarro in Beethoven’s Fidelio in 1982.^[2] He appeared at the Orange Festival from 1976 to 1979 and in 1989, and at the Arena di Verona in 1980. He made his debut at the Metropolitan Opera in New York as Pizarro, returning for Jochanaan in Salome by R. Strauss.^[2] Nimsgern performed at the Covent Garden in London and at the Vienna State Opera.^[5]

From 1983 to 1986, Nimsgern appeared as Wotan in Wagner’s Der Ring des Nibelungen at the Bayreuth Festival, conducted by Georg Solti and directed by Peter Hall.^[2][6]

He recorded numerous operas including Marschner’s Der Vampyr, Weinberger’s Schwanda the Bagpiper, Flotow’s Martha, Pergolesi’s La serva padrona, and Wagner’s Parsifal. He took part in a 1989 recording of Wagner’s Lohengrin that won a Grammy Award.^[7] He recorded Humperdinck’s Hänsel und Gretel, conducted by John Pritchard.

Nimsgern lived with his family in Sankt Ingbert, Saarland. His son is the musical theatre composer Frank Nimsgern [de].^[8]

Nimsgerm died in Sankt Ingbert on 14 September 2025, at the age of 85.^[2][6]

• Nimsgern, Siegmund; Strahler, Elisabeth (2007). Rampenfieber : Stimmlippenbekenntnisse (in German). St. Ingbert: Wassermann Verl. ISBN 978-3-928030-65-6. OCLC 985545884.

• Blacher, Boris; Borchard, Leo; Naxos Digital Services US, BLACHER, B.: Grossinquisitor (Der) [Oratorio] (Nimsgern, Leipzig Radio Chorus, Dresden Philharmonic, Kegel), Hong Kong: Naxos Digital Services US Inc, OCLC 913824269
• Simon, Hans; Antoni, August; Kuntzsch, Matthias; Köhler, Siegfried; Nimsgern, Siegmund; Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester (1983), Siegmund Nimsgern singt Hans Simon (in undetermined language), Frankfurt (Main): CBS-Schallplatten, OCLC 916380846
• Wagner, Richard; Domingo, Plácido; Norman, Jessye; Randová, Eva; Nimsgern, Siegmund; Sotin, Hans; Fischer-Dieskau, Dietrich; Solti, Georg; Konzertvereinigung Wiener Staatsopernchor; Wiener Philharmoniker (2002), Lohengrin (in German), London: London, OCLC 52233905
• Bach, Johann Sebastian; Berry, Walter; Crass, Franz; Donath, Helen; Engen, Kieth; Fahberg, Antonia; Fischer-Dieskau, Dietrich; Haefliger, Ernst; Hamari, Julia; Janowitz, Gundula; Laubenthal, Horst; Lear, Evelyn; Ludwig, Christa; Nimsgern, Siegmund; Prey, Hermann; Proebstl, Max; Richter, Karl; Schramm, Ernst Gerold; Schreier, Peter; Seefried, Irmgard; Stader, Maria; Töpper, Hertha; Wunderlich, Fritz; Münchener Bach-Kor; Münchener Bach-Orkester; Münchener Chorknaben; Münchner Chorbuben (2017), Sacred works (in German), Deutsche Grammophon, OCLC 1031705331
• Wagner, Richard; Adam, Theo; Altmeyer, Jeannine; Borchers, Christel; Büchner, Eberhard; Bundschuh, Eva-Maria; Gjevang, Anne; Janowski, Marek; Jerusalem, Siegfried; Kollo, René.; Minton, Yvonne; Moll, Kurt; Napier, Marita; Nimsgern, Siegmund; Norman, Jessye; Popp, Lucia; Priew, Uta; Salminen, Matti; Sharp, Norma; Schwarz, Hanna; Studer, Cheryl; Wenkel, Ortrun; Staatskapelle Dresden; Sächsische Staatstheater Oper Chor (2012), Der Ring des Nibelungen, [Erscheinungsort nicht ermittelbar]: Sony Music Entertainment, OCLC 872628600
• Pflüger, Hans Georg; Nimsgern, Siegmund; Bader, Roland; Capella Cracoviensis (2025), Memento mori (in German), Cadenza, OCLC 1518034509
• Schoenberg, Arnold; Jacobsen, J. P.; Reich, Günter; Napier, Marita; Minton, Yvonne; Thomas, Jess; Bowen, Kenneth; Nimsgern, Siegmund; Boulez, Pierre; BBC Symphony Orchestra; BBC Singers; BBC Choral Society; Goldsmiths’ Choral Union; London Philharmonic Choir (2020), Gurre-Lieder (in German), [New York]: Sony Classical, OCLC 1200236566
• Bach, Johann Sebastian; Augér, Arleen; Hamari, Julia; Kraus, Adalbert; Schöne, Wolfgang; Nimsgern, Siegmund; Rilling, Helmuth; Gächinger Kantorei; Bach-Collegium Stuttgart (2024), Messe h-Moll BWV 232 = Mass in B minor = Messe en si mineur (in Latin), [New York, New York]: RCA Records, OCLC 1467014579
• Pflüger, Hans Georg; Nimsgern, Siegmund; Abel, Bruce; Rösch, Wolfgang; Bröcheler, John; Gerits, Ed (2025), Liederzyklen (in German), Bayer Records, OCLC 1527809684
• Mahler, Gustav; Sweet, Sharon; Coburn, Pamela; Quivar, Florence; Fassbaender, Brigitte; Leech, Richard; Nimsgern, Siegmund; Estes, Simon; Maazel, Lorin; Österreichischer Rundfunk Chor; Arnold-Schönberg-Chor; Wiener Sängerknaben; Wiener Philharmoniker (2017), Symphony no. 8 (in German), New York, NY: Sony Classical, OCLC 1023589556
• Bach, Johann Sebastian; Harnoncourt, Nikolaus; Esswood, Paul; Equiluz, Kurt; Nimsgern, Siegmund; Egmond, Max van; Wiener Sängerknaben; Chorus Viennensis; Concentus Musicus, Wien (1960), Kantater (in German), Telefunken, OCLC 873139116
• Telemann, Georg Philipp; Tessarini, Carlo; Albinoni, Tomaso; Vivaldi, Antonio; Spreckelsen, Uta; Nimsgern, Siegmund; Tachezi, Herbert; Maier, Franzjosef; Sous, Alfred; Hirsch, Hans Ludwig; Ensemble Florilegium Musicum (1996), Pimpinone oder Die ungleiche Heyrath; with contemporary interludes (in German), Hamburg: Teldec Classics International, OCLC 985604809
• Bach, Johann Sebastian; Wolf, Jürgen; Winter, Otto; Weber, Hannspeter; Thalheimer, Peter; Schwarz, Thomas; Schuster, Martha; Schöne, Wolfgang; Schatz, Heiner; Schad, Karl; Sauter, Hermann; Rothweiller, Hedda; Rosin, Armin; Ritzkowsky, Johannes; Rilling, Helmuth; Passin, Günther; Nimsgern, Siegmund; Mayer, Eugen; Laurich, Hildegard; Kunz, Hanns-Friedrich; Kraus, Adalbert; Höffgen, Marga; Graf, Peter-Lukas; Gräser, Manfred; Etzold, Kurt; Equiluz, Kurt; Eichhorn, Joachim; Donath, Helen; Brachman, Dieter; Gächinger Kantorei (Stuttgart); Bach-Collegium (Stuttgart) (1975), Les Grandes cantates : Cantates BWV 41, 48, 69, 96, 113, 120, 125, 146, 156 (in undetermined language), Paris: Costallat, OCLC 761564425
• Bach, Johann Sebastian; Augér, Arleen; Kraus, Adalbert; Schöne, Wolfgang; Graf, Kathrin; Gardow, Helrun; Baldin, Aldo; Gohl, Verena; Nimsgern, Siegmund; Soffel, Doris; Rilling, Helmuth; Bach-Kollegiet, Stuttgart; Gächinger Kantorei, Stuttgart; Figuralchor der Gedächtniskirche, Stuttgart (1992), Die Bach Kantate Gächinger Kantorei, Stuttgart (in undetermined language), Neuhausen/Stuttgart: Hänssler, OCLC 874534955
• Bruckner, Anton; Stricker, Frieder; Nimsgern, Siegmund; Riedelbauch, Wolfgang; Russ, Ingeborg; Wendt, Ursula; Hans Sachs-Koret, Nürnberg; Nürnbergs Lærersangforening; Nürnbergs Symfoniorkester, Messe, C-dur Windhaager-Messe (in undetermined language), Colosseum, OCLC 473299643
• Wagner, Richard; Vejzović, Dunja; Hofmann, Peter; Dam, José van; Nimsgern, Siegmund; Moll, Kurt; Halem, Victor von; Karajan, Herbert von; Deutsche Oper Berlin Chor; Berliner Philharmoniker; University of York Department of Music (1981), Parsifal, Hamburg: Deutsche Grammophon, OCLC 978578344