Max Lorenz - Wagner's Mastersinger, Hitler's Siegfried- 53min. -
English, German interviews with english subs
Euroarts 2009
Actors: Max Lorenz, Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, Klaus Geitel, Walter Herrmann, Waldermar Kmentt
Directors: Eric Schulz;Claus Wischmann
The Wholenote, Bruce Surtees, April 29, 2009: Wagner's Mastersinger: Hitler's Siegfried is the intriguing if not provocative title of The Life and Times of Max Lorenz (Medici Arts, EuroArts, 2056928 DVD+CD). Born in 1901, Max Lorenz's career is traced from choir boy to super-star in Bayreuth and elsewhere during the 1930s and beyond. Intriguing films of his Siegfried give credence to his reputation as the heldentenor of the era. Film and narration together with comments by his contemporaries describe his social life with the in-crowd in Bayreuth. His wife was Jewish and he stood with her, despite the Nazis. He was shielded by Winifred Wagner who used her influence with Hitler on his behalf. But fame is fleeting. Lorenz sang his last Tristan in Dresden in 1960. Waldemar Kmentt recalls that "After his final performance at The Vienna Opera they just let him go home as if nothing had happened. No one from the management came to give him a proper send-off. I felt deeply ashamed for the Vienna Opera." There are trailers of scenes from four Wagner music-dramas on the DVD featuring latter day heldentenors in leading roles that, perhaps unintentionally, confirm Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau's summing-up, "Today you won't find anyone who could hold a candle to him. No one. Hot air, that's all."
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