Mathieu Karl Maria Ahlersmeyer (29 June 1896 – 23 July 1979) was a German operatic baritone and actor.

Mathieu Ahlersmeyer (left) in the title role of Dantons Tod at the Hamburgische Staatsoper (1948)

Life

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Born in Cologne, Ahlersmeyer took singing and acting lessons with Karl Niemann in Cologne. He gained his first stage experience in Mönchengladbach in 1929; engagements followed as an opera singer in Berlin, Hamburg (1931–34), Dresden and also abroad. In 1938 he sang the title role in the world premiere of W. Egk's opera Peer Gynt. In the final phase of the Second World War Hitler included him in the Gottbegnadeten list of the most important artists in 1944.[1]

Ahlersmeyer was bombed out in Dresden in 1945, and he went to the Hamburgische Staatsoper, where he was engaged again. His last guest appearance in Hamburg was in 1973. Ahlersmeyer died in Garmisch-Partenkirchen at the age of 83. He is buried at the Partenkirchen cemetery.

He was married to Marcia Otten. The marriage yielded four children.

Filmography

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Further reading

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  • Jürgen Kesting: Charakter-Sänger: Mathieu Ahlersmeyer. In Die großen Sänger, volume 2. Claasen, Düsseldorf 1986, ISBN 3-546-45387-5, p. 1034f.
  • Frank-Burkhard Habel, Volker Wachter [de]: Das große Lexikon der DDR-Stars. Die Schauspieler aus Film und Fernsehen. Extended new edition. Schwarzkopf & Schwarzkopf, Berlin 2002, ISBN 3-89602-391-8.

References

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  1. ^ Ernst Klee: Das Kulturlexikon zum Dritten Reich. Wer war was vor und nach 1945. S. Fischer, Frankfurt 2007, p. 11.
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