Karl-Josef Kutsch
Karl-Josef Kutsch | |
|---|---|
| Born | 11 May 1924 Gangelt, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany |
| Other name | K. J. Kutsch |
| Education | Goethe University Frankfurt |
| Occupations |
|
| Works | Großes Sängerlexikon |
Karl-Josef Kutsch, also known as K. J. Kutsch, (born 11 May 1924) is a German physician and music biographer. With the Dutch musicologist Leo Riemens he co-authored the Großes Sängerlexikon, the standard reference for opera singers.
Life and work
Born in Gangelt, Kutsch studied medicine, was drafted and participated as a soldier in the Russia campaign of the Second World War. He then completed his studies at the Goethe University Frankfurt in 1948. He practised as a physician from 1952 to 1989 in his hometown, together with his wife.[1] A street in Gangelt is named after him.[2]
From the 1950s, Kutsch built a collection of records and singers' biographies.[1] Together with the Dutch musicologist Leo Riemens, he published a small biographical dictionary of singers in 1962[1] under the title Unvergängliche Stimmen (Immortal Voices).[3] In 1975 the work was revised as Unvergängliche Stimmen / Sängerlexikon. The Opera magazine review of this third edition noted that it was "a vast improvement over its predecessors" but then listed large numbers of errors, adding "Space considerations [...] prohibit more than mention of the innumerable mistakes and omissions... Serious collectors will have a field day sorting these out."[4] The next revision was in 1985 with his and Riemens' cooperation and under the title Großes Sängerlexikon (Great Singers' Lexicon), it was substantially expanded with the collaboration of Hansjörg Rost[5] and in the current edition comprises seven volumes with detailed biographies of 18,760 singers from the Renaissance to the present day.[6][7][8][9] The biographies mention the subject's name, a possible stage name, the dates and place of birth and death as well as the voice category and give an overview of the career – according to places of activity and works that were sung and played. In addition, the biographies contain brief mentions of important milestones, a description of the voice, as well as bibliographical references and major recordings made if any.[6] The fourth edition of the Biographical Dictionary of Singers, in seven volumes, was reissued in 2012 as an anniversary edition (Jubiläumsausgabe), with now 18,760 entries.[6] It is regarded as the standard reference in the field.[7] The information is regarded as valuable not only for opera but also for general historic and sociological studies.[3]
Publications
- Der Gesundheitszustand der Schulkinder im Kreise Geilenkirchen-Heinsberg im Schuljahr 1946–1947, University thesis 1948
- with Leo Riemens: Großes Sängerlexikon. Since 1962 this work has known several and revised editions:
- 4th, extended and updated edition. 7 volumes (Aarden-Castles; Castori-Frampoli; Franc-Kaidanoff; Kainz-Menkes; Menni-Rappold; Rasa-Sutton; Suvanny-Zysset). Printed edition with e-book. Saur, Munich 2003, ISBN 978-3-598-44088-5 (taken over later by Walter de Gruyter, Berlin, ISBN 978-3-11-915958-6), LIX, p. 5371
References
- 1 2 3 Kutsch, K.-J.; Riemens, Leo, eds. (2003). "Die Autoren". Großes Sängerlexikon (in German) (4 ed.). Munich: K. G. Saur Verlag. p. XXII. ISBN 978-3-59-844088-5.
- ↑ "Dr.-Kutsch-Str. / Doktor-Kutsch-Straße in 52538 Gangelt", strassenkatalog.de
- 1 2 Jan David Schmitz: "Sängerlexikon CD-ROM", hsozkult.de
- ↑ Liff, Vivian. Book Reviews - Unvergängliche Stimmen: Sängerlexikon By K. J. Kutsch and Leo Riemens. Francke Verlag, Bern und Milnchen. Opera, October 1975, Vol. 26 No.10, p. 959-960.
- ↑ Hansjörg Rost on WorldCat
- 1 2 3 "Großes Sängerlexikon". De Gruyter. Retrieved 14 February 2019.
- 1 2 "Apropos Oper: Leo Riemens (1910–1985)". ORF 1 (in German). 14 December 2010. Archived from the original on 2 August 2018.
- ↑ "Karl-Josef Kutsch, Leo Riemens: Großes Sängerlexikon". Perlentaucher (in German). Archived from the original on 2 August 2018.
- ↑ "Karl Josef Kutsch/Leo Riemann – Großes Sängerlexikon". DeepDyve (in German). Archived from the original on 9 February 2019.