König, Klaus
König, Klaus
König, Klaus, German tenor; b. Beuthen, May 26, 1934. He was a student in Dresden of Johannes Kemter. In 1970 he joined the Cottbus City Theater, and in 1973 became a member of the Dessau Landestheater. After singing with the Leipzig City Theater (1978–82), he was a member of the Dresden State Opera (from 1982). In 1984 he made debuts at Milan’s La Scala and London’s Covent Garden as Tannhäuser, one of his most striking roles. In 1985 he appeared as Tristan at the Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie in Brussels and as Weber’s Max at the first performance of the restored Semper Opera House in Dresden. In 1988 he made his U.S. debut as Tannhäuser with the Houston Grand Opera. He also sang opera in Paris, Strasbourg, Madrid, Barcelona, Cologne, Munich, Vienna, and elsewhere in Europe. Among his other roles are Parsifal, Walther von Stolzing, Lohengrin, Don Alvaro, Florestan, Don José, Radames, and Don Carlos. He also appeared throughout Europe as a concert and oratorio artist.
—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire