Schreier, Peter (Max)
Schreier, Peter (Max)
Schreier, Peter (Max), esteemed German tenor and conductor; b. Meissen, July 29, 1935. He sang in the Dresdner Kreuzchor. He gained a taste for the theater when he appeared as one of the 3 boys in Die Zauberflöte at Dresden’s Semper Opera House (1944). He received private vocal lessons from Polster in Leipzig (1954–56), and then with Winkler in Dresden; also took courses at the Hochschule für Musik there (1956–59); concurrently worked at the studio of the Dresden State Opera, where he appeared as Paolino in II Matrimonio segreto (1957); made his official debut there as the first Prisoner in Fidelio (1959), and went on to become a regular member of the company in 1961. In 1963 he joined the Berlin State Opera, and became one of its principal artists; he also made guest appearances with opera houses throughout Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union; likewise sang in London (debut as Ferrando with the visiting Hamburg State Opera, 1966) and at the Salzburg Festivals (from 1967), the Vienna State Opera (from 1967), the Metropolitan Opera in N.Y. (debut as Tamino, Dec. 25, 1967), La Scala in Milan (1969), and the Teatro Colon in Buenos Aires (1969). His roles in Mozart’s operas brought him critical acclaim; he was also a distinguished oratorio and lieder artist, excelling in a repertoire that ranged from Bach to Orff. In 1970 he launched a second, equally successful career as a conductor. In 1964 he was honored with the title of Kammersänger. He publ. the book Aus meiner Sicht: Gedanken und Erinnerungen (ed. by M. Meier; Vienna, 1983).
Bibliography
G. Schmiedel, P. S.: Für Sie porträtiert(Leipzig, 1976); W.-E. von Lewinski, P. S.: Interviews, Tatsachen, Meinungen (Munich, 1992).
—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire