Hans-Dieter Bader

Hans-Dieter Bader (born 16 February 1938) is a German operatic tenor. He performed for decades leading parts as both a dramatic and a lyrical tenor at the Staatsoper Hannover. He appeared in around 90 operatic roles and in concert and oratorio.

Born in Stuttgart, Bader grew up there and first was an apprentice for tool making. He studied voice with Rudolf Gehrung, and made his debut at the Staatsoper Stuttgart in 1960 as Arturo in Donizetti's Lucia di Lammermoor.

The Staatsoper Hannover

He was engaged at the Staatstheater Braunschweig from 1962 and at the Städtische Bühnen Münster to 1965. Then he moved to the Staatsoper Hannover where he performed major parts as a Heldentenor and in Italian opera. In 1967 he took part in the premiere of Die Doppelgängerin by Jan Meyerowitz. His roles included Ferrando in Mozart's Così fan tutte, the title roles in both Offenbach's Hoffmanns Erzähungen and Gounod's Faust, Hans in Smetana's Die verkaufte Braut, the Duke in Verdi's Rigoletto and Rodolfo in Puccini's La bohème. In 1982 he appeared in the title role of Ermanno Wolf-Ferrari's Sly, alongside Deborah Polaski and conducted by Robert Maxym, a production that was recorded live in November that year. He also appeared in character tenor roles, such as Herodes in Salome by Richard Strauss in 1995. He appeared as a guest at major German and European opera houses, such as the Opera du Rhin, Grande Theatre de Geneve, and the Wiener Volksoper.

On 3 October 1979 he was the tenor soloist in the first concert of Max Reger's unfinished Dies irae, part of the fragment of a Latin Requiem composed in 1914. Roland Bader conducted the NDR Chor and NDR Sinfonieorchester, with soloists Yoko Kawahara, Marga Höffgen, and Nikolaus Hillebrand. The concert was recorded live.

Bader recorded the operas Feuersnot by Richard Strauss and Wolf-Ferrari's Sly, both where the first recordings of the opera. A review of Sly notes that while singers such as Plácido Domingo have to change high notes and cut substantially, Bader sings the demanding part "as written".

In 1981 he was awarded the title Kammersänger. in 1996 he received the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany.