Background
KOLLO, Rene was born on November 20, 1937 in Berlin. Son of Willi and Marie-Louise Kollodzieyski.
KOLLO, Rene was born on November 20, 1937 in Berlin. Son of Willi and Marie-Louise Kollodzieyski.
He attended a photography school in Hamburg, although he had always been interested in music, particularly conducting. He played in jazz clubs and studied acting with Else Bongers in Berlin. To prepare for musical roles, he studied with Elsa Varena, who quickly recognized that he had an unusual gift.
The Flying Dutchman 1969, 1970, Lohengrin 1971, Die Meistersinger von Niimberg 1973, 1974, Parsifal 1975, Siegfried 1976, 1977, Tristan (Zurich) 1980, (Bayreuth) 1981.In addition to Heldentenor roles, he performed in a wide variety of operas and operettas during his career. Kollo also made several operatic recordings. He did not begin to perform (as a self-taught drummer) until the mid-50s.
He signed his first recording contract at 20 and recorded popular hits.
He made his operatic debut in Braunschweig in 1965 in three Stravinsky one-act operas: Mavra, Renard, and Œdipus Rex. He stayed in Braunschweig for two years, singing most of the lyric tenor repertoire.
In 1967, he went to the Deutsche Oper am Rhein in Düsseldorf, still singing lyric roles. He was guest soloist in Munich, Frankfurt, Milan, and Lisbon.
He began his now legendary association with Wagner and his Heldentenor roles at Bayreuth in 1969, where he sang the Helmsman in The Flying Dutchman.
The major Wagnerian roles followed in quick succession: Erik in 1970, Lohengrin in 1971, Walter in 1973, Parsifal in 1975, Siegfried in 1976, Tristan and Tannhäuser in 1981. He has since sung these roles at major opera houses throughout the world, including the Metropolitan Opera, where he was seen in Lohengrin (1976, conducted by James Levine) and Ariadne auf Naxos (1979). He has also directed Parsifal in Darmstadt in 1986 and Tiefland by Eugen d"Albert in Ulm in 1991.
He also has sung non-Wagnerian roles, including Hermann in Tchaikovsky"s The Queen of Spades, Florestan in Fidelio, Britten"s Peter Grimes, and Verdi"s Otello.
In fact, he has an unusually wide repertoire for a Heldentenor. Other tenor roles he sang were that of Count Danilo, in Herbert von Karajan"s 1972-1973 recording of Franz Lehár"s operetta The Merry Widow, with Elizabeth Harwood and Teresa Stratas, and Prince Edwin in the 1971 film of Emmerich Kalman"s operetta Die Csardasfuerstin with Anna Moffo and Dagmar Koller.
Kollo has not confined himself to grand opera, but made many television appearances, singing lighter repertoire, including an operetta he composed himself. He retired from singing in 2013 at the age of 75.
Personal life
He has been married since 1982 to Beatrice Bouquet (a dancer) and they have three children, Florence, Magali, and Oliver Walter.
Married 1st Dorthe Larsen in 1967. Married 2nd Beatrice Bouquet in 1982.