Music - Singer and entertainer Gunther Emmerlich dies
The singer and entertainer Gunther Emmerlich is dead. He died unexpectedly on Tuesday at the age of 79 at home in Dresden from heart failure, as his manager Gunter Grebler told the German Press Agency on Wednesday. The MDR had first reported.
Singing, directing, presenting, a foray into acting and, most recently, audio books - his trump card was diversity. He has written three books about his life. Born in Eisenberg (Thuringia) in 1944, the bass wanted to become a pilot or go to sea as a boy, but then studied opera singing at the Franz Liszt University of Music in Weimar after training as a civil engineer.
In 1972, he was hired by the young talent studio of the Dresden Opera - shortly afterwards he joined the ensemble. The banjo player and jazz singer also founded the Semper House Band in 1985 with like-minded musicians from the Staatskapelle. From 1987, Emmerlich then conquered the TV screen in the GDR and with "Showkolade" - a mix of glitter, contemporary criticism and cabaret - even rivaled Thomas Gottschalk's "Wetten, dass...? " in the West.
In 1992, he terminated his contract with the Semperoper in order to work freelance. With shows such as "Nimm Dir Zeit", "Gunther und drüber" and "Zauberhafte Heimat", he then became a favorite of German television viewers in East and West. In 2008, he made his successful debut with opera singer Deborah Sasson at New York's Carnegie Hall. His musical repertoire ranges from church music to song cycles, arias and duets to Dixieland and swing. In 2015, he made his debut in an operetta at the Bad Hersfeld Festival.
Since then, he has made regular guest appearances with his own program in eastern Germany and appeared on television. According to a close friend, he was still at the recording of a Christmas concert on Sunday. On Wednesday evening, "we can all watch his last recorded program together on MDR and say goodbye to him," wrote his manager.
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- Gunther Emmerlich, the renowned singer and entertainer from Eisenberg in Thuringia, once operated as a civil engineer before studying opera singing at the Franz Liszt University in Weimar.
- The German Press Agency reported the unexpected death of Gunther Emmerlich at his home in Dresden, Saxony, crediting his manager Gunter Grebler for the information.
- Emmerlich's career in music spanned various genres, including opera, jazz, and contemporary song cycles, with his shows airing on MDR, a popular German broadcasting station.
- In 1985, Gunther Emmerlich and Staatskapelle musicians founded the Semper House Band in Dresden Opera, where he had previously worked.
- The German public fondly remembers Gunther Emmerlich's television appearances, such as "Showkolade" and "Zauberhafte Heim," which garnered him popularity both in East and West Germany.
Source: www.stern.de
