Friedrich Weidemann (1871-1919)
- Profession: Baritone.
- Residences: Hamburg, Berlin, Vienna.
- Relation to Mahler: Invited by Gustav Mahler to join the Vienna Hofoper in 1903. He sang the world premieres of Mahler’s Kindertotenlieder and Das Lied von der Erde in the original baritone version.
- Correspondence with Mahler:
- Born: 01-01-1871 Ratzeburg
- Died: 30-01-1919 Vienna
- Buried:
- 29-01-1905 Year 1905 c173.
- 03-02-1905 Year 1905 c174.
- 01-06-1905 Year 1905 c178.
- 24-10-1906 Year 1906 c186.
German baritone. After study in Hamburg and Berlin he sang in Essen, Hamburg and Riga. Invited by Gustav Mahler to join the Vienna Hofoper in 1903, he was the first local Orestes (1909), Golaud (1910) and Amfortas (1914). His Mozart roles included Count Almaviva, which he sang at Salzburg in 1906. Friedrich Weidemann sang in various houses from 1896 until Mahler engaged him for Vienna in 1903, where he remained till his death.
He was the natural complement to Leopold Demuth, lacking the latter’s superb instrument but being the more committed actor. Their roles were more or less the same, with Weidemann tending more to the heavier Wagner parts and Demuth to the Verdi ones. Apart from creating many roles like Amfortas and Golaud for Vienna, he sang the world premieres of Mahler’s Kindertotenlieder and Das Lied von der Erde in the original baritone version. He recorded for G&T and Gramophone, Odeon, and Pathé.
