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A fact from Kieth Engen appeared on Wikipedia's Main Page in the Did you know column on 8 July 2019 (check views). The text of the entry was as follows:
Did you know... that operatic bass Kieth Engen, who got his first role, Bluebeard, at the Bavarian State Opera because he was tall, also had a pop career under a pseudonym?
Latest comment: 4 years ago9 comments4 people in discussion
Those interested in an example of his brief career in a less refined genre (country crooner, perhaps?) can search for "Stan Oliver - Daddy geh nicht fort von Alabama 1956". The article in de.wikipedia has a brief section on this phase of his life. Kablammo (talk) 14:32, 29 May 2019 (UTC)Reply
There are several videos on YouTube for those recordings. They're quite interesting. All sung in German, and rather operatically, for popular music. The Alabama one is hilarious. It's apparently from a film called Das alte Försterhaus. He's sitting around a campfire with his fellow cowboys, strumming a guitar while he sings. Dear, Oh Dear . Voceditenore (talk) 16:49, 29 May 2019 (UTC)Reply
And in the company of Plains Indians in full warbonnets, vaqueros with sombreros, and a boy sporting a Trachtenjacke. It looks like something out of Blazing Saddles. Kablammo (talk) 00:45, 30 May 2019 (UTC)Reply
Yes, and all set in the cowboy country of... er... Alabama. Kind of reminds me of Puccini's Manon Lescaut, where the doomed lovers die of thirst in a vast desert (replete with cactuses) on the outskirts of... er... New Orleans. On a more serious note, I think we should include this aspect of his career in the article. The available sources for this are this page on Discogs (normally not considered a reliable source), and the book Deutsche Musik-Charts 1956, p. 36. The book is self-published via BoD (Books on Demand), albeit by an expert in the subject. However, Jörg Amtage und Matthias Müller präsentieren Alle Hits aus Deutschlands Charts 1954-2003, p. 445 is not self-published, held in multiple libraries, and confirms the pseudonym and the hit status of two of his songs. Should we go for it? Voceditenore (talk) 08:05, 30 May 2019 (UTC)Reply
I agree to adding to the article, can you (two) please do it? --Gerda Arendt (talk) 09:39, 30 May 2019 (UTC)Reply
Good work! Now if we could only find some free recordings from both careers to upload here. Kablammo (talk) 15:28, 30 May 2019 (UTC)Reply
I've also added his wife's name with a reference. Here's a charming photo of them together in 1954. Details of the event pictured are here. Voceditenore (talk) 06:08, 31 May 2019 (UTC)Reply
Quick side question, is this video set in Alabama or is the singer simply reminiscing about Alabama in the song? There's several cowboy and/or folk songs in English with the singer being in the West (or up in the Yukon) singing about his home back in Alabama, is this something similar? --Khajidha (talk) 11:48, 8 July 2019 (UTC)Reply
Latest comment: 4 years ago4 comments2 people in discussion
I have expanded the article to include many more biographical details. He was much more than a collection of roles. I am also placing the commented out roles here, in case anyone wants to add and reference them, although I doubt that their addition would really be an asset to the article, given that he sang over 125 roles:
Don Alfonso, Don Giovanni, King Phillip, Mephisto, Raimondo, Seneca, Banquo, Basilio, Zaccaria, Don Fernando
The commented out material made the editing window very messy and served no purpose there. Note that he also had an international career as a guest artist. The details are in the Großes Sängerlexikon reference, and I will probably add them tomorrow. Voceditenore (talk) 20:15, 31 May 2019 (UTC)Reply
I've now added material about his international appearances and several of the above roles (now stuck through). Voceditenore (talk)
Thank you. Ruth Hesse has two more recordings with him, Christmas Oratorio and Mozart Requiem, in great detail (other soloists, orchestra, conductor). I am unsure how to add that here, detailed or not, prose or not. There could be more detail on the recordings with Richter as well if wanted. --Gerda Arendt (talk) 21:11, 2 June 2019 (UTC)Reply
I added a bit to Richter. Just found that he sang the bass arias in Eugen Jochum's first recording of the St. John Passion, with Peter Pears as the Evangelist, in 1960, which I find fascinating, but others may not be interested in? --Gerda Arendt (talk) 07:38, 3 June 2019 (UTC)Reply
Looking for a contralto I found him here, misspelled as I sometimes did: [1] alongside Peter Pears. --Gerda Arendt (talk) 07:32, 5 June 2019 (UTC)Reply
. Voceditenore (talk) 16:49, 29 May 2019 (UTC)
