Heinrich Hensel Prize 2026

Works by

Johann Sebastian Bach, Henryk Wieniawski, Camille Saint-Saëns, Ernest Chausson, and Sergei S. Prokofiev

Featuring

Adrian Kratzert violin, award winner
Hyunhee Hwang piano

about this event 

In 2022, Mrs Marion Kreber-Fiebig (Karlsruhe) established the Heinrich Hensel Prize in memory of her great-uncle, the German Kammersänger and internationally acclaimed heroic tenor Heinrich Hensel (1874-1935). The prize is awarded every two years to a student with outstanding achievements in the fields of vocal or instrumental music at the Karlsruhe University of Music and is endowed with prize money totalling € 6000.

BIOGRAFIE

Heinrich Hensel tenor
*29.10.1874 Neustadt an der Haardt · † 23.2.1935 Hamburg

Originally he wanted to take up a commercial profession. He was discovered by the conductor Felix Mottl and studied with Gustav Walter in Vienna and with Eduard Bellwidt in Frankfurt a.M. In 1897 he made his debut at the Stadttheater in Freiburg i. Br. as Alessandro Stradella von Flotow. From there he came to the opera house of Frankfurt a.M. in 1900, where he remained until 1906, singing Lyonel in Flotow's "Martha" as his inaugural role. In 1902 he appeared in Frankfurt in the world premiere of Humperdinck's opera "Dornröschen" in the role of the Prince. In 1906-1911 he sang at the Hoftheater in Wiesbaden. There he was greatly admired by the young Richard Tauber. On January 23, 1910, he participated in the premiere of the opera "Banadietrich" by Siegfried Wagner at the Hoftheater of Karlsruhe. In 1911–1912 he sang Parsifal and his Loge in the Ring cycle at the Bayreuth Festival. He also sang the latter role at Covent Garden Opera London in 1911–1914. He was engaged at the Metropolitan Opera New York in 1911–1912 (debut as Siegmund in "Die Walküre"), and at the Chicago Opera in 1912. 1912–1929 he was a celebrated first Helden and Wagner tenor at the Hamburg Stadttheater (opera house). In 1914 he sang Parsifal at both Covent Garden Opera London and the Brussels Opera in the work's first performances there. He made guest appearances in Copenhagen and Berlin, in Vienna and Munich, in Paris, in Zurich (in 1907 as Lohengrin, and in 1912 as Siegmund and Siegfried), and in Amsterdam, including here in 1910 as Lohengrin. In addition to his Wagner roles, his stage repertoire includes Manrico in "Troubadour," Tamino in "Die Zauberflöte," George Brown in "La Dame blanche" by Boieldieu, Raoul in "Huguenots" by Meyerbeer, Turiddu in "Cavalleria rusticana" and Chapelou in "Le Postillon de Lonjumeau" by Adam. Most recently he was a singing teacher in Hamburg. He was married to the dramatic soprano Elsa Hensel-Schweitzer (1871–1937), but the two artists separated again in 1910.

Recordings by Heinrich Hensel exist on G & T (Frankfurt, 1903-1906), on HMV-Grammophone (1908-1914), Pathé, Parlophon, and Edison records (London, 1912).