About & Bio

About this Blog:

Ach ich fühl’s – German for Opera Singers–the title tells it all. If you are a singer with the desire to sing German opera, and maybe to sing in Germany, Austria, or Switzerland, this blog might be helpful to you.

You will read …

– vignettes about the German language, customized to your needs as a singer;

– introductions to specific vocabulary or to new words,

– the linguistics of German operas, arias and Lieder,

– profiles of fellow singers from all around the world who came to a German-speaking country to pursue a career in opera.

You can …

– practice your German skills with exercises, based on opera plots, arias or the life of legendary singers and great composers,

– communicate with me and your fellow singers and language learners,

– and drop me a line if you are interested in a certain topic or couldn’t comprehend what I have written.

About this Author:

Bernd Hendricks. Born in Duisburg, Germany. Based in Berlin. Writer, German Language Educator.

I was six years old when I went to the opera for the first time. My Grandma took me to Hänsel und Gretel at the Deutsche Oper am Rhein in Duisburg. The first time I met an opera singer personally was during my time as foreign correspondent in New York when at a Christmas party a baritone pelted me with questions about the language of Zauberflöte. He was preparing for his role as Papageno.

After my return to Berlin in September 2010, I have been giving German lessons to singers on their audition tours. My workshops in Berlin, Vienna, and London are based on my widely read book Ach, ich fühl’s—German for Opera Singers in Three Acts: Studying, Speaking, Singing. My latest book, Die Frist ist um—Navigate the Language of 10 German Operas, takes you on a journey through the language of the most popular and often performed operas in the German-speaking countries.

I am also the author of several non-fiction books and two novels.