Wolfgang Riedel, bass 1, started in the Berliner Volkschor in 1961, one year after the Wall was built, and BOC honorary member since 2023
Wolfgang, you are our longest-serving member of the BOC. What do you think of when you remember your beginnings?
Wolfgang: Especially the year 1961. Before the Wall went up, the choir had around 300 members, half of whom must have been from the eastern part of the city. They couldn’t get over. We kept the seats free for them for quite a while. I also met my wife in the choir in 1974, who sadly passed away in 2006.
What brought you to choral music back then?
Wolfgang: My parents and even my boss’s wife were in the choir. I trained as an electrician, was already a classical music fan as an adolescent, had violin lessons, liked opera and harmonious music. So I had a penchant for singing. I could already read music, but as I sang in the first bass, I had to learn the bass clef all over again. I was also a second tenor for a long time. My first work was the Verdi Requiem, and in the meantime I’ve sung almost every oratorio there is.
What was the difference between choral singing then and now?
Wolfgang: Singing in such a large choir used to seem “elevated” to me. Today, there’s a lot of camaraderie in the BOC. New members are quickly integrated, almost everyone is on first-name terms. What’s more, back then we didn’t just sing oratorios, but also popular pieces, operettas, Johann Strauss, all sorts of things.
What makes choral singing special for you?
Wolfgang: Singing and music are simply healthy. For breathing, for everything. It’s also about celebrating community when you make music together, at Christmas parties, for example, or when we dance into May. We even used to organise balls. Incidentally, we also sang Beethoven’s Missa solemnis for our 60th anniversary in 1964. That was our first concert in the Berlin Philharmonie.
