Folks- und Schlagermusiker Heino has given up regular vocal exercises during concert tours. "I used to do that more often, but not anymore," the 84-year-old told the German Press Agency in Dresden. A good two weeks after the unexpected death of his wife Hannelore, to whom he was married for 44 years, Heino plans to start this year's church tour "Die Himmel rühmen" (Praise the heavens) in Dresden's Kreuzkirche on Friday evening. "If I'm on stage every day now, I'm not practicing," he said at the presentation in mid-October. "But at home I do, up the scale, down the scale again, to get everything moving again."
The start of the 2023/2024 European church tour was postponed by a week due to Heino's grief. According to the singer's website, 15 performances are planned in Germany, Austria and Belgium until the beginning of February - including two more in Saxony: in the Lutherkirche Görlitz and the Philippus Kirche Leipzig.
After 250 concerts in places of worship in the past, Heino has famous company this time: the Norwegian soprano Anita Hegerland, who sang a famous duet with Roy Black as a child and later two world hits with Mike Oldfield.
Although he comes from a "very Catholic family", Heino himself rarely comes to church, as the artist told us. His grandfather played the organ in Cologne Cathedral and two cousins became pastors. "So I was always closely connected to the church." As a young man, he went there almost every day. "It was easy too, the church was right opposite where we lived." With Hannelore, the first thing they did when visiting a new city was go to church and light a candle.
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