Handel's Belshazzar in England. He also appeared in many ways as a song interpreter. On the occasion of the Schubert tribute in 1954, he interpreted his Winterreise. He also performed Lieder of Robert Schumann and ballads of Carl Loewe as well as modern pieces by Hanns Eisler and Paul Dessau. In 1956, he participated as soloist in the world premiere of Fritz Reuters' cantata Deutsche Libertät. A memorial service for Johannes R. Becher led him to Moscow in 1958. After a guest performance in 1955 as Farasmane in the Handel opera Radamisto, he was engaged on 1 August 1956 as Italian and character baritone at the Halle Opera House and was one of its most important ensemble heads until 1966. In several Handel operas he embodied the title role (Amadigi di Gaula, Giulio Cesare, Orlando, Ottone, Siroe and Tamerlano). He also sang Le nozze di Figaro (Count), Otello (Jago), Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg (Hans Sachs), Don Carlos (Posa), Tsar and Carpenter (Tsar), La forza del destino (Carlos), Enoch Arden (title role) and The Rake's Progress (Nick Shadow). The success of his school opera production Die Horatier und die Kuriatier by Bertolt Brecht and Kurt Schwaen at the Institute for Musicology, led him to take on more and more directing engagements. During the 1960 Handel Festival, Halle, he was still assistant to Heinz Rückert at the German premiere of Imeneo. Later, he was responsible as an independent director for the productions of Handel's Amadigi, Mozart's Die Entführung aus dem Serail, Tchaikovsky's Eugene Onegin and Strauss'. Die schweigsame Frau. He staged a total of 37 operas. In 1970, Hübenthal was appointed professor of singing at the Weimar Academy of Music, where he was promoted to prorector. In 1977, he was chairman of the jury for singing at the Robert Schumann International Competition for Pianists and Singers. Hübenthal last lived with his daughter in Zwickau, where he died in 2007 at the age of 88. Awards 1959: Verleihung des Ehrentitels Kammersänger 1959: Nationalpreis der DDR, II. Klasse für Kunst und Literatur (in Kollektiv der Händel-Festspiele) 1963: Händelpreis des Bezirkes Halle Further reading Hübenthal, Kurt. In Karl-Josef Kutsch, Leo Riemens Großes Sängerlexikon. Vol. 3: Franc – Kaidanoff. 4th extended and updated edition, K. G. Saur Verlag, Munich 2003, , . Walther Siegmund-Schultze: Kurt Hübenthal. In Ernst Krause (ed.): Opernsänger. 48 Porträts aus der Welt des Musiktheaters. 3rd modified edition, veränderte Auflage, Henschel, Berlin 1965,