Helmut Kretschmar (born 3 February 1928) is a German classical tenor who spent most of his career performing in concerts and recitals with major orchestras and at important music festivals internationally.
Although he focused his career mainly within the concert repertoire, Kretschmar did appear two times on the opera stage, notably singing in the world premiere of Arnold Schoenberg's Moses und Aron in 1954.
Possessing a rich and warm lyric tenor voice, Kretschmar excelled in the concert repertoire of Johann Sebastian Bach, George Frideric Handel, Joseph Haydn, and Felix Mendelssohn.
In addition to Handel and Bach, Kretschmar's recital and concert repertoire included many works by Franz Schubert, Robert Schumann, Hugo Wolf and Claude Debussy.
He has recorded for the Marken, Columbia, Decca, DGG, L'Oiseau Lyre, Vox, Philips, Discophiles Français, and Edition Schwann music labels.