Description

ALFRED JERGER (BRNO, 9 JUNE, 1889 – VIENNA, 18 NOVEMBER, 1976)

 

 

 

 

He studied musicology and orchestral conducting at the Vienna Music Academy under Fuchs, Graedener, and Gutheil. From 1913 onward, he worked as an operetta conductor, first in Passau, then in Winterthur, and from 1915 at the Zurich City Theater. There his beautiful voice was discovered, and in 1917 he made his Zurich debut under his real name, Alois Jerger, as Lothario in Thomas’s Mignon.

In 1916, he took part in the premiere of Othmar Schoeck’s singspiel Erwin und Elmire in Zurich, and in 1919 in the premiere of Schoeck’s opera Don Ranudo. That same year, Richard Strauss engaged him for the Munich State Opera, where he remained until 1921. There he sang in the premiere of Franz Schreker’s Das Spielwerk (a new version of Das Spielwerk und die Prinzessin, October 30, 1920) and, in the same season, in Walter Braunfels’s Die Vögel (December 4, 1920).

In 1921, Jerger joined the Vienna State Opera, where he remained for more than thirty years. He also enjoyed great success at the Salzburg Festival, especially as a Mozart interpreter. There he sang Don Giovanni (1922, 1925), Figaro (1922, 1925), the Count in Le nozze di Figaro (1932–1936), Guglielmo in Così fan tutte (1928, 1935–1936), the Speaker in Die Zauberflöte (1937), Pizarro in Fidelio (1927–1928, 1934–1937), Atair in Richard Strauss’s Die ägyptische Helena (1934), Tio Lucas in Hugo Wolf’s Der Corregidor (1936), and Beckmesser in Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg (1938). On August 17, 1959, he appeared again at Salzburg in the premiere of Heimo Erbse’s opera Julietta (as Alfonso) and also sang a small role in Die Zauberflöte that same year.

He sang in numerous premieres: Schönberg’s Die glückliche Hand (Vienna Volksoper, October 14, 1924); Egon Wellesz’s Die Bakchantinnen (Vienna State Opera, June 20, 1931); and Franz Salmhofer’s Die Dame im Traum (Vienna State Opera, December 16, 1935). He also appeared in operetta premieres, including Paul Abraham’s Die Blume von Hawaii (Leipzig Operetta Theatre, 1931) and Ralph Benatzky’s Die drei Musketiere (Großes Schauspielhaus, Berlin, 1929).

Jerger made guest appearances at leading opera houses in Italy, France, England, Belgium, and the Netherlands, as well as in North and South America. In 1928, he won acclaim at a Vienna Opera guest performance at the Paris Opéra, singing Figaro, Pizarro, Scarpia, and Kurwenal. On July 1, 1933, he created the role of Mandryka in the Dresden premiere of Richard Strauss’s Arabella, and reprised it in the Vienna (1933), London (1934), and Genoa (1936, Italian premiere with Gilda Dalla Rizza) productions.

He also worked as an opera director and prepared new text adaptations of Donizetti’s Don Pasquale, Smetana’s The Two Widows, and Strauss’s Die Fledermaus. After the Second World War, he temporarily assumed the directorship of the Vienna State Opera, reopening the house (which had been destroyed) on May 1, 1945, at the Theater an der Wien with a performance of Le nozze di Figaro. In 1947, he appeared as a guest in Scheveningen as Faninal in Der Rosenkavalier.

Jerger’s career lasted exceptionally long: until 1953, he was still active at the Vienna State Opera, where in 1952 he sang Nick Shadow in the premiere of Stravinsky’s The Rake’s Progress. In total, he performed 149 different roles there. From 1947 onward, he also taught as a professor at the Vienna Music Academy; among his students were soprano Leonie Rysanek and English bass Michael Langdon.

He was laid to rest in an honorary grave in Vienna’s Central Cemetery. A bass-baritone of rich tonal fullness and expressive versatility, he left a strong recorded legacy: Polydor, Parlophon, HMV, Toscanini Edition (as the Speaker in the complete Zauberflöte from Salzburg, 1937), and numerous live scenes from Vienna Opera performances, preserved on Koch Records.

 

TRACKLIST

 

 

Arabella (Strauss) So wie sie sind (w. Ursuleac) 62712 5579BD 8 Grammophon, Berlin 1933

Arabella (Strauss) Und diesen unberührten Trunk (w. Ursuleac) 62711 5578BD 8 Grammophon, Berlin 1933

Nozze di Figaro (Mozart) Dort vergiss leises Fleh’n 62361 951ar Grammophon, Berlin 1922

Rheingold (Wagner) Abendlich strahlt der Sonne Auge P9139 2-20072 Parlophon, Berlin 1927-01-06

Tannhäuser (Wagner) Blick’ ich umher P9063 2-20067 Parlophon, Berlin 1927-01-06

Tannhäuser (Wagner) O du mein holder Abendstern P9063 2-20069 Parlophon, Berlin 1927-01-06

Walküre (Wagner) Wehwalt! Wehwalt! (w. Lehmann, Melchior, List & Flesch) DB3728 2VH114-2 HMV, Wien 1935-06-22

Walküre (Wagner) Wotans Abschied… Der Augen leuchtendes Paar 62384, 62384, Grammophon, Berlin 1922

Zauberflöte (Mozart) O Isis und Osiris 62361 947ar Grammophon, Berlin 1922