Description

ANTON ARNOLD (WEIßKIRCHEN, TRANSLEITHANIA, AUSTRIA-HUNGARY, 31 JANUARY, 1880 – VIENNA, 13 JULY, 1954)

He received his training from Paul Greiff and Laura Hilgermann and began his stage career in the 1909-10 season at the Olomouc Theater. This was followed by engagements at the Regensburg City Theater (1910-11), the Teplice Theater (1911-12), the Dortmund City Theater (1912-13), again at the Olomouc Theater (1913-14), then in Teplice (1914-15) and Regensburg (1915-16). In 1916, he accepted an invitation to join the Court Opera (later the State Opera) in Vienna, where he remained an ensemble member until 1942, when he was given early retirement for political reasons. He continued to appear as a guest artist, including in Holland and Spain.

At the beginning of his career, he performed a range of roles, from operetta and Lortzing characters to youthful and heroic parts such as Max in Der Freischütz and Walther von Stolzing in Die Meistersinger. At the Vienna Opera, he became known for character roles, due in part to his small stature, and was beloved by audiences in roles including Mime in Der Ring des Nibelungen and David in Die Meistersinger. On October 10, 1919, he sang the role of the Hunchback in the Vienna premiere of Richard Strauss’s Die Frau ohne Schatten. His repertoire also included Don Curzio in The Marriage of Figaro, Yamadori in Madama Butterfly, Alcindoro in La Bohème, Spoletta in Tosca, and roles in Smetana’s The Bartered Bride and Boris Godunov. In total, he appeared in around 200 different roles.

In the 1920s, he toured the United States with German opera companies, donating his entire fee to aid the suffering population of Vienna, for whom he also performed over 900 charity concerts during the hardships following World War I. He appeared at the Salzburg Festival in 1938 as Balthasar Zorn in Die Meistersinger. In 1941, he was a guest at the Vienna Volksoper, where he had previously sung as a chorister in 1909. From the 1920s onwards, he was often heard on Austrian radio, and he continued to give concerts until 1948, maintaining his voice’s original beauty.

TRACKLIST

1. Dreimäderlhaus (SchubertBerté) Lied aus Wien 1-025246 16018-o Favorite, Wien 1918
2. Faschingsfee (Kálmán) Fräulein, gestatten Sie (w. Emma Komlossy) 1-29432 15952-o Favorite, Wien 1917-10, w. salon orchestra D’ Geiger Buam
3. Faschingsfee (Kálmán) O holde Faschingsfee (w. Emma Komlossy) 1-29433 15953-o Favorite, Wien 1917-10, w. salon orchestra D’ Geiger Buam
4. Rose von Stambul (Fall) Ein Walzer muss es sein (w. Grete Holm) 1-29426 15907-o Favorite, Wien 1916-12
5. Rose von Stambul (Fall) Fridolinmarsch (w. Grete Holm) 1-29424 15902-o Favorite, Wien 1916-12
6. Rose von Stambul (Fall) O Rose von Stambul 1-025226 15947-o Favorite, Wien 1917-10, w. salon orchestra D’ Geiger Buam
7. Rose von Stambul (Fall) Sag’ Schnuckelchen (w. Emma Komlossy) 1-29434 15954-o Favorite, Wien 1917-10, w. salon orchestra D’ Geiger Buam