Description

MARKO ROTHMÜLLER (BORN AARON ROTHMÜLLER; TRNJANI, KINGDOM OF CROATIA-SLAVONIA, AUSTRIA-HUNGARY, 31 DECEMBER, 1908 – BLOOMINGTON, INDIANA, U.S, 20 JANUARY, 1993)

 

 

 

 

His real name was Aaron Rothmüller. He trained in Zagreb and later in Vienna with Franz Steiner. He also studied composition with Alban Berg in Vienna and went on to write chamber music, a symphony, and songs.

He made his debut in 1932 as Rigoletto at the Hamburg State Opera in the Schiller Theater; in 1933 he was dismissed from the company because he was Jewish. He subsequently sang at the Zagreb Opera from 1933 to 1935 and at the Zurich City Theatre from 1935 to 1947. In Zurich, he took part in the world premiere of Paul Hindemith’s Mathis der Maler on May 28, 1938, singing the role of Truchsess von Waldburg; and in 1942 he appeared in the world premiere of Paul Burkhard’s opera Casanova in der Schweiz.

In 1946, he sang Balstrode in the German-language premiere of Benjamin Britten’s Peter Grimes at the Basel City Theatre. One of his greatest triumphs in Zurich was the title role in Verdi’s Simon Boccanegra; it was in this role that his voice attracted the attention of the renowned English music critic Desmond Shawe-Taylor. In Zurich he also achieved major successes as Jochanaan in Salome, as the Barber in Richard Strauss’s Die schweigsame Frau under the composer’s direction, and as Kurwenal in Tristan und Isolde.

In 1939, he made his first guest appearance at London’s Covent Garden as Kruschina in Smetana’s The Bartered Bride; he later enjoyed great acclaim there as Escamillo in Carmen and as Wotan in Das Rheingold. In 1947, he began a brilliant international career with the New London Opera Company at the Cambridge Theatre in London. That same year, he replaced the ailing Paul Schöffler as Jochanaan in Salome during the Vienna State Opera’s guest appearance in London.

From 1948 to 1955, he appeared at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, primarily as Rigoletto and as Scarpia in Tosca. In 1952, he participated in the English premiere of Alban Berg’s Wozzeck at Covent Garden, opposite Christel Goltz in the title role. In 1948, he sang in Così fan tutte at the Edinburgh Festival. He also made guest appearances at the Paris Opera (1949 as Faninal; 1952 as Rigoletto and Amonasro).

He was a guest artist at the Vienna State Opera from 1946 to 1947, at the New York City Centre Opera from 1948 to 1952 (debuting as Amonasro in Aida), at the Berlin State Opera in 1954 (as the title character in Verdi’s Nabucco), and at the Wexford Festival in 1956 (as Plumkett in Flotow’s Martha).

From 1958 to 1960 and again from 1964 to 1965, he was engaged at the Metropolitan Opera in New York, where he made his debut as Kothner in Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg and primarily performed character roles. From 1949 to 1954, he sang at the Glyndebourne Festival, where he was particularly admired as the title character in Verdi’s Macbeth (1952), and also appeared as Guglielmo in Così fan tutte, the Count in The Marriage of Figaro, Don Carlos in Verdi’s La forza del destino, and Nick Shadow in Stravinsky’s The Rake’s Progress.

Beginning in 1955, he taught as a professor at Indiana University in Bloomington. Among his writings is Die Musik der Juden (New York, 1951).

HMV issued recordings of Schubert songs and selected operatic excerpts, first in Switzerland and later in England. Further recordings appeared on Decca (including the Bartók Edition, Cantata profana), on Symposium (Winterreise by Schubert), and on London (tenor solo in Ernest Bloch’s Sacred Service conducted by the composer). Private recordings exist of performances of Götterdämmerung and Verdi’s Un ballo in maschera. Allegro Royale released a Macbeth from Glyndebourne, a tape recording of a performance in which, however, the singers were listed under fictitious names.

 

 

TRACKLIST

 

 

An die Leier (Schubert) DB10084 HMV

Andrea Chénier (Giordano) Nemico della patria C4019 2EA14906-1 HMV, London 1950

Aufenthalt (Schubert) DA6019 HMV

Così fan tutte (Mozart) Donne mie la fate a tantie C4054 2EA14905-1 HMV, London 1950

Der Doppelgänger (Schubert) DB10087 HMV

Der Erlkönig (Schubert) DB10088 HMV

Die Stadt (Schubert) DB10087 HMV

Du bist die Ruh’ (Schubert) DB10088 HMV

Rastlose Liebe (Schubert) DA6019 HMV

Rigoletto (Verdi) Cortigiani, vil razza dannata C3738 2EA12512-1 HMV, London 1947-11

Rigoletto (Verdi) Pari siamo C3689 2EA12511-1 HMV, London 1947-11

Sei mir gegrüßt (Schubert) DB10084 HMV

Tannhäuser (Wagner) Blick’ ich umher C3790 2EA13173-1 HMV, London 1948-06

Tannhäuser (Wagner) O du mein holder Abendstern C3790 2EA13174-1 HMV, London 1948-06

Tosca (Puccini) Gia, mi dicon venal (w. Sacchi) C3689 2EA12529-1 HMV, London 1947-11

Tosca (Puccini) Tre sbirri, un carrozza (Te Deum) C4019 2EA13175-1 HMV, London 1948-06

Zauberflöte (Mozart) Ein Mädchen oder Weibchen C4054 2EA14904-1 HMV, London 1950