Description

JOSEF BURGWINKEL (COLOGNE, NORTH RHINE-WESTPHALIA, GERMANY, 9 JUNE, 1895 – EAST BERLIN, EAST GERMANY, 10 NOVEMBER, 1966)

 

 

 

 

He studied at the Cologne University of Music under E. Wolff. He began his stage career as a baritone in 1918 at the Wuppertal-Barmen Municipal Theater. From 1921 to 1924, he sang at the Mannheim National Theater, and from 1924 to 1925 at the Munich State Opera, where he participated in the premiere of Walter Braunfels’s opera Don Gil von den grünen Hosen in 1924.

In 1925, he switched to tenor and in 1926 joined the Berlin Municipal Opera (German Opera House), where he remained until 1937. There, he initially performed heroic roles such as Parsifal and Tannhäuser, later taking on lyric roles and character tenor parts. In 1932, he appeared in the premiere of Franz Schreker’s opera Der Schmied von Gent.

In 1928, he was a guest at the Salzburg Festival, singing Ferrando in Così fan tutte. He continued to be engaged at the Deutsche Oper Berlin until 1937, and in the following years likely spent time abroad. From 1943 to 1944, he worked at the Theater am Nollendorfplatz in Berlin, and from 1945 to 1947 at the Berlin State Opera, where he returned to baritone repertoire, performing roles such as Rigoletto and the title role in Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin.

Finally, from 1948 to 1950, he appeared at the Berlin Metropol Theater. During this period, he even took on bass roles and eventually performed spoken parts. Due to his repeated changes of vocal range, his stage repertoire was exceptionally broad.

From his tenor repertoire, notable roles included:

José in Carmen

Loge, Siegmund, and Siegfried in the Ring des Nibelungen

Erik in The Flying Dutchman

Faust in Gounod’s Faust

Calaf in Puccini’s Turandot

Herod in Strauss’s Salome

The title role in Wolf-Ferrari’s Sly

Adriano in Schreker’s Die Gezeichneten

Max in Křenek’s Jonny spielt auf

Admet in Wellesz’s Alkestis

Michael Kohlhaas in the opera of the same name by P. von Klenau

From the baritone repertoire, he sang:

Don Giovanni

The Herald in Lohengrin

Gunther in Götterdämmerung

The title role in Handel’s Julius Caesar

Lord in Auber’s Fra Diavolo

Later in his career, he performed character roles such as:

The Sacristan in Tosca

Goro in Madama Butterfly

Lord Syndham in Lortzing’s Zar und Zimmermann

Various operetta roles by Offenbach and Johann Strauss

Numerous recordings of his voice were made for DGG and Parlophon, the earliest dating from his time in Berlin. However, all of these recordings were acoustically produced and document his voice as a baritone.

 

TRACKLIST

 

 

Ballo in maschera (Verdi) Ja du warst’s 66085 Grammophon, Berlin 1924/1925 (ac)

Barbiere di Siviglia (Rossini) Ich bin das Faktotum P1426 2-5920 Parlophon, Berlin 1922-05-30

Carmen (Bizet) Torerolied P1904 2-7830 Parlophon, Berlin 1925-01-08

Contes d’Hoffmann (Offenbach) Spiegel-Arie 66087 1758as Grammophon, Berlin 1924/1925 (ac)

Das Herz am Rhein (Hill) 19317 Grammophon, Berlin 1924/1925 (ac)

Ein rheinisches Mädchen bei rheinischem Wein (Hoppe) 19317 Grammophon, Berlin 1924/1925 (ac)

Pagliacci (Leoncavallo) Prolog P1904 2-7828 Parlophon, Berlin 1925-01-08

Rigoletto (Verdi) Feile Sklaven 66086 Grammophon, Berlin 1924/1925 (ac)

Traviata (Verdi) Hat dein heimatliches Land 66085 Grammophon, Berlin 1924/1925 (ac)

Trovatore (Verdi) Ihres Auges himmlisch’ Strahlen P1397 2-5914 Parlophon, Berlin 1922-05-29

Undine (Lortzing) An des Rheines grünen Ufern (Gumbert) P1981 2-7831 Parlophon, Berlin 1925-01-08

Undine (Lortzing) Es wohnt am Seegestade P1981 2-7829 Parlophon, Berlin 1925-01-08

Zar und Zimmermann (Lortzing) Sonst spielt ich mit Szepter 66087 1761as Grammophon, Berlin 1924/1925 (ac)

Zar und Zimmermann (Lortzing) Sonst spielt ich mit Szepter P1426 2-5915 Parlophon, Berlin 1922-05-29