Description

MARTIN ABENDROTH (BERLIN, 4 OCTOBER, 1883 – NEUENHAGEN BEI BERLIN, 14 DECEMBER, 1977)

He received his singing training in Berlin and made his debut in 1913 at the Königsberg City Theater as King Henry in Lohengrin. From 1914 to 1915, he sang at the Krefeld City Theater, and from 1915 to 1922, he was a member of the Breslau Opera House, where he participated in the premiere of Eros and Psyche by L. Rózycki on March 10, 1917. Between 1922 and 1924, he performed at the Wiesbaden State Theater, and from 1925, he was engaged at the Berlin State Opera, where he took part in the premiere of Alban Berg’s Wozzeck in 1925.

From 1927 to 1931, he also performed at the Berlin Kroll Opera, including playing Rocco in the opening performance of Fidelio on November 19, 1927, and in the premiere of Stravinsky’s Oedipus Rex. Between 1935 and 1936, he worked with the Deutsche Landesbühne, a traveling theater, and from 1936 to 1939, he was at the Chemnitz Theatre. After World War II, he performed from 1946 to 1948 at the Schwerin State Theatre, followed by the Gardelegen Theatre in 1949, and then returned to the Berlin State Opera from 1949 to 1951, where he continued to appear as a guest in small roles until 1956. He was made an honorary member of the Berlin State Opera in 1964.

In 1927, he appeared in Madrid as Hunding and King Henry, and in 1929, he performed at the Zoppot Festival as Pogner in Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg. His major roles at the Berlin State Opera and the Kroll Opera included the Commendatore in Don Giovanni, Rocco and the Minister in Fidelio, Kaspar in Der Freischütz, Geronimo in Cimarosa’s Il matrimonio segreto, Crespel in The Tales of Hoffmann, Daland in Der fliegende Holländer, Sarastro in Die Zauberflöte, Basilio in Il barbiere di Siviglia, the gold dealer in Cardillac by P. Hindemith, and Chekunov in Janáček’s From the House of the Dead. He also sang the role of the father-in-law in the German premiere of Darius Milhaud’s Le pauvre Matelot in Berlin in 1929.

A respected concert and lieder singer, he was married for a time to the soprano Marianne Keiler, who had engagements in Mannheim, Breslau, and Wuppertal.

TRACKLIST

1. Ballo in maschera (Verdi) Quartett (w. Leider, Schlusnus & Helgers) B25050, 759az Grammophon, Berlin 1925-02
2. Barbiere di Siviglia (Rossini) Pt 3, Frag ich mein beklommen Herz… Die Verleumdung (w. Meyen, Weltner & Kandl) B25230 830½Bi I Grammophon, Berlin 1929 (medio)
3. Die Uhr (Loewe) 4-8727 52021-1 Homocord, Berlin 1926-08-13
4. Heinrich der Vogler (Loewe) 4-8758 52098 Homocord, Berlin 1926-09
5. Odins Meeresritt (Loewe) 4-8758 52097 Homocord, Berlin 1926-09
6. Tom der Reimer (Loewe) 4-8727 52022-1 Homocord, Berlin 1926-08-13
7. Zauberflöte (Mozart) In dieser heil’gen Hallen 4-8885 52434 Homocord, Berlin 1928-08
8. Zauberflöte (Mozart) O Isis uns Osiris 4-8885 52435-1 Homocord, Berlin 1928-08