Description

OTTO HELGERS (FRANKFURT A.M., 4. 12. 1882 – BERLIN, APRIL, 1945)

 

 

 

 

Student of Eugen Hildach in Frankfurt. He made his debut in 1909 as a pupil at the Hanover Opera House, where he remained until 1911. During the 1912–13 season he appeared at the Dresden Court Opera. He then sang at the Aachen City Theatre from 1911 to 1913 and at the Stuttgart Court Opera from 1913 to 1920, where he participated in the 1913 world premiere of Walter Braunfels’s opera Ulenspiegel, the 1914 first performance of Parsifal (as Gurnemanz), the 1917 world premiere of Siegfried Wagner’s An alles ist Hütchen schuld, and, in 1919, Ture Rangström’s Die Kronenbraut (Kronbruden).

A member of the Berlin State Opera from 1920, he performed there for over twenty years. During this time, he sang in a number of important premieres, including Prokofiev’s L’Amour des trois oranges (1926) and Wolf-Ferrari’s I quattro rusteghi (1937). On December 19, 1922, he appeared in the premiere of Franz Schmidt’s opera Fredigundis at the Berlin State Opera. On December 10, 1930, he participated in the premiere of Karol Rathaus’s Fremde Erde; on November 12, 1931, in Hans Pfitzner’s Das Herz; and on May 12, 1938, in Mark Lothar’s Schneider Wibbel.

From 1925 to 1933 he was a regular guest at London’s Covent Garden Opera, primarily in his Wagner roles (Hunding, Hagen, Fafner, Marke, Daland, Gurnemanz), and in 1926 also as Rocco in Fidelio. He appeared as a guest in Oslo and Amsterdam and was also admired at the Sopot Festival, where he sang Fafner (1922), Hunding (1924), the Landgrave in Tannhäuser (1925), King Henry in Lohengrin (1926), Hagen in Götterdämmerung (1927), and Gurnemanz in Parsifal (1928).

He was married to the soprano Lilly Kassowitz, who was engaged at the Stuttgart Opera, among other venues. It is presumed that he died in the fighting in Berlin at the end of April 1945.

He possessed a voluminous bass voice, particularly outstanding in the Wagner repertoire, but he was also praised as a concert singer.

Recordings: Acoustic and electric records on Polydor and HMV. For Polydor, he also sang in complete short operas, including Martha (as Plumkett) and Lohengrin (as King Henry).

 

 

TRACKLIST

 

 

Ballo in maschera (Verdi) Ach, mit der Gattin nächtlich zu schwärmen (w. Salvatini, Scheidl & Zador) 65642 (B25013) 759 az Grammophon, Berlin (ac)

Fliegende Holländer (Wagner) Wie Hört ich recht… Mich rührt dein Los (w. Schorr) 65632 (B25010), 65632 (B25011) Grammophon, Berlin (ac)

Götterdämmerung (Wagner) In Leid zu den Wipfeln (w. Melchior) D1838 (32-1477) CR2503-2 HMV, London 1930-05-30

Götterdämmerung (Wagner) Mime hiess ein mürrischer Zwerg (w. Melchior) D1838 (32-1476) CR2502-2 HMV, London 1930-05-30

Juive (Halévy) Wenn ew’ger Hass 65730 (B22152) 1119 as Grammophon, Berlin (ac)

Lohengrin (Wagner) Königsgebet 62477 (B2121) 2079ar Grammophon, Berlin (ac)

Zauberflöte (Mozart) In diesen heil’gen Hallen 65730 (B22153) 1118 as Grammophon, Berlin (ac)

Zauberflöte (Mozart) O Isis und Osiris 62477 (B2122) 2077ar Grammophon, Berlin (ac)