Description

PAUL BENDER (DRIEDORF, WESTERWALD, 28 JULY, 1875 – MUNICH, 25 NOVEMBER, 1947)

 

 

 

 

He was born to a Protestant pastor and initially pursued medical studies in Berlin before training his voice with renowned Berlin teachers Luise Ress and Baptist Hoffmann. His stage debut came in 1900 at the Breslau Opera House as the Hermit in Weber’s Der Freischütz, where he performed until 1903. He then joined the Munich Court Opera, serving as its principal bass for 30 years and appearing on stage over 2,000 times, including in heroic baritone roles between 1912 and 1925. Notably, on November 27, 1903, he participated in the world premiere of Le donne curiose and later, on March 19, 1906, in I quattro rusteghi by Ermanno Wolf-Ferrari, both staged in German at the Residenztheater. On June 12, 1917, he premiered the role of Pope Pius V in Pfitzner’s Palestrina at the Prinzregententheater and later performed the title role in Massenet’s Don Quixote.

At the Bayreuth Festival in 1902, he sang Fasolt in Das Rheingold, and in 1910, he appeared as Daland in Der fliegende Holländer at the Théâtre de la Monnaie in Brussels, and as Hans Sachs in Die Meistersinger at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées in Paris. His Covent Garden appearances (1910-1913) included performances in Der Ring des Nibelungen and Amfortas in Parsifal in 1914. He was a celebrated guest at major opera houses worldwide, performing from 1916-17 and again in 1935 at the Vienna State Opera, and at Zurich’s City Theater in 1909 and 1915. From 1922 to 1927, he was engaged at the Metropolitan Opera in New York, where he debuted as Ochs in Strauss’s Der Rosenkavalier. There, he expanded his repertoire with roles such as Sarastro in The Magic Flute and the title character in Cornelius’s The Barber of Bagdad. In 1924 and 1927, he captivated audiences in London as Ochs and in Paris in 1927 as Rocco in Fidelio. At the Salzburg Festival in 1926, he performed Osmin in Die Entführung aus dem Serail.

He continued to pioneer in contemporary music, appearing in the world premieres of Julius Weismann’s The Ghost Sonata in Munich (1930), Hans Pfitzner’s Das Herz (1931), and Carl Orff’s Der Mond in 1939, in which he portrayed Peter. From 1938 to 1939, he sang Fafner in Der Ring des Nibelungen at La Scala in Milan. His extensive touring led him to stages across Germany, Amsterdam, Geneva (1931), Stockholm (1935 in concerts), Budapest (1929 as a soloist, and again in 1931), and Spain. He excelled in both operatic and concert performances, with over a hundred major roles in his repertoire and a special renown as an interpreter of Carl Loewe’s ballads, regarded as a successor to Eugen Gura.

Even as he continued performing well into his later years, his technical precision and dark-timbered, voluminous bass voice remained remarkable. He performed until just weeks before his death, with his final stage appearance in Les Contes d’Hoffmann. An influential teacher, he became a professor at the Munich Academy of Music in 1931, mentoring prominent singers like Josef Greindl and Hans Hopf.

 

 

TRACKLIST

 

 

1. In der Marienkirche (Loewe) EH904 2D1548-2 HMV, Berlin 1933-04-20
2. Juive (Halévy) Wenn ew’ger Hass (Cavatine) 042187 44ac Gramophone, München 1908-12-31
3. Kleiner Haushalt (Loewe) E415 30438 Ultraphon, Berlin 1930-03
4. Lohengrin (Wagner) Mein Herr und Gott (Königsgebet) 3-42907 4970h G&T, Berlin 1907-08
5. Martha (Flotow) Ja, seit früher Kindheit Tagen (w. Knote) 044067 211s G&T, München 1907-07
6. Martha (Flotow) Ja, was nun (w. Matzenauer) 044091 275s G&T, München 1907-08
7. Martha (Flotow) Lasst mich euch fragen 4-42260 6475r Gramophone, Berlin 1909-06
8. Meistersinger von Nürnberg (Wagner) Das schöne Fest 042276, 380s-II Gramophone, Berlin 1909-06
9. Meistersinger von Nürnberg (Wagner) Das schöne Fest X99508 xB4846 Odeon, Berlin 1910-06
10. Meistersinger von Nürnberg (Wagner) Wahn! Wahn!, pt 1 pt 2 042565, 042566, 1287m, 1288½m Grammophon, Berlin 1919
11. Meistersinger von Nürnberg (Wagner) Wie duftet doch der Flieder 042573, 1286m Grammophon, Berlin 1919
12. Mignon (Thomas) Ihr Schwalben in den Lüften (w. Matzenauer) 3-44031 323ab Gramophone, München 1909-01-05
13. Mondnacht (Schumann) 4-42658 19195L Grammophon, Berlin 1919
14. Odins Meeresritt (Loewe) E415 30439 Ultraphon, Berlin 1930-03
15. Raub (Kowalski) unpubl 0D1560-1 HMV, Berlin 1933-04-21
16. Tannhäuser (Wagner) Noch bleibe denn unausgesprochen (Ansprache des Landgrafen) 4-42367 298ab Gramophone, München 1909-01-02
17. Tom der Reimer (Loewe) EH830 2D1549-2 HMV, Berlin 1933-04-20
18. Tristan und Isolde (Wagner) Tatest du’s wirklich X99507 xB4842 Odeon, Berlin 1910-06
19. Waffenschmied (Lortzing) Auch ich war ein Jüngling 042188 45ac Gramophone, München 1908-12-31
20. Zauberflöte (Mozart) In diesen haeil’gen Hallen 4-42652 19203L Grammophon, Berlin 1919
21. Zauberflöte (Mozart) In diesen heil’gen Hallen 4-42195 266½ab Gramophone, München 1908-12-29
22. Zauberflöte (Mozart) O Isis und Osiris 4-42651 19202L Grammophon, Berlin 1919
23. Zauberflöte (Mozart) O Isis uns Osiris 4-42194 289ab Gramophone, München 1908-12-31