Description

GUSTAV WALTER (BÍLINA, BOHEMIA, 11 FEBRUARY, 1834 – VIENNA, 31 JANUARY, 1910)

 

 

 

 

He was originally intended to study the violin at the Prague Conservatory, but instead pursued technical studies at the Prague Polytechnic. In 1853 he became an engineer at a sugar factory in Bilin (now Bílina, Czech Republic). His vocal talent was discovered while singing in a male vocal quartet, after which he studied with Franz Vogl in Prague.

In 1855 he made his stage debut at the Stadttheater in Brünn (Brno) as Edgardo in Lucia di Lammermoor. Through the soprano Rosa Csillag, he was engaged by the Vienna Court Opera in 1856, making his debut there as Gomez in Conradin Kreutzer’s Das Nachtlager von Granada. He remained the celebrated leading tenor of the Vienna Court Opera for more than thirty years and was especially admired for his interpretations of Mozart.

On 10 March 1875 he created the role of Assad in the world premiere of Karl Goldmark’s Die Königin von Saba at the Vienna Court Opera, appearing alongside Amalie Materna and Marie Wilt. In 1882 he sang in the Vienna premiere of Schubert’s Alfonso und Estrella, fifty-four years after the composer’s death.

He also created numerous important roles for the Vienna stage, including Manrico in Verdi’s Il trovatore (1859), the Duke of Mantua in Rigoletto (1860), Riccardo in Un ballo in maschera, Vasco da Gama in Meyerbeer’s L’Africaine (1866), Walther von Stolzing in Wagner’s Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg (1870), Wilhelm Meister in Ambroise Thomas’s Mignon (1868), and Loge in Wagner’s Das Rheingold (1878).

In 1887 he retired from the Vienna Court Opera, making his farewell appearance as Wilhelm Meister in Mignon. On that occasion he was appointed an honorary member of the company.

During his career he also made guest appearances at the Munich Court Opera (1868), the Frankfurt Opera (1864–1882), the Court Theatre in Wiesbaden (1874–1875), the German Theatre in Prague (1885), and, from 1875 onward, at the theatre in Brünn (Brno).

His extensive repertoire also included Lohengrin, Raoul in Meyerbeer’s Les Huguenots, George Brown in Boieldieu’s La Dame blanche, Don Ottavio in Mozart’s Don Giovanni, Tamino in Die Zauberflöte, Florestan in Fidelio, and the title role in Gounod’s Faust.

After retiring from the operatic stage, he embarked on an even more distinguished career as a concert and, above all, Lieder singer. He was among the first artists to devote entire recitals exclusively to art songs. His interpretations of Schubert’s Lieder were considered unrivalled.

On 28 February 1869 he sang in the world premiere of Johannes Brahms’s cantata Rinaldo in Vienna and, between 1869 and 1887, introduced numerous songs by Brahms to the public, including the Liebeslieder-Walzer, Op. 52. Antonín Dvořák dedicated his Gypsy Songs, Op. 55, to him.

He was acclaimed in concert halls throughout Europe, particularly in London, where he first appeared in 1872 at a Philharmonic Concert, performing songs by Mozart, Julius Rietz, and Anton Rubinstein. He participated in the Salzburg Mozart Festival in 1891, gave concerts in Dresden in 1881 and 1887, in Munich in 1888, and presented one of his last Lieder recitals in Graz in 1897. The beauty of his voice remained remarkably well preserved, allowing him to continue performing even after the turn of the twentieth century.

Walter was also one of the most sought-after singing teachers of his time. In 1882 he was appointed professor at the Vienna Conservatory. His son, Raoul Walter (1865–1917), and his daughter, Minna Walter (1863–1901), likewise enjoyed successful careers as opera singers.

In 1904, three recordings of his voice were made in Vienna for the Gramophone & Typewriter Company (G&T). Although technically primitive, they are among the rarest surviving recordings from the earliest period of sound recording and possess exceptional historical value. The same applies to two phonograph cylinders recorded in 1906, which were first issued in 1985.

 

 

 

RAOUL WALTER (VIENNA, 16 AUGUST, 1865 – MUNICH, 26 AUGUST, 1917)

 

 

 

 

Son of a famous tenor Gustav Walter (1834-1910), brother of soprano Minna Walter (1863-1901). First he studied jurisprudence and worked short time in the Munich Finanzprokuratur. Then he studied singing under his father and made his debut in 1888 at the Theater in Vienna in as an operetta singer. In 1889 he made his debut at the Municipal Theater in Brünn (Brno) as Lyonel in ‘’Martha’’. In 1891 he joined to the Court Opera of Munich and remained active there up to his death as famed tenor. Here he sang in the following opera premieres: “Zinnober” by Siegmund by Hausegger (1898), “Herzog Wildfang” of Siegfried Wagner (1901), ‘’Le donne curiose’’ by  E. Wolf-Ferrari  as Florindo (27. 11. 1903), ‘’I quattro rusteghi’’ of the same composer (19. 3. 1906). In the 1899-1901 seasons he guested in Russia, among other things appeared at the Court Operas of St. Petersburg and Moscow, also in Liepāja and Jelgava. Other guest performances: Vienna Court  Opera (1894, 1899), Opera House of Frankfurt a. M. (1899-1907), Municipal Theater of Bremen (1894-1901) and Zurich (1896-1897, 1901, 1906), Court Theater of Karlsruhe (1901), Latvian National Opera (1899-1902). If at first he sang the lyric repertoire, later he added to his repertoire Raoul in ‘’Les Huguenots’’, Arnoldo in G. Rossini’s ‘’Wilhelm Tell’’, Manrico in ‘’Il Trovatore’’, Lohengrin, Walther von Stolzing in ‘’Meistersingern’’ and Loge in ‘’Rheingold’’. His daughter Maria Walter married the famous tenor Julius Patzak (1898-1974).

 

Chronology of some appearances

 

1888-1891 Vienna Theater

1891-1917 Munich Court Opera

1894 Vienna Court Opera

1894-1901 Bremen Municipal Theater

1896-1897 Zurich Opera

1899 Vienna Court Opera

1899-1907 Frankfurt a. M. Opera House

1899-1902 Riga Latvian National Opera

1901 Karlsruhe Court Theater

1901 Zurich Opera

1906 Zurich Opera

 

HEINRICH SPEMANN

 

 

 

He was initially trained as a baritone and made his stage debut in that voice type in 1897 at the Stadttheater in Mainz. After singing as a baritone at the Court Theatre in Detmold during the 1898–1899 season, he retrained as a tenor and resumed his career in that voice at the Court Theatre in Sondershausen during the 1900–1901 season.

During the 1901–1902 season he was engaged at the Stadttheater in Stettin, and from 1902 to 1910 he was a member of the Court Theatre in Darmstadt. Thereafter, while remaining based in Darmstadt, he pursued an extensive career as a guest artist.

Throughout his career he made guest appearances at the Dresden Court Opera (1900), the Court Operas of Stuttgart (1903) and Munich (1908, as Tristan), the Court Theatres of Wiesbaden (from 1902), Mannheim (from 1903), Karlsruhe (from 1906), and Brunswick (1906), the opera houses of Frankfurt am Main (from 1905), Cologne (1906), and Hamburg (1908), as well as the Stadttheater in Bremen (1907). He also appeared as a guest artist in Zurich and Basel, as well as at several theatres in Austria.

His repertoire centered on heroic tenor and Wagnerian roles. His principal stage roles included Florestan in Fidelio, Max in Der Freischütz, the title role in Rienzi, Erik in Der fliegende Holländer, Siegfried, Siegmund, and Loge in Wagner’s Der Ring des Nibelungen, Tannhäuser, Lohengrin, Walther von Stolzing in Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg, Pedro in Eugen d’Albert’s Tiefland, the title role in Auber’s Fra Diavolo, Don José in Carmen, Canio in Pagliacci, and Turiddu in Cavalleria rusticana.

In 1906 he made four commercial recordings in Darmstadt: two Wagner excerpts for the Gramophone & Typewriter Company (G&T) and two recordings for Zonophone.

 

 

 

HANS NACHOD (VIENNA, 1883 – LONDON, 1965)

 

 

 

 

He was born into the family of a Jewish choirmaster and was a cousin of the renowned composer Arnold Schoenberg (1874–1951). He began his stage career in 1907 at the Vienna Volksoper, where he remained until 1910. During the 1910–1912 seasons he was engaged at the Municipal Theatre in Mainz, followed by the 1912–1913 season at the Municipal Theatre in Kiel. From 1915 to 1923 he was a member of the German State Theatre in Prague, and during the 1924–1925 season he appeared at the Municipal Theatre in Stettin.

He also made guest appearances at the Municipal Theatre in Graz (1909), the Court Theatre in Wiesbaden (1911), the Munich Court Opera, and in Amsterdam and The Hague (1921).

In addition to his operatic career, he was highly regarded as a concert singer and as an interpreter of contemporary vocal music. On 23 February 1913 he sang the role of Waldemar in the Vienna premiere of Arnold Schoenberg’s Gurre-Lieder, and in 1914 he also took part in the Leipzig premiere of the work.

Later he settled in London, where he worked as a vocal pedagogue.

His repertoire included Don José in Carmen, Erik in Der fliegende Holländer, Walther von Stolzing in Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg, and many other leading tenor roles.

 

Chronology of some appearances

 

1907-1910 Vienna Volksoper

1909 Graz Municipal Theatre

1910-1912 Mainz Municipal Theatre

1911 Wiesbaden Court Theatre

1912-1913 Kiel Municipal Theatre

1915-1923 Prague German Land Theatre

1921 Amsterdam, Hague

1924-1925 Stettin Municipal Theatre

 

TRACKLIST

 

 

Gustav Walter Am Meer (Schubert) 042097 332i Grammophon, Wien, 1904

Gustav Walter Feldeinsamkeit (Brahms) 3-42155 2424h Grammophon, Wien, October 1904

Gustav Walter Lohengrin (agner) Nun sei bedankt 238 Wiener Phonogrammarchiv, Wien 1906

Gustav Walter Mignon (Thomas) Leb’ wohl, Mignon! 3-42154 2423h G&T, Wien 1904-10

Gustav Walter O hör mein Lied, geliebte Maid (Eduard Walter) 237 Wiener Phonogrammarchiv, Wien, 2 July 1906

Raoul Walter La Juive (Halévy) Recha, als Gott dich einst 042141 218s Grammophon, München, June 1907

Hans Nachod Lohengrin (Wagner) In fernem Land 1-25438 3228-t-

Hans Nachod Rigoletto (Verdi) Freundlich blick’ ich 1-25436 3226-t Favorite, Wien 1910-04

Hans Nachod Tannhäuser (Wagner) Dir töne Lob! 1-25445 3235-t- Favorite, Wien 1910-04

Heinrich Spemann Rienzi (Wagner) Allmächt’ger Vater 3-42689 4668L Gramophone, Frankfurt am Main, September 1906

Heinrich Spemann Walküre (Wagner) Winterstürme wichen dem Wonnemond 3-42639 4665L Gramophone, Frankfurt am Main, September 1906