Description

HEINRICH SCHLUSNUS (BRAUBACH, GERMAN EMPIRE, 6 AUGUST, 1888 – FRANKFURT, WEST GERMANY, 18 JUNE, 1952)

 

 

 

 

His father was a postman but also led a male quartet. He initially worked as a postal employee in Frankfurt am Main, while also receiving his first singing lessons and giving a concert in Frankfurt as early as 1912. When World War I broke out in 1914, he was drafted and suffered a leg injury that August at the front in Belgium. This experience led him to pursue a career as an opera singer, and he made his debut at the Hamburg Opera in 1915 as the Herald in Lohengrin. From 1915 to 1917, he sang at the Stadttheater in Nuremberg. In 1917, he was invited to join the Berlin Court Opera (his first role there being Wolfram in Tannhäuser), where he remained until 1945 as a member of what later became the Berlin State Opera.

During the Verdi Renaissance of the 1920s, he performed in the Berlin premiere of I Vespri Siciliani in 1932 and took on various other Verdi roles, including Rigoletto, Count di Luna in Il Trovatore, Germont in La Traviata, Don Carlos in La forza del destino, and Posa in Don Carlo. Following additional training with Louis Bachner in Berlin, he gave his first recital in 1918 at the Blüthner Hall in Berlin. He soon gained a reputation as one of Germany’s most prominent song interpreters, thrilling audiences worldwide with over 2,000 song recitals.

His international concert and recital tours took him across Holland, Belgium, England, France (in Paris in 1931 and 1937), Austria, Bulgaria (in Sofia in 1925), Italy, North America, and Canada. Despite his extensive recital career, he continued to perform on stage in Berlin and on guest appearances. In 1919, 1932, and 1934, he made guest appearances in Amsterdam; in 1922, in Barcelona; in 1923, at the Vienna State Opera; in 1925, at the Budapest Opera; in 1937, at the Paris Grand Opéra; in 1932, in Stockholm; and in 1922, 1938, and 1948, in Zurich. He also performed on many major German stages. During the 1927-1928 season, he was engaged by the Chicago Opera, and in 1933, he sang Amfortas in Parsifal at the Bayreuth Festival.

After World War II, he continued to perform, including at the Frankfurt Opera, where he sang his last role, Rigoletto, in 1948. In 1951, he made a final appearance as Germont at the Koblenz City Theater. That same year, he gave his last recital after completing another major tour of South America in 1949.

Literature: E. von Naso & Annemarie Schlusnus: Heinrich Schlusnus, Man and Singer (Hamburg, 1957).

 

 

TRACKLIST

 

 

1. An die Leier (Schubert) (79) 66776 1192bm I Grammophon, Berlin 1928 (Autumn)
2. An Sylvia (Schubert) (79) 62645 1605bk I Grammophon, Berlin 1928 (Autumn)
3. Aufträge (Schumann) (76) 62646 1671bk I Grammophon, Berlin 1928 (Autumn)
4. Carmen (Bizet) Euren Toast (78) 73086 330bi Grammophon, Berlin 1927 (Spring)
5. Der Atlas (Schubert) (79) 62643 1582bk I Grammophon, Berlin 1928 (Autumn)
6. Der Doppelgänger (Schubert) (79) 62643 1584bk I Grammophon, Berlin 1928 (Autumn)
7. Der Wanderer (Schubert) (79) 66776 1193bm I Grammophon, Berlin 1928 (Autumn)
8. Die Lotosblume (Schumann) (79) 62646 1586bk I Grammophon, Berlin 1928 (Autumn)
9. Epiphanias (Wolf) (79.5) 66609 148be Grammophon, Berlin 1927-06-04
10. Er ist’s (Wolf) (76) 62655 1673bk I Grammophon, Berlin 1928 (Autumn)
11. Faust (Gounod) Da ich nun verlassen soll (81) 66851 1051bm Grammophon, Berlin 1928
12. Faust (Gounod) Pfui, schäme dich, Margarethe! (78) 73085 333bi Grammophon, Berlin 1927 (Spring)
13. Faust (Gounod) Schnell hierher! (w. unidentified sop & mezzo) (78) 73085 332bi Grammophon, Berlin 1927 (Spring)
14. Forza del destino (Verdi) And’re Beweise noch (w. NN (tenor)) (81) 66763 1055bm Grammophon, Berlin 1928
15. Forza del destino (Verdi) Nennt mich nur den schwarzen Studenten 62641 1507bk Grammophon, Berlin 1928
16. Forza del destino (Verdi) O Tod! Du Wort des Grauens (81) 66763 1054bm Grammophon, Berlin 1928
17. Frühlingsglaube (Schubert) (79) 62645 1585bk I Grammophon, Berlin 1928 (Autumn)
18. Hamlet (Thomas) O Wein, zerstreue uns’re Sorgen (79.5) 66630 437bm Grammophon, Berlin 1927
19. Heimliche Aufforderung (Strauss) (80) 62622 387bd Grammophon, Berlin 1927-06-13
20. Heimweh (Wolf) (79.5) 62622 337bd Grammophon, Berlin 1927-06-04
21. Ich grolle nicht (Schumann) (79.5) 62623 339bd Grammophon, Berlin 1927-06-04
22. Ich liebe dich (Strauss) (76) 62654 1669bk I Grammophon, Berlin 1928 (Autumn)
23. Rigoletto (Verdi) Cortigiani, vil razza dannata! (79.5) 66852 436bm Grammophon, Berlin 1927
24. Rigoletto (Verdi) Pari siamo! (79.5) 66630 435bm Grammophon, Berlin 1927
25. Ständchen (Schubert) (79.5) 66611 149be Grammophon, Berlin 1927-06-04
26. Traviata (Verdi) Hat dein heimatliches Land (81) 66762 1049bm Grammophon, Berlin 1928
27. Trovatore (Verdi) Ihres Auges himmlisch Strahlen (81) 66762 1050bm Grammophon, Berlin 1928
28. Trovatore (Verdi) Nur still, nur still (w. chorus) (81) 62641 1508bk Grammophon, Berlin 1928
29. Undine (Lortzing) Nun ist’s vollbracht (78) 73086 331bi Grammophon, Berlin 1927 (Spring)
30. Verschwiegene Liebe (Wolf) (76) 62655 1672bk I Grammophon, Berlin 1928 (Autumn)
31. Wie bist du, meine Königin (Brahms) (79.5) 66610 150be Grammophon, Berlin 1927-06-04
32. Xerxes (Händel) Frondi tenere… Ombra mai fu (81) 66984 1048bm Grammophon, Berlin 1928
33. Zar und Zimmermann (Lortzing) Sonst spielt’ ich mit Zepter (80) 66608 532bg Grammophon, Berlin 1927 (Spring)
34. Zazà (Leoncavallo) Zazà, piccola zingara (80) 66608 531bg Grammophon, Berlin 1927 (Spring)
35. Zueignung (Strauss) (76) 62654 1668bk I Grammophon, Berlin 1928 (Autumn)