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 Schwager Kronos (Schubert) (78) 30006 5725GR8 Grammophon, Berlin 1934-11-20
2. Dem Unendlichen (Schubert) (77) 95479, 1258BI8 Grammophon, Berlin 1932-11
3. Der Hidalgo (Schumann) (78) 95477 457BS III Grammophon, Berlin 1932-0405
4. Der Schreckenberger (Wolf) (77) 90203 3333BH I Grammophon, Berlin 1932-11
5. Der Soldat (Schumann) (78) 30006 5726GR8 Grammophon, Berlin 1934-11-20
6. Die beiden Grenadiere (Schumann) (78) 95477 456BS III Grammophon, Berlin 1932-0405
7. Drei Wanderer (Hermann) (77) 35036 1255BI8 Grammophon, Berlin 1932-11
8. Erlkönig (Schubert) (78) 67051 676BE8 Grammophon, Berlin 1933-05-27
9. Flutenreicher Ebro (Schumann) (78) 67051, 677BE8 Grammophon, Berlin 1933-05-27
10. Frühling über’s Jahr (Wolf) (77) 90203 3334BH I Grammophon, Berlin 1932-11
11. Pikovaja Dama (Tchaikovsky) Als du zum Gatten mich erkoren (77) 67050 1257BI8 Grammophon, Berlin 1932-11
12. Provençalisches Lied (Schumann) 30003 6133½GD8 Grammophon, Berlin 1934-06-22
13. Talismane (Schumann) 30003 6132½GD8 Grammophon, Berlin 1934-06-22
14. Vale Carissima (Graener) (78) 30002 5411BD8 Grammophon, Berlin 1933-05-27
15. Vêpres Siciliennes (Verdi) All’ meine Liebe kan dich nicht rühren (w. Roswaenge) 90204 5461BD8 Grammophon, Berlin 1933-06-20
16. Vêpres Siciliennes (Verdi) Als sich mein Herz dir zugewendet (w. Roswaenge) 90204 5460BD8 Grammophon, Berlin 1933-06-20
17. Vêpres Siciliennes (Verdi) In Glanz und Pracht regier’ ich hier (78) 67050, 696BE8 Grammophon, Berlin 1933-06-20