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. Abschied (Wolf) (78) 30010 6160GR8 Grammophon, Berlin 1935-09-11
2. Anakreons Grab (Wolf) (78) 30010 6161GR8 Grammophon, Berlin 1935-09-11
3. Ballo in maschera (Verdi) Ja, nur du hast dies Herz mir entwendet (77) 35022, 517GS8 Grammophon, Berlin 1935-05-28
4. Barbiere di Siviglia (Rossini) Ich bin das Faktotum (78.5) 35021 530GS8 Grammophon, Berlin 1935-06-26
5. Contes d’Hoffmann (Offenbach) Leuchte, heller Spiegel, mir (78.5) 35021 529GS8 Grammophon, Berlin 1935-06-26
6. Das Erkennen (Loewe) (79) 35041 401GO8 Grammophon, Berlin 1936-06-09
7. Die Uhr (Loewe) (79) 35041, 400GO8 Grammophon, Berlin 1936-06-09
8. Don Giovanni (Mozart) Reich’ mir die Hand, mein Leben (w. Berger) 62755 2933½GN8 Grammophon, Berlin 1936-06-11
9. Faust (Gounod) Da ich nun verlassen soll (77) 35027 522GS Grammophon, Berlin 1935-06-13
10. Feldeinsamkeit (Brahms) (79.5) 30009, 6058GR8 Grammophon, Berlin 1935-06-17
11. Gesang Weylas (Wolf) (79.5) 30009, 6059GR8 Grammophon, Berlin 1935-06-17
12. Hans Heiling (Marschner) An jenem Tag (77) 35027 521GS Grammophon, Berlin 1935-06-13
13. Pagliacci (Leoncavallo) Schaut her, ich bin’s! 35022 514½GS8 Grammophon, Berlin 1935-05-28
14. Tannhäuser (Wagner) Blick’ ich umher (77) 35023 515GS8 Grammophon, Berlin 1935-05-28
15. Tannhäuser (Wagner) Wie Todesahnung 35023 516½GS8 Grammophon, Berlin 1935-05-28
16. Trompeter von Säckingen (Nessler) Das ist im Leben häßlich eingerichtet 35036 528GS8 Grammophon, Berlin 1935-06-26