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 ferne Geliebte, pt 1 (Beethoven) (78) 67544 1182GS9 Grammophon, Berlin 1939-06-19
2. An die ferne Geliebte, pt 2 (Beethoven) (78) 67544 1183-2GS9 Grammophon, Berlin 1939-06-19
3. An die ferne Geliebte, pt 3 (Beethoven) (78) 67545 1184-2GS9 Grammophon, Berlin 1939-06-19
4. An die ferne Geliebte, pt 4 (Beethoven) (78) 67545 1185-2GS9 Grammophon, Berlin 1939-06-19
5. Denk’ es, o Seele (Wolf) (78) 62850 9949GR9 Grammophon, Berlin 1943-05-28
6. Don Carlo (Verdi) Schon seh’ ich den Tag erschienen 68119 2235-2GS9 Grammophon, Berlin 1943-06-10
7. Freundliche Vision (Strauss) (78) 62876 2557WH Grammophon, Hannover 1951-04-1720
8. Heimkehr (Strauss) (78) 62882 2617WS Grammophon, Hannover 1951-04-1720
9. Im Frühling (Schubert) (78) 67740 1465-1GS9 Grammophon, Berlin 1940-04-19
10. Liebeshymnus (Strauss) (78) 68131 2233GS9 Grammophon, Berlin 1943-06-05
11. Morgen! (Strauss) (78) 68242 2231GS9 Grammophon, Berlin 1943-06-05
12. Nacht und Träume (Schubert) 62821 8615-3GR9 Grammophon, Berlin 1939-01-27
13. Regenlied (Brahms) (78) 67538 1018GS9 Grammophon, Berlin 1939-01-27
14. Ständchen (Strauss) (78) 62882 2616WS Grammophon, Hannover 1951-04-1720
15. Traum durch die Dämmerung (Strauss) (78) 62876 2554WH Grammophon, Hannover 1951-04-1720
16. Traum durch die Dämmerung (Strauss) (78) 68131 2232GS9 Grammophon, Berlin 1943-06-05
17. Vêpres Siciliennes (Verdi) Ja, ich muß büßen! 68119 2234-2GS9 Grammophon, Berlin 1943-06-10
18. Verborgenheit (Wolf) (78) 62850 9948GR9 Grammophon, Berlin 1943-05-28
19. Von ewiger Liebe (Brahms) 67538 1019½GS9 Grammophon, Berlin 1939-01-27
20. Winterweihe (Strauss) (78) 68242 2230GS9 Grammophon, Berlin 1943-06-05
21. Wohin (Schubert) 62821 8616-2GR9 Grammophon, Berlin 1939-01-27