Adolf von Sonnenthal

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Adolf Sonnenthal, lithograph by Joseph Kriehuber , 1859
Adolf von Sonnenthal

Adolf (since 1881 von ) Sonnenthal (born December 21, 1834 in Pest , Austrian Empire , † April 4, 1909 in Prague , Austria-Hungary ) was an Austrian actor . He was considered the best conversational actor in salon fun games, but was also extremely successful as a hero and character actor.

Life

As a result of the sudden impoverishment of his parents, Adolf Sonnenthal had to take up the tailoring trade , later, following his inclination and encouraged and reasonably prepared by the actor Bogumil Dawison , turned to the stage and made his debut in Timişoara in 1851 as "Phoebus de Châteaupers" in the drama The Hunchback of Notre Dame ( Charlotte Birch-Pfeiffer ). In 1852 he went to Sibiu , from here in 1854 to Graz , where he was a drama student of Karl von Holtei , and in the winter of 1855–1856 to Königsberg , where he performed with such success that Heinrich Laube offered him an engagement at the Vienna Burgtheater .

There Sonnenthal made his debut on May 18, 1856 as "Mortimer" in Die Waise von Lowood by Charlotte Birch-Pfeiffer and was hired for life after three years. Under the direction and support of Heinrich Laube, Sonnenthal rose to become one of the most important German-speaking actors of his time. In 1881, on the occasion of his 25th anniversary in service, Emperor Franz Joseph appointed Sonnenthal Knight of the Order of the Iron Crown , which was associated with his elevation to the hereditary Austrian nobility. He was appointed senior director in 1884 and acted as artistic director of the theater from the departure of director Adolf von Wilbrandt (June 1887) until the end of 1888. Sonnenthal's real strength lay in acting and comedy; as an actor, so-called salon roles, he undisputedly took first place.

From his diverse repertoire are u. a. starred in Romeo and Juliet and Henry IV by William Shakespeare , Faust. A tragedy. and Clavigo by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe and Nathan the Wise by Gotthold Ephraim Lessing .

But also in the roles of “Raoul Gérard” ( from the comic opera ), “Fürst Lübbenau” ( from society , Eduard von Bauernfeld ), “König” ( Ester , Jean Racine ), “Fox” ( Pitt and Fox , Rudolf von Gottschall ), “Marcel de Prel” ( Wildfeuer , Friedrich Halm ) and in Uriel Acosta ( Karl Gutzkow ) Sonnenthal was able to shine.

In contrast, his translations of French plays, such as B. The Marquis of Villemer ( George Sand ). For a few years, Sonnenthal was Vice President of the German Stage Members' Cooperative alongside Richard John .

At the age of 74, the actor Adolf von Sonnenthal died of a stroke in the evening of April 4, 1909 in the “Hotel zum Blauen Stern” in Prague.

His grave is in the Vienna Cemetery - Döbling (Group Isr. 1/44). In 1920, Sonnenthalgasse was named after him in Vienna- Ottakring (16th district) .

Sonnenthal's great-nephew was the conductor Kurt Adler , his granddaughter Luise married Erich Wolfgang Korngold in 1924 .

Student (selection)

Works

  • Fifty years in the Vienna Burgtheater: 1856–1906 , Vienna, self-published in 1906 ( archive.org or online in the Google Book Search USA )

literature

Web links

Commons : Adolf von Sonnenthal  - album with pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Michael Sachs: 'Prince Bishop and Vagabond'. The story of a friendship between the Prince-Bishop of Breslau Heinrich Förster (1799–1881) and the writer and actor Karl von Holtei (1798–1880). Edited textually based on the original Holteis manuscript. In: Medical historical messages. Journal for the history of science and specialist prose research. Volume 35, 2016 (2018), pp. 223–291, here: p. 283.
  2. ↑ Cooperative of German Stage Members (Ed.): Deutsches Bühnen-Jahrbuch 1929 , publisher: Cooperative of German Stage Members, Berlin 1929, p. 102
personal data
SURNAME Sonnenthal, Adolf von
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Austrian actor and director
DATE OF BIRTH December 21, 1834
PLACE OF BIRTH Plague (city)
DATE OF DEATH April 4, 1909
Place of death Prague