Adolf Wallnöfer

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Adolf Wallnöfer around 1900

Adolf Wallnöfer (born April 26, 1854 in Vienna ; † June 9, 1946 in Munich ) was an Austrian composer and opera singer (tenor).

Life

Wallnöfer, son of the singer and Schubert song interpreter Franz Wallnöfer, studied composition and piano with Otto Dessoff and Franz Krenn at the Conservatory of the Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde in Vienna , today's Vienna Music Academy . Influenced by the acquaintance with the singer and singing teacher Mathilde Marchesi , he also studied with Hans von Rokitansky singing and was due to his impressive performance at the age of only 18 years, with the chorus line of the 9th Symphony of Ludwig van Beethoven under the baton of Richard Wagner in the context commissioned to lay the foundation stone of the Bayreuth Festival Hall on May 22, 1872. Since then he has developed more and more into an undisputed Wagner specialist and from 1880 onwards he was accepted as a singer in the opera troupe of the so-called "Wandering Wagner Theater" under the direction of Angelo Neumann . With this traveling Wagner ensemble, which included a full orchestra, an opera choir as well as stage equipment and stage technicians, he performed in 135 Ring performances and over 50 other Wagner concerts in several cities in Europe as well as at the Metropolitan Opera in New York over the next few years and embodied the great tenor roles from the various Wagner operas. Especially the figures of Tristan in Tristan und Isolde , of Siegfried in the Ring of the Nibelung or Tannhauser from Tannhäuser part of his repertoire. These concert tours were Wallnöfer's great artistic breakthrough. During this time he also belonged to the so-called “Nibelungen Chancellery”, a group around Felix Mottl , Hans Richter , Anton Seidl , Hermann Zumpe , and others who dealt with the interpretation and above all marketing of the various Wagner operas and therefore were allowed to be present at the rehearsals for this purpose.

From 1885 Wallnöfer received a ten-year contract in Prague. He then took on several engagements both as a singer and as a conductor at various renowned theaters such as in New York (1895/96), Riga and Breslau (from 1897), Nuremberg and Vienna (from 1900) and Rostock (1905), where he but seldom stayed longer than two to three years. From the turn of the century Wallnöfer settled permanently in Munich and continued to work there as a freelance composer, teacher, conductor and singer but also as a theater director (1895–1907), particularly for contemporary operas .

After 1907 and as he grew older, Wallnöfer mainly occupied himself with the performance and composition of instrumental music, especially since his oratorio Weltgottesfeier, which was supposed to be an appeal for religious freedom , had been afflicted with resentment by the now ruling National Socialists .

Wallnöfer had been a member of the NSDAP since March 1, 1933 and was registered under the party number 1.509.075. During the National Socialist era , he composed, among other things, a popular triumph piece for folk choir and large orchestra in 1933 , the musical drama Ildicho from 1934–1935 and a Jungmädel suite in 1938 . In 1944 he received an honorary gift of RM 10,000 after his last choral work, The Victory, had been assessed as particularly successful by the “ Works Examination Committee of the Composers' Union”.

In addition, he appeared temporarily as a writer of music reviews and music literature. He died very old on June 9, 1946 at the age of 92.

The focus of his artistic career was undoubtedly singing. His vocal range has evolved over the years from an initial baritone about the lyric tenor to a radiant heroic tenor . This was of particular benefit to him in the great roles of Wagner operas. Since his acclaimed success with the song of triumph , Op. 55 by Johannes Brahms in the context of 53. Lower Rhine Music Festival in Aachen in 1876, he proved just as his art in performances of songs of romance and he never missed an opportunity this time and again in his repertoire and also to perform in the context of special Brahms or Liszt evenings.

In addition to his singing activities, Wallnöfer was a hardworking and versatile composer and, according to his autobiography, composed around 50 instrumental and orchestral works by 1924, including at least one opera and six symphonies, as well as more than 150 songs, duets and trios, but the really big one He was unable to make a breakthrough in this sector and most of his works have been forgotten. His extensive estate was posthumously distributed to the Munich City Library, the Austrian National Library and the Vienna City and State Library .

Compositions (selection)

  • Vier Gesänge op.4 bei Schott (Mainz), 1877, dedicated to Richard Wagner
  • Six songs, Op. 6, song cycle, September 12, 1879
  • The Limits of Mankind, Op. 10, work for choir and orchestra, 1880, dedicated to Johannes Brahms
  • My heart is like heaven , op. 15.1; Text: Friedrich Julius Hammer
  • Piano pieces op.22, Breitkopf & Härtel, 1881
  • Gersprenz op. 25, work for choir and orchestra
  • Four songs for men's quartet op.26, Breitkopf & Härtel, 1881
  • The Blumen Rache op.30, an orchestral work in four movements, was printed as op.31 by Praeger & Meier in Bremen, 1881
  • Piano pieces op. 37, Breitkopf & Härtel, 1881, dedicated to Arthur Nikisch
  • Eddystone (1889), opera in three acts, first performance Prague 1889, conductor: Carl Muck
  • Ildico ; Musical drama in 3 acts with 5 notes; [Folkish plot based on historical works about Attila's reign and his end in AD 453] / Poemed and set to music by A. Wallnöfer
  • Symphony in G minor , (molto moderato - Adagio non troppo - Tempo di menuetto pesante - andante funebre - molto moderato). Complete performance after 1916
  • The Flame , op.98.1, text: Michael Georg Conrad
  • Weltgottesfeier , seven-part oratorio, 1916, dedicated to Fritz Steinbach
  • Meditation on the Adagio from the Moonlight Sonata / Arr. A. Wallnöfer, underlaid with a vocal clarinet solo part in the Charles Gounod style
  • Piano trio op.133, unprinted, dated October 1924
  • String Quartet in A minor, op.137, unprinted, completed in 1927
  • String quartet in G major op. 138, unprinted, completed in 1927
  • Violin Concerto in F major, unprinted, dated: March – April 1931.

Works (selection)

  • Adolf Wallnöfer: Resonanztonlehre, textbook for contemporary singing technique. 1911.
  • Adolf Wallnöfer: Autobiography. unpublished manuscript with 50 instrumental and orchestral works, 300 chants as well as 150 songs, duets and trios, status 1924, unpublished

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ A b Fred K. Prieberg : Handbook of German Musicians 1933–1945 , CD-Rom-Lexikon, Kiel 2004, p. 7541.
  2. ^ Quotation from Fred K. Prieberg: Handbook of German Musicians 1933-1945 , CD-Rom-Lexikon, Kiel 2004, p. 7541, source: BA R 55 / 20574. Sheet 489 ff.
personal data
SURNAME Wallnöfer, Adolf
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Austrian composer and opera singer (tenor)
DATE OF BIRTH April 26, 1854
PLACE OF BIRTH Vienna
DATE OF DEATH June 9, 1946
Place of death Munich