Carlos Feller

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Carlos Feller , born as Kalman Felberbaum , (born July 30, 1922 in Złoczów , Poland ; † December 21, 2018 in Kempten / Allgäu ) was an Argentine opera singer ( bass ). He worked at the Cologne Opera House for almost thirty years .

Life

Origin and education

Carlos Feller was born to Eastern European Jews east of Lemberg in the Tarnopol Voivodeship . At the end of the 1920s, the family emigrated to South America and initially found a home in Montevideo in Uruguay , where they lived in simple circumstances and where Feller grew up. The family later moved to Buenos Aires . Much of Feller's relatives were later murdered in the Holocaust .

During his school days Feller played theater in an amateur drama group and sang in the school choir . Despite the difficult economic situation, Feller's father let his children study. Carlos Feller, who had graduated from high school in Montevideo, then began to study dentistry , as this profession interested him and he hoped that it would help to support the family and finance their retirement. He also took his first singing lessons and sang in the choir at larger concerts, where he occasionally took on smaller solos.

At the age of 19 - Feller was studying dentistry in his third semester - he was discovered at a concert by the conductor Erich Kleiber , who asked him to come to Buenos Aires for an audition. After his audition, he was offered a three-year contract for smaller roles, with the condition that he could continue studying in the adjoining opera studio. Feller received his vocal training at the opera school of the Teatro Colón a . a. with the coloratura soprano Edytha Fleischer .

Beginnings

During the Second World War he had the opportunity to attend performances at the Teatro Colón with the emigrated conductors Erich Kleiber and Fritz Busch , and during the so-called "international" season to hear opera singers such as Helen Traubel , Lauritz Melchior and Herbert Janssen . In 1946 he made his debut with the small role of the doctor ( Le Medicin ) in Debussy's only opera Pelléas et Mélisande . After a three-year training period, Feller received a regular contract at the Teatro Colón, initially for so-called " Comprimario " roles, but then soon for larger roles. For the next 10 years he stayed at the Teatro Colón. In 1949 he sang Don Alfonso in Così fan tutte under Kleiber's baton for the first time , which later became one of his most frequently sung roles. In the "national" season, with no guest stars, he then already took on some of the leading roles in his field.

Together with young colleagues, he founded a chamber opera at the Teatro Colón, where the singers initially performed free of charge and without financial support. It was only later that private sponsors were found. The director of studies of the "Ópera de Camara" was the later famous composer Mauricio Kagel . Feller sang at the chamber opera a. a. in Il filosofo di campagna by Baldassare Galuppi and L'Ivrogne corrigé by Gluck . In 1958 Feller was invited to the world exhibition in Brussels together with the Buenos Aires Chamber Opera , where he had great success in the title role of the one-act play Il maestro di capella by Domenico Cimarosa . Further guest performances by the chamber opera at the Théâtre des Nations in Paris and at Sadler's Wells Opera in London followed .

Feller then decided to stay in Europe with his family due to the wide range of professional opportunities available to him . He received his first permanent engagement in Germany at the Stadttheater Mainz . He was then a member of the ensemble at the Frankfurt Opera House (1960–1962) and then, under the direction of Joachim Klaiber and Peter Ronnefeld , at the Städtische Bühnen Kiel until 1969.

Engagement at the Cologne Opera

In 1969, the conductor and Cologne GMD István Kertész Feller, who was originally only hired to step in for a festival performance of the Mozart opera Così fan tutte in Cologne, initially signed a three-year contract with the Cologne Opera. Feller then extended and stayed in Cologne permanently. From 1969 to 1996 he was a bass player in the permanent ensemble of the Cologne Opera. In 1992 he became the Council of the City of Cologne for an honorary member appointed.

In Cologne, Feller sang a variety of roles in a range of roles that ranged from fathers, comedians, bizarre types to crooks and criminals to eerie characters. Until 1975, initially under the general manager Claus Helmut Drese , then later under the direction of Michael Hampe , Feller “shaped” the Cologne Opera as a singer actor. He was considered a "character actor" and "archcomedian". Bartolo in Rossini's The Barber of Seville , as well as in Mozart's The Marriage of Figaro , the title role in Don Pasquale and in particular Don Alfonso ( Così fan tutte ) belonged to his Cologne “brilliant parts” . In Jean-Pierre Ponnelle's Mozart cycle he could be heard as Leporello , Bartolo and Don Alfonso. Feller also appeared in Cologne as an interpreter of Classical Modernism with roles such as Doctor in Wozzeck or as the old man Schigolch in Lulu (including in a new production by Michael Hampe in the 1994/95 season). In the 1990/91 season, Feller was the alchemist Popolani in a new production of the Offenbach operetta Bluebeard, directed by Willy Decker . In the 1992/93 season he was, again in a directorial work by Willy Decker, who “treated like an aged seer” old seaman Dansker in a new production of the Britten opera Billy Budd . In the 1994/95 season he also sang the ex-mayor Simone in Il tabarro in the new Trittico production by Willy Decker .

Feller also took part in an Israel tour of the Cologne Opera, where he appeared as Wozzeck -Doktor and Don Alfonso, and was highly praised by the Israeli press. Feller ended his career in the early 2000s. In December 2009 he appeared in public for the last time as part of a “singer portrait” at the Cologne Opera. In April 2013, he took part in a festive event for Matti Salminen at the Cologne Opera as a guest and also acted as a laudator by means of a video greeting message .

Guest performances

Over the course of his career, Feller has made guest appearances at the State Operas of Munich , Hamburg and Stuttgart , at the Deutsche Oper am Rhein , at the National Theater Mannheim , at the State Theater in Kassel , at the State Theater in Hanover and at the Deutsche Oper Berlin ( Don Pasquale , with Barry McDaniel as a partner) .

In Europe he performed at the Dutch Opera in Amsterdam, at the Brussels Opera House , at the Opéra-Comique Paris (1984 as Geronimo in Il matrimonio segreto ), at the Grand Théâtre de Genève (1985 as Schigolch, 1991 as Bartolo in the Barber of Seville , which he “knew how to embody credibly both vocally and dramatically”, and in the 2001/02 season as Crespel in Hoffmann's Stories ) and at the Vienna Volksoper . In May 1992 he appeared at the Teatro Nacional de São Carlos in Lisbon as Don Alfonso.

In March 1988, by now in his sixties, he made his late debut at the Metropolitan Opera in New York City as Don Alfonso under the musical direction of James Levine and with Kiri Te Kanawa as partner . At the MET he appeared alongside Alfonso as Bartolo in Rossini's The Barber of Seville until December 1991 . In the USA Feller also made guest appearances at the Miami Opera (1990, as Bartolo in Barbier ) and in Washington (under the baton of Daniel Barenboim ).

In 1990 he appeared again at the Teatro Colón, and in 1991 in Santiago de Chile . In the 1990/91 opera season he was the Schigolch in the Lulu production at the Teatro La Fenice in Venice . In 1992 he appeared at the Teatro Communale di Ferrara as Don Alfonso in a Così fan tutte production under the musical direction of John Eliot Gardiner , which was later also released on CD . In 1993 he sang Bartolo in Le nozze di Figaro in the Queen Elizabeth Hall in London in a performance under the musical direction of John Eliot Gardiner, the recording of which was later released on CD by Deutsche Grammophon . In the 1997/98 opera season he sang at the Opéra Bastille (Dottore Grenvil in La Traviata , Schigolch). In October 1998 and when production was resumed in May 2001, he appeared at the Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie in Brussels in the character part of the gardener Antonio in Le nozze di Figaro . In August / September 2001 he appeared at the Teatro Colón, at the side of Frederica von Stade and Thomas Allen , as Baron Mirko Zeta in the operetta The Merry Widow .

Feller sang at international festivals at an early age. In 1958 he was invited to the Glyndebourne Festival for the first time , where he sang Figaro (with Elisabeth Söderström as partner) and Don Alfonso under the musical direction of Sir John Pritchard . In 1959 Figaro and Don Alfonso followed again, in 1960 he was the speaker in Die Zauberflöte . In 1960 he sang Doctor Bombasto in the one-act opera Arlecchino by Ferruccio Busoni at the Edinburgh Festival . He appeared several times at the Salzburg Festival , for example in 1969 as Uberto in Pergolesi's La serva padrona , in 1979/80 as Dr. Bartolo in Le nozze di Figaro , 1982 as Don Alfonso and 1983 as a notary in Der Rosenkavalier .

He also appeared at the Drottningholm Festival (in July 1984 as Don Alfonso, in the summer of 1987 as Bartolo in Le nozze di Figaro ) and several times at the Schwetzingen Festival .

Private

Feller was married to Carlotta "Lotty" Walburga Gabelsberger (1923–1980), a German-born Argentinian who came to South America with her parents as a small child, and had a daughter and a son. He had a close friendship with colleagues such as the baritone Claudio Nicolai and the conductor Georg Fischer , also with the tenor David Kuebler . After finishing his stage career, Feller continued to live in Cologne. He died at the age of 96 in Kempten im Allgäu, where he had spent the last few months before his death. He was buried in the grave of his wife in the Melaten cemetery in Cologne .

Audio documents

Feller's voice is documented in several complete opera recordings, radio recordings and various live recordings. His recordings have been published by Deutsche Grammophon (Bartolo, Notar im Rosenkavalier ), Decca (Alfonso, Bartolo) and EMI / Capriccio ( The Seven Deadly Sins by Kurt Weill ) , among others . Live recordings from the Cologne Opera were also broadcast on television. In addition, performances in which Feller participates have been reissued on video and DVD (Warner video, Arthaus video).

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k Georg Kehren: OBITUARY TO CARLOS FELLER - 1922-2018 . Official website of the Cologne Opera . Retrieved January 15, 2019.
  2. ↑ In specialist dictionaries and reference works, 1923 or 1925 were often given as the year of birth.
  3. ↑ In technical lexicons and reference works, the Argentine capital Buenos Aires was often incorrectly stated as the place of birth.
  4. ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Carl H. Hiller: The portrait: Carlos Feller . In. Opera world . June 1982 issue. Pages 17–19.
  5. ↑ Information. Awards section. In: Opernwelt , issue 1/93, page 3: Original quote: "CARLOS FELLER: The bass player who has been associated with the Cologne Opera since 1969 was unanimously appointed by the Cologne City Council as a new honorary member of the Cologne City Theater".
  6. ↑ Ute Herborg: HUT OFF! . Performance review. In: Orpheus . Issue March 3, 1991. Page 46.
  7. ↑ Manuel Brug: A world in which there is no longer any room for innocence. Willy Decker stages Britten's "Billy Budd" in Cologne . Performance review. In: Opera glasses . Issue February 2, 1993. Page 8/9.
  8. ↑ Stephan Mösch: The boy plays along. Willy Decker with Puccini's »Trittico« in Cologne . Performance review. In: Opera glasses . Edition November 11, 1994. Pages 24/25.
  9. ↑ Portrait of the singer of the Cologne Opera with Matti Salminen . In: Der Opernfreund , 51st year. Retrieved January 15, 2019.
  10. ↑ COLOGNE: SOIRÉE WITH MATTI SALMINEN - clear words from a star . Online marker from April 4, 2013. Accessed January 15, 2019.
  11. ^ Gerhard Persché: Alban Berg's "Lulu" in three acts in Geneva . Performance review. In: Opera world . October 1985 issue, pages 17-20. Quote: "Strikingly the Schigolch by Carlos Feller, less mythical than sympathetic, weird and clever."
  12. ^ Il barbiere di Siviglia . Cast list. Retrieved February 2, 2019.
  13. ↑ G. Golboni: GENEVA: THE BARBER OF SEVILLE . Performance review. In: Opera glasses . Issue January 1, 1992. pp. 22/23.
  14. ^ Les Contes d'Hoffmann . Cast list. Retrieved February 2, 2019.
  15. ↑ CHE SCUOLA D 'ITALIANO PER FIORDILIGI E CO. . In: La Repubblica, June 14, 1992. Retrieved February 2, 2019.
  16. ↑ Carlos Feller . Performances with Carlos Feller. Metropolitan Opera Archives . Retrieved January 15, 2019.
  17. ↑ Washington Opera Society's 'Cosi' is more than just Mozart . Performance review. Retrieved February 2, 2019.
  18. ↑ Alban Berg: Lulu . Cast list. Retrieved February 2, 2019.
  19. ↑ Thomas Voigt: Strong competition for Gardiner . CD reviews. In: Opera world . Issue 2/94. February 1994. Pages 54/55.
  20. ^ Gerhard Persché: Bryn Terfel, outstanding. Mozart's "The Marriage of Figaro" under John Eliot Gardiner . CD review. In: Opera world . Edition 8/94. August 1994. Pages 58/59.
  21. ↑ Carlos Feller, Soliste Lyrique, Basse: Ses rôles à l'Opéra de Paris . Role Directory. Retrieved February 2, 2019.
  22. ^ Bruxelles, Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie . Performance reviews. Retrieved February 2, 2019.
  23. ↑ Funny widow, Die (Viuda alegre, La)  ( Page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. . Cast lists. Retrieved February 2, 2019.@1@ 2Template: Dead Link / www.operas-colon.com.ar  
  24. ↑ Galanterías decimonónicas en una propuesta de alta calidad . Performance review. In: La Nación, August 30, 2001. Retrieved February 2, 2019.
  25. ↑ Carlos Feller . Performances with Carlos Feller. Archive of the Salzburg Festival . Retrieved January 15, 2019.
  26. ↑ burial place. In: findagrave.com. Retrieved June 2, 2019 .
personal data
SURNAME Feller, Carlos
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Felberbaum, Kalman (real name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Argentinian opera singer with a bass voice
DATE OF BIRTH July 30, 1922
PLACE OF BIRTH Złoczów , Poland
DATE OF DEATH December 21, 2018
Place of death Kempten , Allgäu , Germany