Else Schürhoff

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Else Schürhoff ( 21st June 1898 in Wuppertal - 17th March 1960 in Hamburg ) was a German opera singer of the pitch Old and singing teacher . She was a member of the ensemble of the Bavarian State Opera in Munich and in the war and post-war years of the Vienna State Opera .

life and work

She was a student of the baritone Julius von Raatz-Brockmann and first worked as a singing teacher at the State Academy for Church and School Music in Berlin. It made its debut in 1928. A list from Universal Edition shows that on March 1, 1928, she performed the four Alban Berg -Lieder op. 2 in Berlin .

Her career was essentially limited to the German-speaking area, also due to the circumstances of the time. Her career was shaped by three long-term commitments:

In all three houses she proved herself to be a pillar of the ensemble, assuming both large and medium-sized and small roles. She also demonstrated her versatility, appeared in comic operas as well as in tragic operas, was at home in the Russian subject as well as in the Mozart Ensemble or with Wagner and Strauss. Her star roles included the Marcellines in Mozart and Rossini, Brangäne and Meistersinger-Magdalene, the Knusperhexe and Herodias.

Cast list of the Vienna State Opera

In 1931 she was involved in a world premiere in Hanover and was noticed in 1933 as Carmela in the jewels of the Madonna . At the Bavarian State Opera in Munich on July 24, 1938, she played a smaller role, as a woman from the people , at the world premiere of Peace Day, an opera by Joseph Gregor and Richard Strauss . She largely stayed away from Nazi homage, but her participation in the gala concert on the anniversary of the return of the Ostmark to the Reich on March 13, 1941 in the Wiener Konzerthaus is guaranteed. Beethoven's Ninth was given , conducted by Hans Knappertsbusch . She was involved in the last performance of the Vienna State Opera before the tragic bomb hit, which largely destroyed the house. Wagner's Götterdämmerung was given on June 30, 1944 ; it sang one of the Norns who foretold the terrible fate of humanity and gods. At the end of their performance the rope of fate broke: “To the end, eternal knowledge! Wise men no longer report anything to the world. "

In Vienna in the years after the fall of the Nazi regime she was cast in at least two Wagner premieres, in 1946 as Schwertleite , in 1947 as Mary . During these years she sang mostly under the direction of conductors she already knew from the Nazi era ( Böhm , Karajan , Knappertsbusch, Krauss ), occasionally also under the leadership of returnees and survivors - such as Otto Klemperer or Josef Krips . After the end of her Viennese ensemble contract, she was first contralto at the Hamburg State Opera from 1954–56 , but continued to perform in Vienna and Hanover.

Her younger sister Lotte Schürhoff was also an opera and operetta singer. It was committed as a soubrette in the 1930s and 1940s in Wuppertal, Essen and Leipzig. After the fall of the Nazi regime, she performed at the Komische Oper Berlin .

Else Schürhoff was married to the actor and theater director Max Walter Sieg (1904–1968). The couple had a daughter, Ursula Sieg , who became an actress and voice actress.

roll

World premieres

Repertoire (selection)

The list of roles was created on the basis of the Vienna State Opera's online archive, which is not complete until 1955.

Mascagni :

Menotti :

Mozart :

Puccini :

Smetana :

  • Ludmila / Kathinka / Katinka and Háta / Agnes in The Bartered Bride

Johann Strauss :

Richard Strauss :

 

Tchaikovsky :

Verdi :

Wagner :

Sound documents (selection)

measure up
Complete opera recordings
  1. Complete recording 1944, published 2000 by Preiser, Vienna Philharmonic , Vienna State Opera Choir , conductor: Karl Böhm , with Paul Schöffler (Hans Sachs), Herbert Alsen (Pogner), Anton Dermota (bird song), Viktor Madin (nightingale / night watchman), Fritz Krenn ( Kothner), Erich Kunz (Beckmesser), Georg Maikl (Zorn), William Wernigk (Moser), Alfred Muzzarelli (Ortel), Josef Witt (Eißlinger), Alfred Jerger (Schwarz), Marjan Rus (Foltz), August Seider (Stolzing) , Peter Klein (David), Irmgard Seefried (Eva) and Else Schürhoff (Magdalene), Decca, Vienna 1950/51
  2. Complete recording 1950/51: Vienna Philharmonic , Vienna State Opera Choir , conductor: Hans Knappertsbusch , with Paul Schöffler , Otto Edelmann (Pogner), Alfred Poell (Kothner), Karl Dönch (Beckmesser), Günther Treptow (Stolzing), Anton Dermota (David), Hilde Güden (Eva) and Else Schürhoff (Magdalene), Decca, Vienna 1950/51

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Douglas Jarman: The Music of Alban Berg , University of California Press, 1985, p. 1
  2. ↑ Isolde's Liebestod: Else Schürhoff , with a portrait and five role models, accessed on August 20, 2020
  3. ^ Wiener Konzerthaus: Festival concert on the anniversary of the return of the Ostmark to the Reich , accessed on August 21, 2020
  4. ^ Wiener Staatsoper : Search result: Performances with Else Schürhoff , accessed on August 20, 2020
personal data
SURNAME Schürhoff, Else
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German opera singer (alto)
DATE OF BIRTH June 21, 1898
PLACE OF BIRTH Wuppertal
DATE OF DEATH March 17, 1960
Place of death Hamburg