Ernst Wolff (singer)

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Ernst Wolff , also Ernst Lewin-Wolff (born March 1, 1905 in Baden-Baden , † January 22, 1992 in Frankfurt am Main ) was a German conductor and singer with a baritone vocal subject.

Life

Ernst Wolff was the son of a chasan , Isidor Wolff (former family name: Lewin), and of Henriette Wolff, nee. Dreifuss, from Kuppenheim. He first worked in Frankfurt am Main as a commercial clerk. He then took singing lessons and, thanks to a patron, studied music theory and piano playing at the Hoch Conservatory . a. with Bernhard Sekles and Ludwig Rottenberg . 1925–30 he worked as an opera and concert repetiteur in Frankfurt a. M. active, since 1931 he had a position as répétiteur at the Frankfurt Opera ;

On July 28, 1929, together with Alfons Dressel , he conducted the world premiere of the Baden teaching piece with the consent of Bertolt Brecht and Paul Hindemith at the Baden-Baden Festival “German Chamber Music”. On December 9, 1932, Emil Alfred Hermann (1871–1957) directed the first performance of his version of the folk tale “Puss in Boots”.

As a concert and lieder singer, after the transfer of power to the National Socialists in Germany in 1933 , Wolff was only able to perform in concerts and recitals with the Jewish Cultural Association in Frankfurt. In December 1934 he gave a recital on the radio with the BBC . Since he was allowed to appear abroad, he also sang in Switzerland, Austria, Italy and the Netherlands.

In 1937 he was able to emigrate to the USA with the help of Max Reinhardt and Kurt Weill , when he was able to work there as an assistant in the production of Franz Werfel's The eternal road . In New York City he worked at the Habonim Jewish community founded by Hugo Hahn in 1939 and was elected to the community council. In the USA he gave concerts where he performed songs and accompanied himself on the piano. He also made a number of recordings that were released by Columbia . In the process, unknown compositions in the USA were published, such as a series with songs by Robert Franz , a collection with vocal works by Clara Schumann , others with works from the Bach family, and song compositions by Franz Liszt . Wolff's recordings of Max Kowalski's Pierrot Lunaire and the medieval Glogau songbook have also been preserved .

From 1948, his concert tours took him back to Europe, where he settled in Breganzona in the Swiss canton of Ticino and founded the “Serate musicali breganzonesi” (1967–1976) there.

In 1951 he received an honorary doctorate from Hamline University and in 1962 the title of professor from the city of Frankfurt in compensation . He was awarded the Federal Cross of Merit.

The first edition of his name appeared in Herbert Gerigk's and Theophil Stengel's Lexicon of Jews in Music as early as 1940.

literature

Web links

Notes and individual references

  1. ↑ In other sources the year of death 1991 is given.
  2. ^ The Baden lesson on the consent of Schott
  3. ↑ Puss in Boots: A folk tale with music and dance in four acts , at fbe
  4. ^ Rabbi Hugo Hahn, see Werner Röder; Herbert A. Strauss, (Hrsg.): Biographisches Handbuch der Deutschensprachigen Emigration nach 1933 , Vol. 1, S. 264f
  5. ↑ Eva Weissweiler eliminated! The Lexicon of the Jews in Music and its Murderous Consequences. Dittrich, Cologne 1999, ISBN 3-920862-25-2 , p. 333; P. 68


personal data
SURNAME Wolff, Ernst
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Lewin-Wolff, Ernst (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German Kapellmeister and singer with a baritone voice
DATE OF BIRTH March 1, 1905
PLACE OF BIRTH Baden-Baden
DATE OF DEATH January 22, 1992
Place of death Frankfurt am Main