Franz Betz (singer)

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Franz Betz

Franz Conrad Josef Maria Betz (born March 19, 1835 in Mainz , † August 11, 1900 in Berlin ) was a German opera singer ( bass baritone ). He worked at the Berlin Court Opera from 1859 to 1897 and was particularly successful in the role of Hans Sachs in Richard Wagner's Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg , but was also highly valued in Giuseppe Verdi's opera roles .

Life

Trained in Karlsruhe , he made his debut at the Hoftheater in Hanover in 1856 with “Heerrufer” in Wagner's Lohengrin , whereupon he was allowed to perform in other German court theaters. In 1859 he had a great success at the Berlin Court Opera with the role of “Don Carlo” in Verdi's Ernani , which earned him a permanent contract.

Richard Wagner engaged him in 1868 for the role of " Hans Sachs " in the premiere of the Meistersinger . Betz sang this role more than a hundred times and was identified with this stage character. As “ Wotan ” he took part in the first complete performance of Der Ring des Nibelungen and created the “Wanderer” in Siegfried on the same occasion .

The grave of Franz Betz in Berlin-Westend (2009), here still marked with an honorary grave

Betz has also made guest appearances at numerous domestic and some foreign theaters in Europe. From 1882 to 1890 he was the second president of the Cooperative of German Stage Members . After the end of his singing career in 1897, he was made an honorary member of the Berlin Court Opera.

Franz Betz died in Berlin in 1900 at the age of 65. His grave is in the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Cemetery in Berlin-Westend . The tall and slim Art Nouveau marble tombstone with a mourning muse and a profile portrait of Betz in relief, erected around 1902, is the work of the sculptor Max Fichte. Franz Betz's final resting place was dedicated to the State of Berlin from 1987 to 2009 as an honorary grave .

repertoire

Title roles

More roles

Franz Betz as Wolfram von Eschenbach

Other holdings

  • in Der Stern von Turan by Richard Wüerst , premier 1864, Berlin Court Opera
  • in Frithjof von B. Hopffner, UA 1871
  • in Hermione by Max Bruch , UA 1872
  • in Cesario by Wilhelm Taubert , UA 1874
  • in The Maccabees by A. Rubinstein, UA 1875
  • in Ekkehard by JJ Abert, UA 1878
  • in Genesius by F. von Weingartner, 1892

Others

Franz Betz sang the bass solo in Beethoven's 9th Symphony for the laying of the foundation stone of the Bayreuth Festival Hall .

literature

Web links

Commons : Franz Betz  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Cooperative of German Stage Members (ed.): 125 Years of the Cooperative of German Stage Members . Verlag Bühnenschriften-Vertriebs-Gesellschaft, Hamburg 1997, p. 92
  2. ^ Hans-Jürgen Mende : Lexicon of Berlin burial places . Pharus-Plan, Berlin 2018, ISBN 978-3-86514-206-1 , p. 471.
personal data
SURNAME Betz, Franz
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Betz, Franz Conrad Josef Maria (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German opera singer (bass baritone)
DATE OF BIRTH March 19, 1835
PLACE OF BIRTH Mainz
DATE OF DEATH August 11, 1900
Place of death Berlin