Franz Markhoff

Franz Markhoff ( June 18, 1880 in Vienna - January 18, 1964 there ) was an Austrian opera singer ( bass ).

Life

After completing his training in Vienna, Markhoff first appeared as a concert singer and was hired by Hans Gregor in 1911 at the Vienna Court Opera , later the State Opera. He participated in well over 600 performances, including the first German-language performance of Janáček's Jenůfa (1918) and the world premiere of the Bakchantes by Egon Wellesz (1931). Until the end of the 1936 season, Markhoff remained a member of the State Opera.

Richard Strauss signed the singer to the Salzburg Festival , where he took part from 1922 to 1930. Markhoff sang Komtur in Don Giovanni at the festival's first opera performance on August 14, 1922 , a role that remained with him until 1930. He also appeared as Bartolo in Le nozze di Figaro (1925 and 1927 ), as speaker in the Magic Flute (1928), as Don Fernando in Fidelio (1927-29), and in smaller roles in the Strauss operas Ariadne auf Naxos and Der Rosenkavalier up. He was also a vocal soloist in Salzburg Festival concerts several times, especially in sacred works that were performed in Salzburg Cathedral .

In 1924 he played Hunding in Die Walküre as a guest at the Royal Opera House Covent Garden in London . In 1928 Markhoff made a guest appearance with the Vienna State Opera at the Grand Opéra in Paris, where he sang again Komtur, Bartolo, Hunding and Don Fernando. The artist's brilliant roles are the Sarastro (Magic Flute) and Gurnemanz in Parsifal .

After finishing his stage career Markhoff taught in Vienna. No recordings are known, but there are recordings from performances by the State Opera - as Fasolt in Rheingold and as Biterolf in Fragments of Tannhauser .

Web links

• Franz Markhoff at Operissimo  on the basis of the Great Singer Lexicon