Frederic Mayer

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Frederic David Mayer (born April 21, 1931 in Lincoln , Nebraska , † March 20, 2013 ) was a German opera singer of American origin ( tenor ).

Life

Mayer was born in the United States as Frederick David Mayer . Mayer studied singing with Edgar Schofield in New York City . He was initially professor of music and singing at Columbia University in New York; However, he then decided to pursue a professional career as a singer. Mayer came to Europe for further musical training in the 1960s . He studied with the singing teacher Rocco Pandiscio in Munich .

In 1964 he made his debut as Ferrando in the opera Così fan tutte at the Stadttheater Ulm , where he was engaged for the 1964/65 season. He then returned to the United States, sang with the Chicago Opera from 1965 to 1966 and with the American Opera Society from 1966 to 1968. In 1967 he sang the role of Sesto in the opera Giulio Cesare with the American Opera Society ; his partner as Cleopatra was Montserrat Caballé . In 1968 he came back to Germany; in the same year he was engaged as a “lyric tenor” at the State Theater on Gärtnerplatz in Munich. There he was part of the theater's permanent ensemble for almost 30 years.

Mayer sang an extensive repertoire on stage, which mainly included the role of lyric tenor, but also included roles for play tenor , tenor buffo and character tenor . His stage roles included: Tamino in Die Zauberflöte , Pedrillo in Die Entführung aus dem Serail , Fenton in Die Lustigen Frauen von Windsor , Ernesto in Don Pasquale , Alfredo in La traviata and the title role in Oedipus Rex . Mayer often sang in operettas , such as Eisenstein in the operetta Die Fledermaus . In 1973 he took over the title role in the opera Fra Diavolo in a new production at the Staatstheater am Gärtnerplatz ; his partners were Janet Perry (Zerlina) and Anton de Ridder (as Lorenzo). The production was recorded for television and later released on DVD . With the role of Fra Diavolo, he also made a guest appearance at the Städtische Bühnen Münster in the 1981/82 season in a new production (premiere: May 1982) with a “melting, radiant” tenor, “agile and dominating the stage”. In February 1983 he sang the role of Lykophron in the world premiere of Theodore Antoniou's opera Periander at the Staatstheater am Gärtnerplatz . In the 1983/84 season he sang the pop's son Afanassi Iwanowitsch at the State Theater on Gärtnerplatz in a new production of the opera Der Jahrmarkt von Sorotschinzi .

In later years he sang numerous character roles and Comprimario roles at the Staatstheater am Gärtnerplatz , including Pietro in Die Banditen (premiere: January 1980), Arturo in Lucia di Lammermoor (premiere: October 1980), Incroyable in Andrea Chénier (premiere: October 1980 ), Nick in The Girl from the Golden West (premiere: December 1980; also in two guest performances by the Gärtnerplatztheater in the Pfalzbau Ludwigshafen in December 1981), Junker Spärlich in Die Lustigen Weiber von Windsor (premiere: October 1981), jailer in Der Gefangene ( Premiere: May 1984), Borsa in Rigoletto (premiere: May 1987), Mayor Upfold in Albert Herring (premiere: May 1989), the suitor Pisandro in The Homecoming of Odysseus (premiere: January 1991) and the servant Karl in Der Vetter Dingsda (premiere: December 1992). In the 1990/91 season, at the reopening of the Gärtnerplatztheater after the ten-month renovation phase, he sang the circus director Springer in a new production of the Smetana opera The Bartered Bride (premiere: November 1990, director: Helmuth Matiasek ), where he demonstrated “his ability to handle even the smallest Role to give persuasiveness ”, again demonstrated. Mayer was a permanent member of the ensemble at the Staatstheater am Gärtnerplatz up to and including the 1997/98 season. After that he occasionally appeared there as a guest.

He appeared several times at the Bregenz Festival . There he sang in two operas by Joseph Haydn : 1970 as Nencio in the opera L'infedeltà delusa and 1974 as Ecelitico (alongside Ernst Gutstein as Buonafede) in Il mondo della luna . In 1976 he took over the four servant roles in the opera Hoffmann's Tales . In October 1973 he sang the role of Conte Almaviva in the opera The Barber of Seville at the Vienna State Opera .

Mayer has also made guest appearances at the Deutsche Oper Berlin , the Stuttgart State Opera , the Frankfurt Opera , the Nationaltheater Mannheim , the Nuremberg Opera House and the Opera Houses in Chicago and Baltimore .

In recognition of his artistic merits, Mayer was appointed Bavarian Chamber Singer .

Audio documents

There are a few audio documents by Frederic Mayer. In a complete musical recording of the operetta Im Weißen Rößl , he sings the role of Dr. Otto Siedler. The recording appeared on record in 1971 in the series "Golden Operetta" by Telefunken ; his partners were Dorothea Chryst (Ottilie) and Peter Minich (pay waiter Leopold).

He also took part in several complete recordings of Kurt Weill's stage works : as Jack in the rise and fall of the city of Mahagonny , as a lottery agent in Der Silbersee and as a bailiff in the operetta Der Kuhhandel . All recordings were released on the Capriccio label.

There is also a live recording of the Giulio Cesare performance by the American Opera Society in 1967.

Web links

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Dr. Frederick David Mayer's obituary notice in the Süddeutsche Zeitung from April 6, 2013
  2. ^ A b Daniel Francois Esprit Auber - Fra Diavolo - The inn in Terracina . Tamino Classic Forum; last accessed on December 6, 2018.
  3. ↑ Karl Riebe: FRA DIAVOLO . Performance review. In: Orpheus . Issue 7–8. July / August 1982. page 628.
  4. ↑ Jeffrey Alexander: AFTER THE RENOVATION . Performance review. In: Orpheus . Issued January 1, 1991. Page 52.
  5. ↑ Oper 1997 , yearbook of the magazine Opernwelt , documentation 1997/1998, p. 134
  6. ↑ Infidelity is not worth it Cast (archive of the Bregenz Festival)
  7. ↑ Die Welt auf dem Monde cast (archive of the Bregenz Festival)
  8. ↑ Hoffmann's stories cast (archive of the Bregenz Festival)
  9. ↑ List of roles by Fredric Mayer in: Chronik der Wiener Staatsoper 1945-2005 , p. 596. Löcker Verlag, Vienna 2006. ISBN 3-85409-449-3
personal data
SURNAME Mayer, Frederic
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Mayer, Frederic David (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German opera singer of American origin (tenor)
DATE OF BIRTH April 21, 1931
PLACE OF BIRTH Lincoln , Nebraska
DATE OF DEATH March 20, 2013