Friedrich Schorr
Friedrich Schorr (born September 2, 1888 in Nagyvárad , Austria-Hungary , † August 14, 1953 in Farmington ) was an Austrian-American opera singer ( bass baritone ).
Life
Friedrich Schorr was the son of the main cantor of the Great Synagogue in Vienna , Mayer Schorr, who also had an excellent baritone voice. He studied in Brno and with Adolf Robinson in Vienna and made his debut in the role of Wotan in Graz in 1912 , where he sang until 1916. From 1916–1918 he sang in Prague , 1918–1923 in Cologne , 1923–1931 at the State Opera Unter den Linden , and in 1923 and 1929–1936 at the Vienna State Opera . From January to April 1923, Schorr was part of the 200-person Wagner Opera Festival Company , which, under the direction of Leo Blech and Georg Hartmann, performed at several venues in the USA.
From 1924 to 1933 he appeared in Covent Garden and from 1924 to 1943 at the Metropolitan Opera . 1925–1931 he appeared as Wotan , Wanderer , Hans Sachs and Flying Dutchman at the Bayreuth Festival . In 1931 Schorr settled down in the USA, took on American citizenship and, in addition to his numerous stage appearances, increasingly devoted himself to educational tasks. In 1943 he said goodbye to the stage as a wanderer , but still performed in concerts. In 1943 he became director of the Manhattan School of Music in New York, later he headed a studio for opera singing at the Hartt School in Hartford (Connecticut) , and he also staged Wagner operas at the New York City Opera .
The first recordings were made for Deutsche Grammophon as early as 1921, followed by recordings for Brunswick Records in the USA in 1924/25 . His most famous recordings were made between 1927 and 1932 for Electrola and for His Master's Voice in Berlin and London, including duets with Frida Leider , Emmi Leisner and Lauritz Melchior . Live recordings from the late 1930s, when Schorr had already passed his vocal zenith, testify to his impressively clear diction, his excellent breathing technique and his great, yet not exaggerated emotional expressiveness. In New York, Schorr often sang with his exile comrade Lotte Lehmann , but also with Lauritz Melchior , Kirsten Flagstad and Helen Traubel .
Around 1921 Schorr married the soprano Anna Scheffler-Schoor (* 1892 Hamburg † December 18, 1951 Port Chester, New York) in Cologne, and the vocal teacher Virginia Erickson (* 1904 † February 28, 1990, Avon, Connecticut) became his second wife in 1952 .
The grave of Anna and Friedrich Schorr is in Ferncliff Cemetery in Hartsdale, New York .
literature
- Kurt Malisch: Schorr, Friedrich. In: New German Biography (NDB). Volume 23, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 2007, ISBN 978-3-428-11204-3 , p. 484 f. ( Digitized version ).
Web links
- Literature by and about Friedrich Schorr in the catalog of the German National Library
- Biography with photos, discography and sound sample
Individual evidence
- ↑ El Paso Herald , El Paso, Texas, Feb.17, 1923, p. 8; The Boston Globe , Boston, Massachusetts, April 8, 1923, p. 68; The Pittsburgh Press , Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, April 15, 1923, p. 51.
- ↑ Billboard 12/29/1951
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Schorr, Friedrich |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Austrian-American opera singer (bass baritone) |
| DATE OF BIRTH | September 2, 1888 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Nagyvárad , Austria-Hungary |
| DATE OF DEATH | August 14, 1953 |
| Place of death | Farmington |