Gustav Walter

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Gustav Walter

Gustav Walter ( February 11, 1834 in Bilin - January 30 or 31, 1910 in Vienna ) was an Austrian opera singer specializing in lyric tenor , who was engaged for more than thirty years at the Imperial and Royal Court Opera Theater in Vienna and in particular in Mozart and Wagner games were successful. He was also an eminent lieder singer and singing teacher .

life and work

Walter came from a family of bakers in north-west Bohemia that had many children and made a lot of music. He received violin lessons, attended grammar school and then studied violin in Prague. At the same time he also graduated from the Polytechnic, went back to his hometown and worked there from 1853 as a pulpit clerk or engineer in the sugar factory of Prince Lobkowitz . The castle chaplain there , Father Anton Prochaska, discovered his voice and sent him to the singing teacher Franz Vogl in Prague.

In 1855 Walter made his debut in Donizetti's Lucia di Lammermoor at the City Theater in Brno , although it is not known whether he sang the role of Edgardo or Lord Buklaw in this performance. The Viennese court opera singer Rosa Csillag recommended that he go to Vienna, and there he was immediately taken under contract by the Imperial and Royal Court Opera Theater .

At the Vienna Court Opera

Gustav Walter made his successful debut in 1856 at the Vienna Court Opera, today's Vienna State Opera , in the role of Gomez in the night camp in Granada by Conradin Kreutzer and subsequently received important roles on a regular basis. He was Vienna's first Walter von der Vogelweide in Wagner's Tannhäuser , he created a number of Verdi roles (Manrico, Herzog and Gustav III) and sang in premieres of several French operas, including Meyerbeer Die Afrikanerin and Gounod's Romeo and Juliet . Together with the lyrical soprano Bertha Ehnn , he was considered the ideal cast for Shakespeare's tragic lovers. Walter was a popular Mozart singer. He often played Tamino in the Magic Flute , in the season 1886/87 also with his daughter Minna as Pamina. At the opening of the New Opera House on May 25, 1869 with Mozart's Don Juan , Gustav Walter sang the role of Don Ottavio. From June 20 to December 31, 1880, he directed the court opera as part of a directing group - together with Karl Mayerhofer and Emil Scaria .

Ehnn and Walter also harmonized as Eva and Stolzing in the Vienna premiere of Wagner's Meistersinger von Nürnberg in 1870, even if the opera did not go down well at first. Walter also sang the title role in the 1870 new production of Wagner's Lohengrin in the presence of the composer and in 1878 also created the Lodge in the first Viennese Rheingold . In parallel to his obligations in Vienna, the singer also gave guest appearances at a number of other important opera houses - from 1864 in the Opera House of the City of Frankfurt am Main , 1868 at the Munich Court Opera , 1874–75 at the Wiesbaden Court Theater , 1875 in Brno, further in Graz and 1885 am German Theater in Prague.

With his favorite role, Wilhelm Meister in Thomas ' Mignon , which he played 105 times at the Court Opera, the singer said goodbye to the audience and his colleagues on January 24, 1887 after thirty years. In total, he had appeared in over a hundred roles on more than two thousand evenings at the Court Opera. On the occasion of his departure from the stage, he was made an honorary member of the Vienna Court Opera .

According to the repository archive of the Vienna State Opera, he is said to have appeared twice more in the Haus am Ring in August 1899 - as Gabriel von Eisenstein in Die Fledermaus by Johann Strauss .

As a song singer

In addition to his operatic career, he recorded great success with his own public recitals, especially with songs by Schubert , Brahms and Dvořák . As early as 1857 he appeared for the first time as a singer of Schubert songs. Walter was one of Johannes Brahms' circle of friends and sang a number of world premieres of songs and vocal pieces:

  • On February 28, 1869, he sang the world premiere of Brahms' Rinaldo (Brahms) in the Great Redoutensaal of the Vienna Hofburg . The Vienna Court Opera Orchestra played under the direction of the composer and the Vienna Academic Choral Society sang.
  • The first public performance of the Liebeslieder-Walzer song collection took place on January 5, 1870, with Brahms and Clara Schumann at the piano, as well as with Louise Dustmann-Meyer , Rosa Girzick , Gustav Walter and Emil Krauss.
  • On February 23, 1883, he sang, again accompanied by Brahms, the first known public performances of two songs forest solitude , op. 85/6, and Feldeinsamkeit , op. 86/2.
  • In a concert on December 21, 1888, he presented six of the composer's recent songs, including Ständchen and Auf dem See , op. 106 / 1–2. Again Brahms accompanied on the piano.

Dvořák dedicated the Cigánské melodie (Gypsy Melodies ), op. 55 , to him in 1880. In 1881 he gave a recital in Dresden. According to Kutsch / Riemens, it was celebrated in concert halls in Europe, especially in London. There he gave a concert with the London Philharmonic Orchestra in 1872 and performed vocal pieces by Mozart, Carl Riedel and Anton Rubinstein .

After he left the stage he continued to give recitals and sang in choir orchestral concerts, including in Dresden in 1887, in Munich in 1888, in 1891 on the occasion of Mozart's 100th anniversary of death at a Mozart festival in Salzburg and in Graz in 1897. "The beauty of his voice stayed with him for a very long time, so that he could still perform after the turn of the century."

As a singing teacher

A particular concern of the singer was the passing on of his knowledge and experience to future generations. Not just his children, but a number of colleagues and students sought his advice. In 1882 he was appointed professor of vocal technique at the Conservatory of the Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde in Vienna , today the University of Music and Performing Arts , and held this position for more than two decades. His students included Mme. Charles Cahier , who came specially from Paris, Lula Mysz-Gmeiner and Franz Pácal . Kutsch / Riemens describe him as "one of the great singing teachers of his time".

Chamber singer Gustav Walter died at the end of January 1910 as a result of a stroke. He was buried in the Vienna Central Cemetery.

Roles at the Vienna Court Opera

As Romeo

As far as known, the number of performances that Gustav Walter sang in this role at the Vienna Court Opera is given in brackets.

repertoire

Beethoven :

Cherubini :

  • Count Armand in The Water Carrier (31)

Donizetti :

Meyerbeer :

Mozart :

 

Nicolai :

Rossini :

Johann Strauss :

Verdi :

Wagner :

Premieres

Furthermore the Wagner roles Walter von der Vogelweide (1859), Erik (1860), Stolzing (1870) and Loge (1878).

World premieres

Audio documents

Gustav Walter was one of the first singers worldwide whose voice was recorded. In 1904 or 1905, at the age of around seventy, almost two decades after retiring from the stage, he made three recordings for G&T, including an aria from Mignon by Ambroise Thomas , which, according to Kutsch / Riemens, was “one of the rarities from the early days belong on the record and are of the highest documentary value despite their inadequate recording technology ”. According to Grove Music Online , these recordings give musicologists an insight into nineteenth-century performance practice and vocal style. Grove further writes: Although past his prime, "the voice is well preserved and the style both expressive and elegant". [Although the voice has long since passed its climax, it is well preserved and the vocal style is both expressive and elegant].

There are also two phonograms from 1906 that were published in 1985.

Honors

Family, private

Walter had two children who also started singing careers. Daughter Minna Walter (1863–1901), her own Wilhelmine, started a brilliant career as a soprano at the opera houses of Frankfurt am Main and Graz , made guest appearances as Pamina at the Vienna Court Opera and was immediately accepted into the ensemble. However, she ended her career at the age of only 26, married the landowner and Truchseß Carl von Pfeiffer-Weißenegg and withdrew from the stage.

Son Raoul Walter (1863–1917), tenor like his father, first studied law and then decided to become a singer, succeeded as an operetta singer in Vienna and Brno, and was finally hired at the Bavarian State Opera in Munich, where he did a great job Gained popularity and was eventually appointed chamber singer. His daughter Maria "Mimi" Walter married the hero tenor Julius Patzak .

The singer lived in Operngasse 2, not far from his main place of work.

Commemoration

Memorial plaque on house 21/16 in Bílina

In his hometown of Bílina, a memorial plaque was erected on July 2, 2010 at the elementary art school of his great-great granddaughter Gabriele Gaiser-Reich, born Walter with his portrait donated and unveiled. On April 29, 2011, the name was changed to “ZUŠ Gustava Waltera” (“Gustav Walter Elementary Art School”).

literature

Web links

Commons : Gustav Walter  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b J.B. Steane : "Gustav Walter", Grove Music Online ed. L. Macy (here quoted from the English Wikipedia, accessed on January 30, 2009), (subscription access)
  2. ↑ It was previously assumed that the singer also studied with Johann Friedrich Samuel Johann , but according to recent research it is certain that he completed his training exclusively with Vogl. See Grove Music Online.
  3. ↑ Program archive of the Vienna State Opera : query Gustav Walter / Fledermaus , accessed on August 30, 2016.
  4. ↑ Peter Clive: Brahms and His World: A Biographical Dictionary , Scarecrow Press 2006, ISBN 978-0-8108-5721-6 , pp. 130, 171, 232
  5. ^ A b Karl-Josef Kutsch , Leo Riemens : Large singing dictionary . 4th edition, Volume 1: Aarden – Castles. Saur, Munich 2003, ISBN 3-598-44088-X , pp. 4962f
  6. ↑ Program archive of the Vienna State Opera : query Gustav Walter , accessed on August 30, 2016. The program archive of the Vienna State Opera includes all performances since 1955. The previous years are currently being gradually recorded. The specified roles and performance numbers are guaranteed, but the number of roles and performances can increase.
  7. ↑ For this and other honors, see Wilfried V. Dessovic: Strom des Lebens - Volume I - Paths to the Higher I: An Abundance of Life Knowledge in Endeavor , Novum pocket 2014
  8. ↑ ZUŠ Gustava Waltera, Bílina (Czech) , accessed on August 13, 2017.
personal data
SURNAME Walter, Gustav
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Austrian opera singer of the lyric tenor vocal subject at the Vienna State Opera
DATE OF BIRTH February 11, 1834
PLACE OF BIRTH Bílina
DATE OF DEATH January 30, 1910 or January 31, 1910
Place of death Vienna