Harry Steier

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Harry Steier (born January 23, 1878 in Frankfurt am Main , † January 16, 1936 in Berlin ) was a German opera singer ( tenor ).

Life

"A Countess, a Duke, a King" sung by Harry Steier (1921).

Harry Steier showed an unusual musical talent as a child. Since the age of 10 he received singing lessons; He gave his first solo concert at the age of 12. Under pressure from his father, he began an apprenticeship as a construction technician after finishing school and attended the Frankfurt School of Applied Arts for some time due to his drawing talent, but ultimately his urge for music turned out to be too strong. Steier studied singing at the renowned Raffschen Conservatory in Frankfurt; After completing his five-year studies, he initially worked as a music teacher himself and led several choirs. However, he was soon drawn to the stage, where he quickly acquired an excellent reputation as a Wagner interpreter and also as a lieder singer. His favorite roles were the characters of Mime in Wagner's Siegfried , David in the Mastersingers and Jaquino in Fidelio , as well as all of Lortzing's Buffo parts .

Steier got his first permanent engagement for the season 1910–1911 at the Stadttheater in Kiel. From 1913 to 1914 he sang at the Stadttheater in Bern, then in Freiburg, Augsburg and from 1916 at the German Opera House in Berlin-Charlottenburg, to whose ensemble he would belong for many years. In 1923 he went on a tour of the United States, which included several critical appearances at the New York Metropolitan Opera .

Between October 1923 and May 1924 he sang for the Victor Co. in Camden and New York a number of records in German with songs from operettas and folk estate.

In the following years, Steier sang several times as a guest at the Bayreuth Festival ; In 1928 he went on a long tour through South America.

Grave of Harry Steier in the Heerstrasse cemetery in Berlin-Westend

In the last years of his life, Steier dealt intensively with the German-language folk song . At Carl-Lindström-AG he recorded well over 100 records with folk song performances for the Beka and Odeon labels, largely dispensing with the vocal pathos that was common in his time in favor of a translation of carefully researched historical texts and melodies that was as true to the original as possible . It is thanks to his diligence that many old folk songs have been preserved in authentic interpretations for posterity.

In 1933 he tried to ingratiate himself with the new rulers. His song Adolf Hitler's favorite flower is the simple edelweiss was initially greeted with joy by the National Socialists, but was withdrawn from circulation as “national kitsch” in 1939.

Harry Steier died, a week before his 58th birthday, on January 16, 1936 in Berlin. His grave is in the state-owned cemetery Heerstraße in Berlin-Westend (grave location: 12-B-19/20). The grave memorial is a pedestal on a pedestal, crowned by a laurel wreath with a lyre.

Web links

Commons : Harry Steier  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

a) Pictures

  • Early German Beka label No. 31 034 BC Beginning 1920s with note "Harry Steier vom Deutsches Opernhaus Charlottenburg" picture
  • German BEKA label B.6721-I: Harry Steier Bild
  • American ODEON label 10 432-A with the note "Recorded in Germany": Harry Steier, german tenor image
  • American Victor label 77 813-A: Harry Steier, tenor with orchestra. German image

b) Sounds:

Recordings from America:

  • Victor 73 846, Matrix B-27 770. Be not evil '/ from Der Obersteiger (Carl Zeller): Harry Steier male vocal solo, with orchestra, Nathaniel Shilkret, conductor; rec. 4/24/1923 Camden, New Jersey Matrix B-27770. Don't be angry '/ Harry Steier on Encyclopedic Discography of Victor Recordings
  • Victor 73 846, Matrix B-27 772. Nachtigallen Lied / from Der Vogelhandler (Carl Zeller): Harry Steier, male vocal solo, with orchestra, Nathaniel Shilkret conductor; rec. 4/24/1923, Camden, New Jersey Matrix B-27772. Nachtigallen Lied / Harry Steier on Encyclopedic Discography of Victor Recordings
  • Victor 77 813, Matrix B-30 036. The good comrade / I had a comrade / From book "Kommersbuch Students," edited and collected by Eduard Kremser. Harry Steier Male vocal solo, with orchestra. Charles Adams Prince, conductor; rec. 5/2/1924, Camden, New Jersey. Matrix B-30036. I had a comrade / Harry Steier on Encyclopedic Discography of Victor Recordings
  • Victor 77 813, Matrix B-30 037. Das Steierland / Ludwig Carl Seydtler. Harry Steier Male vocal solo, with harp, cello, and orchestra. Charles Adams Prince, conductor. Francis J. Lapitino (instrumentalist: harp), Alfred Lennartz (instrumentalist: cello); rec. 5/2/1924, Camden, New Jersey. Matrix B-30037. Das Steierland / Harry Steier on Encyclopedic Discography of Victor Recordings

Recordings from Germany:

  • Beka B.6306-I (mx. 34 529) Drink, drink, drink brother, also: The Eleventh Commandment Mose (W. Lindemann, text by Paul Bendix) Harry Steier with quartet and orchestra [1] , open. Berlin at the end of 1927
  • Beka B.6721-II (mx. 37 090) "Once Hacke-Hackepeter" (E. Hanschmann, text by Harry Senger), Harry Steier with quartet and orchestra [2] . Berlin 1928
  • Beka B.6977-I (mx. 38 063) Cologne on the Rhine. Lied im Volkston (CW Peters) Harry Steier with quartet and orchestra [3] , aufgen. Berlin 1929

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Schlager im Spiegel der Zeit - 1933. Bear Family Records, August 2011.
  2. ^ Hans-Jürgen Mende : Lexicon of Berlin burial places . Pharus-Plan, Berlin 2018, ISBN 978-3-86514-206-1 . P. 495.
personal data
SURNAME Steier, Harry
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German opera singer (tenor)
DATE OF BIRTH January 23, 1878
PLACE OF BIRTH Frankfurt am Main
DATE OF DEATH January 16, 1936
Place of death Berlin