Heinrich Zeller

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Heinrich Zeller (born June 7, 1856 in Voitswinkel near Laufen ; † August 9, 1934 in Weimar ) was a German opera singer ( tenor ).

Life

Zeller attended the teachers' seminar in Freising . He was then an assistant teacher in Vilsbiburg an der Donau and in Landsberg ; until 1887 he worked as a primary school teacher. Zeller's voice was discovered by the composer Richard Strauss . Together with the Munich general manager Karl von Perfall, he campaigned for Zeller's vocal training.

Zeller studied at the Munich Music School with Feodor von Milde, Benno Stolzenberg and Franziska Ritter-Wagner. In 1888 he was hired by the then director Hans Bronsart von Schellendorf at the Weimar court theater . There he made his debut in the title role of the opera Lohengrin . Until 1917 Zeller was a permanent member of the ensemble at the Weimar court theater. In 1917 he said goodbye to the opera stage with the title role in Wagner's opera Tannhäuser and was made an honorary member of the theater.

In 1891 and 1892 he appeared at the Bayreuth Festival . There he interpreted the title role in Richard Wagner's opera Tannhäuser . In 1894 he appeared at the Meiningen Court Theater as Florestan in the opera Fidelio . In May 1894 he was the eponymous hero in the world premiere of the opera Guntram by Richard Strauss ; his partner was Pauline de Ahna . In 1901 he took part in another world premiere at the Weimar Court Theater, in the now completely forgotten opera Dürer in Venice by the composer Waldemar von Baußnern .

Zeller made guest appearances at the Frankfurt Opera House (1892–1907), the Leipzig Opera House (1898), the Berlin Court Opera (1898), the Hamburg City Theater (since 1901), the Munich Court Opera (1906/1907 season), the Cologne Opera House (since 1906) and at the Deutsches Theater Prague (1909).

Zeller also appeared in other European countries: in 1901 with the Richard Wagner Society in Amsterdam as Lohengrin and in 1907 with great success as Tannhäuser at the Covent Garden Opera in London .

Zeller was also active as a writer on the side; among other things he wrote poems in Upper Bavarian dialect.

repertoire

As usual in the 19th century, Zeller sang a broad repertoire that was not limited to vocal subjects and subject boundaries. The focus of Zeller's repertoire, however, was on the roles of the teenage heroic tenor . In addition to his Wagner roles, his stage roles included: Tamino in Die Zauberflöte , the title role in Fra Diavolo , Jan van Leiden (title role) in the opera Der Prophet , Canio in Der Bajazzo and Mathias Freudhofer in Der Evangelimann .

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Richard Strauss - a life for music: biography. In: richardstrauss.at. Retrieved September 23, 2017 .
personal data
SURNAME Zeller, Heinrich
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German opera singer (tenor)
DATE OF BIRTH June 7, 1856
PLACE OF BIRTH Voitswinkel at Laufen
DATE OF DEATH August 9, 1934
Place of death Weimar