Helge Rosvaenge

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Helge Rosvaenge , also Roswaenge or Rosvænge , born as Helge Anton Rosenvinge Hansen (born August 29, 1897 in Copenhagen , † June 19, 1972 in Munich ) was a Danish opera singer ( tenor ).

Life

After studying at the Technical University in Copenhagen and an engineering degree in chemistry, as well as taking private singing lessons from a former student of Jean de Reszke , Helge Rosvaenge made his debut in Neustrelitz in 1921 as Don José in the opera Carmen . After stops in Altenburg (Thuringia), Basel and Cologne, he went to the Berlin State Opera as a successor a. a. by Richard Tauber and in 1930 to the Vienna State Opera, of which he was a member until 1957.

Soon afterwards he also sang in the other major opera houses in Europe and of course at the major festivals, from 1932 at the Salzburg Festival. The main focus of his repertoire was on the great Mozart roles and the corresponding roles in the Italian and French subjects. All in all, however, his range of roles was extremely varied, he has sung over 100 roles, including operettas and oratorios.

Rosvaenge was known for his extremely flexible voice, with which he mastered both lyrical (e.g. all relevant Mozart roles) and dramatic roles (especially Verdi) without any problems. The Otello , he apparently did not sing on stage, but rather recorded on vinyl. With one exception, Parsifal (in Bayreuth ), he never sang Wagner in stage performances. One of his star roles was Florestan in Ludwig van Beethoven's Fidelio .

In relevant specialist literature, the descriptions of his abilities range from “extremely brilliant and confidently centered voice”, “body and strength from low C with glistening brightness to high D (!)” To general statements such as “the most important tenor in German-speaking countries”. Together with Maria Cebotari (soprano) and Willi Domgraf-Fassbaender and Heinrich Schlusnus (both baritone) as partners, he appeared in Italian operas in Berlin and guaranteed performances of international format, including a. Rigoletto and La traviata .

During his active time, he held a stage record for a soloist with an average of over 200 performances per year, which is probably still valid today.

In 1933, despite the fact that he was a foreigner, he joined the NSDAP in Graz , where he had himself engaged in propaganda events as early as 1934. In 1935 he was a guest at Goering's wedding to Emmy Sonnemann . He later appeared at Nazi cultural events, for example at comradeship evenings for old fighters . Rosvaenge announced to Göring in 1938 that he would "bring out an opera in the National Socialist sense" based on The Oath of Alrekstad . The opera was premiered in 1939 at the Vienna State Opera under the title King's Ballade with music by the Aachen conductor Rudolf Wille, but was only able to stay on the program for a short time. In the final phase of the Second World War , he was placed on the God-gifted list of indispensable artists by Hitler in 1944 , which saved him from being deployed in the war.

At the end of the war he was in his villa on Wannsee in Berlin, his house was occupied by the Russians. After they found out that they were in the house of a well-known artist, he had to sing for his uninvited guests for hours. It was the longest concert of his life. As a Dane he was deported by the occupiers to the Krasnogorsk camp near Moscow on the pretext of being deported to Denmark , from there after a few months he went via Leningrad to Helsinki and then to Stockholm.

As a collaborator with Nazi Germany, he could no longer find any ground for his art in his homeland, he wrote his biography Lache Bajazzo . In 1946 he left for Las Palmas, where he celebrated his 25th stage anniversary with the turiddu in the Cavalleria rusticana , he traveled on to Vigo and returned to his original profession and developed paints for ships that were supposed to prevent algae as well as his potato flour-based paint HeRos bread . He continued his work as a chemist until 1948. Then he traveled to Switzerland and returned to the opera stage.

In the following years Basel, Bern, Zurich, Lucerne, Vienna, Berlin and Salzburg were again stations of his career. His active time ended in 1958 with Herbert von Karajan's new doctrine of only performing all operas in their original language. Rosvaenge, who sang all roles (as was usual in the past) in German, should have learned all the lyrics again, so he slowly withdrew. Gala concerts (1958–1961) organized by four standing room visitors (!) At the Vienna State Opera in the Great Music Association Hall in Vienna were a triumphant success . One of them (1959) was also released as a recording on Preiser Records . This was followed by operetta tours, television appearances, and song and aria evenings (1963/64) in New York (Carnegie Hall etc.), but also appearances in opera performances, such as in 1963 at the Freilichtspiele Tecklenburg , where he sang Canio in Leoncavallos Bajazzo . In 1962 he published another book: Make It Better My Son . A few weeks before his death he appeared in a contemporary opera at the Munich Gärtnerplatz Theater in an episode role.

After all, he worked as a private singing teacher in Munich until his death. He remained a Danish citizen throughout his life, but was removed from Kraks Blå Bog in 1946 .

His first wife was the opera singer Ilonka Holndonner . Rosvaenge died in 1972 at the age of 74. His grave is in the northern cemetery in Glostrup .

In 1983, Rosvaengegasse in Vienna- Donaustadt (22nd district) was named after him.

Filmography

  • 1932: The bang
  • 1935: Don't fall in love with Lake Constance
  • 1936: Martha (Last Rose)
  • 1939: Salzburg, the festival city
  • 1962: The bandits
  • 1968: The tramps
  • 1969: Waltz dream

Works

  • Laugh Bajazzo: Serious and cheerful things from my life . Andermann, Munich and Vienna 1953
  • Better do it my son: a tenor tells from his life . Koehler & Amelang, Leipzig 1962
  • A guide for the vocalist: a cheerful chat about serious matters . Obpacher, Munich 1964

literature

  • Franz Tassié: Helge Rosvaenge . Schroff-Druck Verlagsgesellschaft, Augsburg 1975
  • James FE Dennis: Helge Rosvaenge: biography and discography . In: The Record Collector . 23rd year, issue 5 and 6, Ipswich 1976
  • Günter Walter: Helge Roswaenge (1897 - 1972): a documentation of his career and discography of his audio documents . In: Voices that went around the world . Issue 77, Münster 2006

Web links

Alexander Kipnis-Sarastro, Julia Osváth (Queen of the Night), Jarmila Novotná (Pamina), Helge Rosvaenge (Tamino), Willi Domgraf-Fassbaender (Papageno), Dora Komarek (Papagena), Alfred Jerger (speaker), William Wernigk (Monostatos) (live July 30, 1937 Salzburg Festival)

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c Street names in Vienna since 1860 as “Political Places of Remembrance” (PDF; 4.4 MB), p. 156, final research project report, Vienna, July 2013.
  2. ↑ a b c Ernst Klee : The culture lexicon for the Third Reich. Who was what before and after 1945. S. Fischer, Frankfurt am Main 2007, ISBN 978-3-10-039326-5 , p. 499.
  3. ↑ Program booklet of the Freilichtspiele Tecklenburg, season 1963: Cavalleria rusticana / Der Bajazzo .
  4. ↑ burial place. In: findagrave.com. Accessed July 7, 2019 .
personal data
SURNAME Rosvaenge, Helge
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Roswaenge, Helge; Rosvænge, ​​Helge; Hansen, Helge Anton Rosenvinge (maiden name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Danish opera singer (tenor)
DATE OF BIRTH August 29, 1897
PLACE OF BIRTH Copenhagen
DATE OF DEATH June 19, 1972
Place of death Munich , Germany