Hermann Christian Benda

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Hermann Christian Benda , also Christian Benda and Christel Benda (≈ August 9, 1759 in Gotha ; † November 9, 1805 in Weimar ) was a German opera singer (tenor) and actor, son of the composer Georg Anton Benda .

Life

"Peep box" of the Gotha court theater ( Ekhof theater )
The old Weimar court theater around 1800

His basic musical training, e.g. B. Composition, Benda received from family members. Since his beautiful voice was noticed at an early age, this was mainly trained by Georg Anton Benda's sister, the singer Anna Franziska Benda, married to the violinist Dimas Hattas. The peculiarity of the Gothaer Hoftheater ( Ekhof Theater ) as a deep "peep box" shaped him all his life: he did not succeed in getting used to the conspicuous gesticulations and exaggerated facial expressions (up to the "terrifying eye rolls"), which made him understand better Audience had been taught. Later he was praised much more for his beautiful singing than for his acting. Hermann Christian Benda made his debut in Gotha in 1777 in a Singspiel by his father, who later used it in his other works for the stage, e.g. B. on the initiative of theater director Friedrich Ludwig Schröder in Hamburg from spring to autumn 1778 , then on stages in Vienna and with the Bondin Society in Prague and Dresden . From 1786 at the Berlin theater, the high point of the role was Don Ottavio in the German premiere of Mozart's Don Juan. Because of his well-founded vocal training, Benda was also used as a vocal teacher for other stage members.

In 1791, Benda successfully applied for the Weimar Court Theater , which Goethe took over , through the intervention of his brother Heinrich Benda and his cousins Maria Carolina Benda , singer, pianist and composer, who were prominently married in Weimar , and Wilhelmine Benda, daughters of Franz Benda . However, because of his acting, which took some getting used to, he was only able to win the favor of the audience very gradually and solely thanks to his beautiful voice. Goethe, however, chronically dissatisfied with his theater staff, valued Benda's versatile usability, as he showed no airs in the distribution of roles, and: "Benda sings at least". Goethe gladly endorsed requests for support submitted by Benda, possibly through the intercession of Goethe's wife Christiane, who regularly invited Weimar theater people to her home; with the Bendas she shared the fate of having lost several children at an early age. Benda tried to supplement his rather low salary by composing songs and other pieces of music for the court theater, because the Weimar court actors were prohibited from accepting guest roles at other theaters.

progeny

Hermann Christian Benda's only child who did not die prematurely in Weimar was Amalia Carolina Louisa Benda . In order to trace the path of this daughter, baptized in 1795, the author Franz Lorenz searched meticulously in church registers, theater almanacs and magazines but found nothing definite. His thesis that it might be identical to the Karlsruhe "Amalie Benda" in Karoline Bauer's memoirs could not be substantiated, but the biography of Sophia Carolina Benda , daughter of Benda's brother Carl Ernst Eberhard Benda , was partially used here. Friedrich Gottlieb Adolph Benda , "grand ducal opera singer and actor, entitled to live in Weimar", stated when he married in 1856 as the mother "from time to time Amalia Benda", as the wife of Carl August Schmidt, actor in Dresden - difficult under the name "Mad. Schmidt" assign.

siblings

See also

Stage roles (selection)

Hoftheater Weimar: Debut Benda as Bellmont
Weimar Court Theater: Benda as Saint George
Weimar Court Theater: Benda as Duke of Feria

Hoftheater Gotha:

  • Lukas in Der Dorfjahrmarkt (1777, HC Benda's debut) by Georg Anton Benda
  • Valentin Konrad in Der Holzhauer by Georg Anton Benda
  • Romeo in Romeo and Julie (1778) by Georg Anton Benda

Royal National Theater Berlin

Weimar Court Theater

(partly without role specification :)

literature

  • Sigrid Damm: Christiane and Goethe, a research. Insel Verlag, 2005, ISBN 3-458-17280-7 .
  • Franz Lorenz: The Benda family of musicians. Volume 2: Georg Anton Benda. de Gruyter, Berlin 1971, ISBN 3-11-003568-5 .
  • Ernst Pasqué: Goethe's theater management in Weimar: in episodes and documents, Volume 1 , Verlagbuchhandlung JJ Weber Leipzig 1863, pp. 81–83 full text on Google Books
  • Barbara Albrecht, Günter Albrecht: You are allowed to waste the stars - actor memories of the 18th and 19th centuries. Buchverlag Der Morgen, Berlin 1980, DNB 810197332 , p. 165.
  • Online theater ticket from the Grand Ducal Court Theater Weimar
  • Karoline Bauer: Lost Heart Stories / Leftover Memoirs. here: Stella. edited by Arnold Wellmer. Louis Gerschel publishing house, Berlin 1878/80.
  • Franz Lorenz: The Benda family of musicians. Volume 1: Franz Benda. de Gruyter, Berlin 1967.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ According to Franz Lorenz: The Benda family of musicians. Volume 2: Georg Anton Benda. P. 141: Baptism in the castle church
  2. ^ Wife of Hofkapellmeister Ernst Wilhelm Wolf
  3. ^ Wife of the court medic, pharmacist and Goethe friend Dr. Wilhelm Heinrich Sebastian Bucholz
  4. ^ Damm: Christiane and Goethe
  5. ↑ to Die Sonnen-Jungfrau von Kotzebue in the Digital Archive of the Thuringian State Archives
  6. ↑ to Otto der Schütz, Prince of Hesse von Hagemann in the Digital Archive of the Thuringian State Archives
  7. ^ Eduard Devrient: History of German Drama , Henschelverlag Art and Society (license from Langen Müller publisher), Berlin 1967, Volume 1, p. 615
  8. ↑ Playbill The Abduction from the Seraglio in the Digital Archive of the Thuringian State Archives
  9. ↑ Playbill Clavigo at Digital Archive of the Thuringian State Archive
  10. ↑ Theater ticket Dom Karlos in the Digital Archive of the Thuringian State Archives
  11. ↑ Wallenstein theater ticket at the digital archive of the Thuringian State Archives
personal data
SURNAME Benda, Hermann Christian
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Benda, Christian; Benda, Christel
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German opera singer (tenor) and actor
DATE OF BIRTH August 9, 1759
PLACE OF BIRTH Gotha
DATE OF DEATH November 9, 1805
Place of death Weimar