Hermann Wucherpfennig

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Hermann Wucherpfennig ( June 27, 1884 in Mühlhausen / Thuringia - August 29, 1969 in Karlsruhe ) was a German opera singer with a bass voice and a vocal teacher . He was married to the singer Irma Raven (1880–1971).

The singer and his wife were among the displaced artists who had to live in exile during the Nazi regime.

life and work

Wucherpfennig first studied philology and also did his doctorate in this subject, with a thesis on the largely forgotten baroque composer Johann Friedrich Agricola . At the same time, however, he also took singing lessons from bassist Rudolf von Milde in Dessau and from V. Moratti in Berlin. His career began with an engagement at the court theater in Dessau from 1905 to 1909. For three summers he was engaged at the Bayreuth Festival , in 1908 and 1909 in the choir, in 1911 in the choir and as a night watchman in the Meistersingern of Nuremberg . From 1909 he was engaged for three seasons at the Nuremberg Municipal Theater, the following four seasons at the Düsseldorf Opera House and finally from 1916 for six seasons at the Berlin-Charlottenburg Municipal Opera . In the traditional house he appeared in central Verdi and Wagner roles, took over the Crespel in Hoffmann's Stories and the Tommaso in Tiefland , but was also to be seen in comic operas, for example in the now no longer played bell of the Hermit by Aimé Maillart .

The singer made guest appearances at the State Opera Unter den Linden in Berlin in 1920 , undertook a comprehensive tour of South America in 1924 and was also invited to guest performances in Norway and Hungary. From 1922 to 1931 he was a member of the ensemble of the Karlsruhe State Theater and also ran a singing school in Karlsruhe with his wife. In 1932 he was appointed professor for singing at the Imperial Music Academy in Tokyo. He has also performed as a vocal soloist in Japan. Together with Maria Toll, he edited a collection of German arias. On November 16, 1934, the German embassy in Tokyo reported that the editors had thereby "contributed to the consolidation of German influence in Japanese musical life". The embassy's assessment changed in 1943 when it learned that the singer was married to a so-called “full Jew”. Suddenly he became a "musician of German nationality, in whose profession the German Embassy has no interest". Due to the German intervention, he lost his position at the Imperial Music Academy.

Wucherpfennig was re-employed at the Music Academy in 1946 and stayed in Japan until 1953. His wife, Irma Raven, who also appeared as Irma Rapport , was an opera and concert soprano. Born in Gleiwitz in 1880, she was engaged in Trier in the 1907/08 season and then for three seasons at the Nuremberg City Theater. As a result, she made several guest appearances. The marriage took place in 1912. The wife also worked as a teacher for solo singing in Tokyo, but at the Musashino Academia Musicae . The elderly couple returned to Germany. Irma Wucherpfennig also died in Karlsruhe, a year and a half after her husband.

Opera repertoire (selection)

Hermann Wucherpfennig
as Commander in Mozart's Don Juan

The list of roles was created based on the entry in Kutsch / Riemen.

World premieres and premieres
repertoire

d'Albert :

Beethoven :

Flotow :

Handel :

Meyerbeer :

Mozart :

Nicolai :

 

Offenbach :

Rossini :

Verdi :

Wagner :

Commemoration

Memorial plaque for Hermann Wucherpfennig in Bayreuth

In the park near the Bayreuth Festival Hall , a memorial plaque with a text from the book Silent Voices was erected.

dissertation

  • Johann Friedrich Agricola, His Life and Works , University of Berlin 1922 (unedited)

literature

  • Hannes Heer : Silent voices , The expulsion of the "Jews" from the opera 1933 to 1945. The fight for the Württemberg State Theater Stuttgart. An exhibition. Metropolis 2008, p.
  • Karl-Josef Kutsch , Leo Riemens : Large singer lexicon . Fourth, enlarged and updated edition. KG Saur, Munich 2003, Volume 4, p. 5105

Web links

Commons : Hermann Wucherpfennig  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Hans-Joachim Bieber: SS and Samurai: German-Japanese Cultural Relations 1933–1945 , IUDICIUM Verlag 2014, p. 331
  2. ↑ The Japanese Memory: German-Japanese Music History , accessed on March 26, 2019
personal data
SURNAME Wucherpfennig, Hermann
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German opera singer (bass) and vocal teacher
DATE OF BIRTH June 27, 1884
PLACE OF BIRTH Mühlhausen / Thuringia
DATE OF DEATH 29th August 1969
Place of death Karlsruhe