Jean Lohe

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Jean Löhe (born August 9, 1901 in Cologne ; † August 28, 1990 there ) was a German opera singer ( lyric tenor ).

Life

Born in Cologne's working-class district of Vingst as the son of a former in an iron foundry, Jean Löhe grew up in a working-class family with six children. All children were said to have musical inclinations and talents, but his parents could not give him any artistic training. Like his siblings, he chose a trade in order to earn a living and became a sign painter who received further training as a commercial graphic artist. In his spare time he followed his early joy in singing and became a member of workers' choir communities. There he could occasionally take on soloist duties. He became noticeable as a talented tenor. One of the leading works choirs in the Rhineland, the choir community of Dynamit Nobel (called "Diamant Nobel"), offered him a job in the company and included him as tenor leader in their orchestra.

It was not until the age of 35 that the hobby tenor began to train his voice at the Rheinische Musikschule in Cologne in the class of Professor Bruno A. Braumüller. Thanks to his vocal natural talent and his autodidactically acquired basic vocal skills, he passed the state examination as a lyric tenor after just one year of study, which gave him stage maturity. However, his debut took place almost four years later, in 1940, at the Koblenz Theater; At the same time, Anneliese Rothenberger, who was more than two decades younger than her, made her debut there .

After two seasons in Koblenz, war deployment on the Eastern Front , Soviet captivity and early release from prison followed. On his return to Germany, Jean Löhe was able to continue his singing work at the city ​​theaters of Altenburg in Thuringia and Plauen in the Vogtland. Immediate local successes encouraged him in 1948 to go to Berlin and audition there for directors, concert agencies, orchestras and radio stations. He was able to make his first recordings at the American broadcaster RIAS . The German Opera House , which started again as the “Städtische Oper Berlin” in the Theater des Westens on Charlottenburger Kantstrasse with constant theater and festival ensemble, enabled him to perform in Lirico and Leggiero. He demonstrated considerable flexibility, power of expansion and problem-free vocalization in the highest tessitura, for example as Nadir in Georges Bizet Pearl Fisher and as Chapelou in Adolphe Adams Postillon by Lonjumeau . In 1948/49 he was also firmly engaged in the short-lived New Operetta Theater in Berlin.

However, the tenor became known and popular with a certain widespread effect due to the increasing frequency of radio presence, in the studio and in live concerts, but mostly in the genre of operetta and “upscale light music”. These types of music enjoyed great popularity in destroyed Germany (similar to cinemas, homeland films, hit songs). At the end of his fifth decade, Jean Löhe embarked on an extremely late career as a singer with regional, then nationwide charisma. In the 1950s he was present on all ether waves, next to RIAS Berlin primarily at the then NWDR , Funkhaus Köln, under the conductor Franz Marszalek, who was in charge of the operetta repertoire .

Löhe's briefly almost dominant position in the "easy job" quickly led to recordings - as interpreters of Johann Strauss (son) , Karl Millöcker , Carl Zeller , Franz Lehár , Emmerich Kálmán , Leo Fall , Paul Lincke , Eduard Künneke , Rudolf Kattnigg , Walter Kollo , Nico Dostal , Ralph Benatzky , in samplers and potpourris, also with tenor hits of all kinds, soon exclusively with the Telefunken label . This although his vocal material in no way identifies him as a tenor leggiero. Unfortunately, only a few opera arias, created in the radio studio, plus a German-language, attractively cast RIAS recording by the Perlenfischer (Bizet), show the potential of a Lirico with facilities for Spinto.

Since a move to the opera seemed hopeless due to his age, the almost 60-year-old singer gave up his career in the media spotlight after just ten years of celebrity career. He occasionally performed as an oratorio singer, gave private concerts and appeared at festive events. Almost as if to compensate for his short career as a singer, he was given a long life. He died at the age of 89 on August 28, 1990 in his hometown of Cologne. His tenor is one of the great voices of the German post-war era.

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personal data
SURNAME Lohe, Jean
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German opera singer (lyric tenor)
DATE OF BIRTH August 9, 1901
PLACE OF BIRTH Cologne
DATE OF DEATH August 28, 1990
Place of death Cologne