Josef Traxel

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Josef Friedrich Traxel (born September 29, 1916 in Mainz , † October 8, 1975 in Stuttgart ) was a German opera singer ( tenor ).

Life

At first, singing was not part of his life's program: when he began his studies at the Musikhochschule Darmstadt , he took up composition and conducting. There was no actual vocal training. In 1942 the war veteran made his debut as Ottavio in Mozart's Don Giovanni during a stay in a military hospital in Mainz , a young artist with great future potential recognized by clairvoyant critics. After his release from captivity, his actual singing career began in Nuremberg , where he was hired as a lyric tenor at the city theater. In 1952 he was discovered and appointed by the Stuttgart State Opera , of which he belonged until his death. In 1954 he was appointed chamber singer there.

Hardly any other tenor had such a comprehensive repertoire as Traxel: from lyrical roles in Mozart operas ( Belmonte , Don Ottavio and Tamino ) and in the Italian subject (the leading tenor roles in Rigoletto and Masked Ball , Manon Lescaut and La Bohème ) to the heroic Subject in Wagner operas passed his roles; he was considered a brilliant Don José in Carmen and a great Hans in the Bartered Bride . His spectrum ranged from tenor roles in Bach passions and Haydn oratorios to excursions into the field of operetta ( The Bird Trader , The Last Waltz , Alt-Heidelberg ). He has participated in numerous world premieres, including Antigonae by Carl Orff and Oedipus Rex by Igor Stravinsky in Stuttgart. The Salzburg Festival in 1952 heard and saw his imposing stage presence in Liebe der Danae by Richard Strauss .

Numerous guest performances and tours have taken Josef Traxel to all important opera houses in Europe such as B. La Scala in Milan and also to North America, where in 1964 he was a tenor star at the New York Concert Opera Association as Leicester in Donizetti's Maria Stuarda and also as an interpreter of bel canto roles (he did not appear at the New York Metropolitan Opera). Since 1954 he has been able to celebrate great successes at the Bayreuth Festival, including as Froh in Rheingold , Steuermann and Erik in the Flying Dutchman , Walther von Stolzing in the Meistersinger . He also made a name for himself as a concert singer, especially in the passions of Johann Sebastian Bach , and as a lieder singer. From 1963 he took over a singing professorship at the Stuttgart Music Academy .

Josef Traxel's grave is located in the Feuerbach cemetery in Stuttgart (Grabfeld 46).

Discography (selection)

  • CD Edition Josef Traxel / Hamburg Archive for Singing Art (12 CDs in four boxes)
  • Josef Traxel rarities and finds / Hamburg archive (1 special CD for the edition)
  • Josef Traxel sings arias (published by Uracant).
  • Josef Traxel. A portrait. Recordings 1955-1961 (EMI).
  • Tenor role in JS Bach: Christmas Oratorio 1958. Dir .: Kurt Thomas (EMI).
  • Tenor arias in JS Bach: Johannespassion 1961. Conductor: Karl Forster (EMI).
  • Ernesto in Gaetano Donizetti: Don Pasquale. Dir .: Werner Schmidt-Boelcke .
  • Uriel in Joseph Haydn: The Creation 1960. Dir .: Karl Forster (EMI).
  • Canio in Ruggiero Leoncavallo: The Bajazzo (cross section). Dir .: Wilhelm Schüchter (EMI).
  • Fenton in Otto Nicolai: The Merry Wives of Windsor. Dir .: Altmann.
  • Mercury in Richard Strauss: Die Liebe der Danae 1952. Dir .: Clemens Krauss (Orfeo).
  • Adriano in Richard Wagner: Rienzi 1957. Dir .: Lovro von Matacic (Living Stage / Hamburger Archiv).
  • Helmsman in Richard Wagner: The Flying Dutchman. Bayreuth 1955. Dir .: Joseph Keilberth (Teldec); Bayreuth 1955 Dir .: Hans Knappertsbusch (Cetra); Bayreuth 1956 Dir .: Joseph Keilberth (melodrama).
  • Erik in Richard Wagner: The Flying Dutchman. Bayreuth 1958. Dir: W.Sawallisch (Hamburg archive)
  • Walther von der Vogelweide in Richard Wagner: Tannhäuser. Bayreuth 1954 Director: Joseph Keilberth (Teldec); Bayreuth 1955 Dir .: André Cluytens (Orfeo).
  • Happy in Richard Wagner: The Rheingold. Bayreuth 1956 and Bayreuth 1957. Dir .: Hans Knappertsbusch (Golden Melodrama).
  • Laca in Leoš Janáček: Jenůfa. Vienna 1959 (Hamburg archive)
  • Zivny in Leoš Janáček: Osud. Stuttgart 1958 (Hamburg Archive)

literature

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Traxel, Josef
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Traxel, Josef Friedrich (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German opera singer (tenor)
DATE OF BIRTH September 29, 1916
PLACE OF BIRTH Mainz
DATE OF DEATH October 8, 1975
Place of death Stuttgart