Karl August Neumann

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Karl August Neumann (* 1897 ; † September 18, 1947 in Berlin ) was an internationally sought-after opera singer ( baritone ), concert singer and opera director .

Karl August Neumann was a grandson of the opera singer Angelo Neumann and the son of the orientalist Karl Eugen Neumann . After starting his career in Mainz in 1917 , Karl August Neumann worked at various opera houses, including in Elberfeld , Halle , Vienna ( Volksoper ) and Leipzig , before he was appointed to the Berlin State Opera by Heinz Tietjen in 1933 . In the same year he also sang at the Bayreuth Festival (part of Beckmessers in Wagner's Meistersingern ).

Neumann took part in several world premieres of well-known works, including by the composers Eugen d'Albert ( The Black Orchid , 1928), Ernst Křenek ( The Life of Orestes , 1930), Eduard Künnecke (The Great Sinner, 1935) and Mark Lothar ( Schneider Wibbel , 1938).

During the time of National Socialism, Karl August Neumann could only appear with a special permit obtained from General Director Heinz Tietjen. According to the definition at the time, his wife Irma Growi was “fully Jewish”, meaning that Neumann was not allowed to be a member of the Reich Theater Chamber . With the special regulation, however, he continued to appear in numerous opera productions and as a concert singer at home and abroad. In the summer of 1944 he was arrested for allegedly "preparing for high treason". He was sentenced to three years in prison because of contacts with Franz Jakob , one of the protagonists of the newly formed communist resistance organization alongside Anton Saefkow . Neumann had "credible, if not very in-depth knowledge" of the group's illegal activities. On January 2, 1945, while Neumann was in prison, Joseph Goebbels personally banned him from working.

After the end of the war, Karl August Neumann was released from prison and defended himself against continued employment without a transition, yes, often preferring singing colleagues such as Willi Domgraf-Fassbaender and Josef Greindl who were burdened by NSDAP engagement . He died in Berlin in 1947 after an operation.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Karl-Josef Kutsch, Leo Riemens: Large singer lexicon. Electronic edition of the third, expanded edition. Directmedia, Berlin 2004
  2. ↑ Bärbel Schrader: "Revocable at any time". The Reich Chamber of Culture and the special permits in theater and film of the Nazi state, Berlin, Metropol Verlag, 2008, page 262
  3. ↑ Bärbel Schrader: “Revocable at any time”, The Reich Chamber of Culture and the special permits in theater and film of the Nazi state, Berlin, Metropol Verlag, 2008, page 265
personal data
SURNAME Neumann, Karl August
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German opera singer (baritone), concert singer, opera director
DATE OF BIRTH 1897
DATE OF DEATH September 18, 1947
Place of death Berlin