Paul Hansen (singer)

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Paul Hansen

Paul Hansen , occasionally also Poul Hansen (born April 3, 1886 in Copenhagen , † November 11, 1967 in Helsinki ) was a Danish opera singer ( tenor / baritone ) and actor in German silent films.

Live and act

At the beginning of the 20th century, when he was still a very young man, Hansen initially worked in a completely different profession: he was a copper chaser. Shortly afterwards he switched to singing and was trained in singing by the baritone Albert Hoeberg and the tenor Hermann Spiro in Copenhagen. Hansen made his debut as an opera singer (voice: tenor) in 1908 with the role of Sverkel in Johan Peter Emilius Hartmann's opera Liden Kirsten, which premiered in 1846, at Copenhagen's Royal Opera. Hansen remained loyal to this venue for the next five years before he accepted a call to the German Opera House in Berlin-Charlottenburg in 1913. In the German capital, Hansen received further training from Lilli Lehmann , Luise Reuss-Belce and Richard Loewe . In 1919 he switched to the baritone field, but from 1921 he also took on tenor roles again, this time in the field of buffo and character actor.

During his time in Berlin, the star tenor was also offered numerous silent film roles, beginning during the First World War in an adaptation of Cavalleria rusticana , the one-act opera by Pietro Mascagni . In the early days of the Weimar Republic , Hansen was seen in around 20 films, including three of the eight parts of the epic Mistress of the World by Joe May , where he was the film partner of his wife Mia May and fellow singer Michael Bohnen in the role of the engineer Allan Stanley . In just five years (1919 to 1924), Hansen worked with well-known cinema directors such as Georg Jacoby , Hans Steinhoff , GW Pabst and again and again Josef Stein and was film partner of German screen idols such as Ossi Oswalda , Pola Negri , Harry Liedtke , Lil Dagover and most recently also twice Henny Porten before he left the screen in 1924.

After leaving Berlin in 1925, Hansen accepted an obligation at the Reussian Theater in Gera, where he appeared as the director and deputy of the artistic director Walter Bruno Iltz . Occasionally he was seen here as a singer. From 1930 to 1932 Paul Hansen worked as a deputy director, director and actor at the theater of the city of Münster under the direction of Alfred Bernau , before he went on a guest tour. The seizure of power by the National Socialists had Hansen Germany turn their backs, and the Dane returned to his homeland, to Copenhagen, returned. Here he largely ended his stage career and began to work as a music teacher, a profession which he later continued in Helsinki. The Finnish capital was Hansen's last stop in life.

By changing the vocal subject twice, the singer mastered a repertoire of over 150 singing parts and roles. Hansen caused a sensation especially with Wagner games. His best-known stage singing roles include the title roles of Lohengrin , Tannhauser , Parsifal and the knight Walther von Stolzing in the Meistersinger . The Dane made other important appearances with Don José in George Bizet's Carmen and as the hunter Konrad in the romantic opera Hans Heiling by Heinrich Marschner. As a baritone he was successful in the title role of Verdi's Rigoletto . Paul Hansen was married to the opera singer Emma Vilmar , his film partner in Cavalleria rusticana .

Filmography

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personal data
SURNAME Hansen, Paul
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Hansen, Poul
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Danish opera singer (tenor / baritone) and actor in German silent films
DATE OF BIRTH April 3, 1886
PLACE OF BIRTH Copenhagen , Denmark
DATE OF DEATH November 11, 1967
Place of death Helsinki , Finland