Paul Schöffler

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Paul Schöffler (born September 15, 1897 in Dresden , † November 21, 1977 in Amersham ) was a German opera singer ( bass baritone ).

Shot in the cloakroom during the Salzburg Festival in 1947.

Life

Schöffler studied singing, piano and violin as well as music theory at the Dresden Conservatory . After further training in Berlin and Milan , Fritz Busch gave him an engagement at the Dresden State Opera in 1924 . There he made his debut as Heerrufer in Lohengrin .

In the following years he took part in the following performances in Dresden: Doktor Faust (Dresden premiere May 21, 1925), Kurt Weill's Der Protagonist (Dresden premiere March 27, 1926), Alfred Schattmann's The Monk's Wedding (premiere May 19, 1926), Cardillac (first performance November 9, 1926), Penthesilea (January 8, 1927), Erwin Dressel's Die Zwillingsesel (April 29, 1932), Mark Lothars Münchhausen (December 6, 1933), Rudolf Wagner-Régeny's The Favorite (first performance February 20, 1935 ) and Robert Hegers The Prodigal Son (first performance March 31, 1936).

In 1937 he was appointed to the Vienna State Opera , of which he was a member until 1972, since 1970 as an honorary member . Schöffler appeared in 42 major roles at the State Opera, 103 times as Count in Figaro's wedding alone . He gave his farewell performance in April 1972 as Gran 'Sacerdote in Idomeneo .

Outside of the State Opera Schöffler was represented in numerous guest performances, for example at the Bayreuth Festival 1943–44 as Hans Sachs in Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg and in 1956 in the title role of the Flying Dutchman .

He performed almost every year at the Salzburg Festival . He sang Pizarro in Fidelio (at the Salzburg Festival 1938 , 1949–50, 1957), the title role in the world premiere of the opera Dantons Tod on August 6, 1947, Jupiter in the world premiere of Die Liebe der Danae , the title hero in Figaro's wedding (1947), Don Alfonso in Così fan tutte (1947, 1953–54, 1956, 1962), Iago in Othello (1952) and Borromeo in Palestrina (1955).

Schöffler also made guest appearances at the Paris Opera (1948, 1949, 1950, 1953, 1956), at the Monte Carlo Opera (1954, 1957), at the Opéra du Rhin in Strasbourg (1960), at La Scala in Milan (1942, 1947, 1957), at the Opera of Rome (1939, 1942, 1948, 1954, 1962), at the Teatro San Carlo in Naples (1942, 1949, 1954), at the Teatro Massimo in Palermo (1958), at the Teatro Comunale in Bologna (1941 ), at the Teatro Giuseppe Verdi in Trieste (1945), at the Teatro La Fenice in Venice (1957), at the Teatro Carignano in Turin (1958), at the Maggio musicale in Florence (1959, 1969), at the Covent Garden Opera in London ( 1934–39, 1949–54), at the Bregenz Festival (1956, 1960), at the Zurich Opera House (1946–47), at the Metropolitan Opera in New York (1950–51, 1954–56 and 1962–64, all in 14 different roles in 91 performances), at the Aix-en-Provence Festival (1963, 1966), at the Budapest National Opera (1943, 1948), at the Teatro Nacional de São Carlos in Lisbon (1957, 1959), at the San Francisco Opera in San Francisco ( 1953, 1959, 1960, 1961), at the Chicago Opera (1956), at the Canadian Opera Company (1962) and at the Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires (1958). On May 23, 1966, he appeared at the Theater an der Wien in the world premiere of the opera The Black Spider by Josef Matthias Hauer .

Honorary grave in the Vienna Central Cemetery

Schöffler was also an important oratorio singer . At first he was particularly valued as a Mozart interpreter, later mainly as a Wagner singer, not least because of his great talent for acting. He found his final resting place in a grave of honor in the Vienna Central Cemetery (group 40, no. 54).

Honors

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Inscription Deutschordenshof, Singerstraße: Paul Schöffler 1964 (accessed June 10, 2014)
personal data
SURNAME Schöffler, Paul
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German opera singer (bass baritone)
DATE OF BIRTH September 15, 1897
PLACE OF BIRTH Dresden
DATE OF DEATH November 21, 1977
Place of death Amersham