Paul Schöffler
Paul Schöffler (born September 15, 1897 in Dresden , † November 21, 1977 in Amersham ) was a German opera singer ( bass baritone ).
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 .
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
- 1964: Mozart Medal from the Mozart Community in Vienna
literature
- Karl-Josef Kutsch , Leo Riemens : Großes Sängerlexikon , fourth expanded and updated edition, Volume 6, KG Saur Munich 2003, ISBN 3-598-11598-9
- Kurt Malisch: Schöffler, Paul. In: New German Biography (NDB). Volume 23, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 2007, ISBN 978-3-428-11204-3 , p. 362 f. ( Digitized version ).
Web links
- Works by and about Paul Schöffler in the catalog of the German National Library
- Entry on Paul Schöffler in the Austria Forum (in the AEIOU Austria Lexicon )
- Paul Schöffler at Bach Cantatas (English)
Individual evidence
- ^ Inscription Deutschordenshof, Singerstraße: Paul Schöffler 1964 (accessed June 10, 2014)
personal data | |
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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 |