Robert Leonhardt
Robert Leonhardt (* 1877 in Linz ; † February 2, 1923 in New York City ) was an Austrian opera singer ( baritone ).
Life
Leonhardt was born in Linz in 1877 . There he made his debut as an opera singer in 1898. From 1899 to 1900 he was engaged at the Berlin Theater des Westens , 1900–1903 at the Theater von Teplitz-Schönau ( Teplice ), and 1904–1905 again at the Theater des Westens.
From 1905 he sang for four years at the Deutsches Theater in Prague .
He was a Wagner singer at the Brno Opera House between 1909 and 1911, and at the Vienna Volksoper . From 1911 to 1913 he had guest appearances at the Imperial Opera Vienna (1909) and the Gura Summer Opera Berlin (1910).
In October 1913 it was reported that Leonhardt had been called to the Metropolitan Opera of New York. He went on the express steamer "Bremen" and had to survive an arduous sea voyage before arriving in America on November 6th.
His first role with his new employer was that of Peter in Engelbert Humperdinck's opera Hansel and Gretel . After he had received positive reviews for his appearance, he appeared again and again in productions of the "Met" over the next nine years. Actually he was supposed to play a bigger role in this house, but world-historical circumstances prevented this.
On February 25, 1915, he took part in the American premiere of the opera Madame Sans-Gêne by Umberto Giordano , in 1917 in that of The Canterbury Pilgrims by Reginald de Koven.
From December 1917 on he wrote to Robert Leonard to distance himself from his German-speaking ancestry. Nevertheless, Leonhardt, as an Austrian citizen, was dropped by the “Met” in April 1918 because he was considered an “enemy alien” despite continued good reviews. His opera agent, Mr. Gatti, expressed his regret for this decision. Leonhardt's wife and children had stayed in Vienna during the war.
After the end of the war he was allowed to resume his work for the “Met”. From November 1920 he was back on stage there and continued to perform until shortly before his death. On November 19, 1921, as partner of Maria Jeritza , he sang Fritz in the New York premiere of the opera Die tote Stadt by Erich Wolfgang Korngold . He was last heard at the Metropolitan Opera in the opening performance of the 1922–1923 season in a Comprimario role in Puccini's Tosca .
Then he got a prolonged illness from which he did not recover. Robert Leonhardt died in St. Mark's Hospital in New York City on February 2, 1923. He was only 46 years old.
Singing style
Reviews of Leonhardt's performances cover a wide range of opinions. On the one hand, he was praised for his “dark, metal, throaty bass”, although this was probably due to the fact that he sang outside of the vocal range that he could easily control. Others, on the other hand, attested him a "light and lovely Italian voice" and a wonderful spontaneous sense of humor.
Media pioneer
Leonhardt's career as an artist on phonograms is perhaps even more significant than his stage career. His first recordings were made in 1900 at the Gramophone Company , for which he worked until 1905. Many of them found their way into the standard German catalog of this company. Several recordings he made in Europe also appeared on the International Zonophone Company and on the Homokord label. From 1903 to 1905 he also recorded for the European branch of Columbia in Vienna. Several times he sang records in a duet with the soprano Gertrud Runge.
He sang about the Edison cylinder before he came to America. They were successfully marketed there, especially among German-speaking immigrants. After moving to the United States, he continued to work for Columbia, this time on records, which he sang there from 1915 to 1920. Although he was advertised as being a member of the "Metropolitan Opera Co.", his repertoire consisted not only of opera singing, but also of numerous German folk and art songs, and like the Edison cylinders, his records also turned the prefix “E-”, which appeared in the “ethnic” catalog of Columbia, mainly to the German-speaking population, not so much to the general public of buyers in the USA.
Leonhardt's last recordings were made by Victor in Camden / New Jersey in 1920/21 and were also marketed in their ethnic series .
Sound documents (selection)
Music label | Catalog number |
Title of the piece | year | Remarks |
---|---|---|---|---|
Gramophones | 42609 | Put it on the table | 1900 | |
Gramophones | 42322 | Carmen: Toreador ( Georges Bizet ) | 1900 | matrix 641A |
Gramophones | 42349 | Bonn ( August Bungert ) | 1901 | |
Gramophones | 42461 | Honor to the Boer, or The Boer's lost happiness | 1901 | matrix 648A |
Gramophones | 42319 | Two eyes brown (Ferdinand Gumbert) | 1901 | matrix 1102B |
Gramophones | 42320 | Your blue eyes (Kötzschke) | 1901 | matrix 1112B |
Gramophones | 42325 | Two dark eyes ( Carl Heins ) | 1901 | matrix 1113B |
Gramophones | 42326 | Light luggage (little hammer) | 1901 | matrix 1114B |
Gramophones | 42322 | Oh, could I love like that again (Wilhelm Aletter) | 1901 | matrix 1115B |
Gramophones | 42324 | The heart on the Rhine - There is a crown in the deep Rhine | 1901 | matrix 1146B |
Gramophones | 42473 | Li-ti-ti, Rhinelander | 1901 | matrix 1302B |
Gramophones | 42383 | Morning Anthem ( George Henschel ) | 1901 | matrix 119x |
Gramophones | 42380 | Oh, could I love like that again (Wilhelm Aletter) | 1901 | matrix 120x |
Gramophones | 42404 | Brother sloppy (paler) | 1901 | matrix 185x |
Gramophones | 42407 | Two dark eyes (Carl Heins) | 1901 | matrix 199x |
Gramophones | 44029 | The hazelnut, singing over the board | 1901 | with Gertrud Runge |
Gramophones | 42327 | snowdrop | 1902 | matrix 1162B |
Gramophones | 42664 | Lean your cheek on my cheek (Jensen) | 1902 | matrix 2113B |
Gramophones | 42675 | I stand in gloomy midnight, folk song | 1902 | matrix 2187B |
Gramophones | 42682 | Oh how about it then ( chickens ) | 1902 | matrix 2188B |
Gramophones | 42684 | Germany above everything ( Haydn - August Heinrich Hoffmann von Fallersleben ) | 1902 | matrix 2190B |
Gramophones | 42685 | Do I have to go to the town, folksong | 1902 | matrix 2192B |
Gramophones | 42073 | There drew three boys, folk song | 1902 | matrix 2893B |
Gramophones | 42943 | Freedom i mean (Karl Groos) | 1902 | matrix 1278x |
Gramophones | 42945 | Whom God wants to show the right favor (Mathias Fröhlich) | 1902 | matrix 1280x |
Gramophones | 42982 | Carmen: Torerolied (Bizet) | 1902 | matrix 1307x |
Gramophones | 42950 | The beauty of New York: You my girl (Gustave Kerker) | 1902 | matrix 1313x |
Gramophones | 42986 | Forest worship (Franz Wilhelm Abt) | 1902 | matrix 1371x |
Gramophones | 42980 | I see a young man | 1902 | matrix 1286x |
Gramophones | 42949 | The grave on the Haide (Heiser) | 1902 | matrix 1312x |
Gramophones | 2-42652 | Aennchen in the garden (Hoelzel) | 1903 | matrix 1749x |
Gramophones | 2-42655 | I send these flowers to you (Gallrein) | 1903 | matrix 1768x |
Gramophones | 2-42656 | When the swallows go home | 1903 | matrix 1769x |
Gramophones | 2-42637 | The Doll : A Song of Satisfaction - Someone Asks ( Edmond Audran ) | 1903 | matrix 1770x |
Gramophones | 2-42657 | In the morning I'll send you the violets | 1903 | matrix 1784x |
Gramophones | 2-42658 | The Doll : Song of Maximus ( Edmond Audran ) | 1903 | matrix 1785x |
Gramophones | 2-42114 | Run of the World (Goldschmidt) | 1903 | matrix 3181B |
Gramophones | 3-42094 | Oh, how is it possible then | 1904 | matrix 2475L |
Gramophones | 2-42247 | The forget-me-not | 1904 | matrix 1901k |
Gramophones | 44436 | This is the day of the Lord ( Conradin Kreutzer ) | 1904 | with Gertrud Runge; matrix 2326h |
Gramophones | 3-42057 | Zampa : Lovely Girl ( Ferdinand Hérold ) | 1904 | matrix 2382L |
Gramophones | 3-42054 | The forget-me-not | 1904 | matrix 2404L |
Gramophones | 3-42093 | Morgenrot, Morgenrot, folk song | 1904 | matrix 2478L |
Gramophones | 2-42252 | Do I have to go to the town, folksong | 1904 | matrix 1916k |
Gramophones | 3-42065 | Do I have to go to the town, folksong | 1904 | matrix 2407L |
Gramophones | 3-42422 | To Mantua in gangs (Leopold Knebelsberger) | 1905 | matrix 234r |
Gramophones | 3-42335 | Forest worship (Franz Wilhelm Abt) | 1905 | matrix 236r |
Gramophones | 3-42310 | In the jug for the green wreath, folk song | 1905 | matrix 238r |
Gramophones | 3-42311 | O old lad glory, student song | 1905 | matrix 239r |
Gramophones | 3-42312 | The linden landlady (Franz Wilhelm Abt) | 1905 | matrix 240r |
Gramophones | 2-42320 | Two dark eyes (Carl Heins) | 1905 | matrix 256q |
Gramophones | 2-42327 | The beauty of New York: You my girl (Gustave Kerker) | 1905 | matrix 257q |
Gramophones | 2-42322 | Whom God wants to show the right favor (Mathias Fröhlich) | 1905 | matrix 260q |
Gramophones | 2-42323 | O old lad glory, student song | 1905 | matrix 262q |
Gramophones | 3-42309 | Two dark eyes (Carl Heins) | 1905 | matrix 5h |
Gramophones | 3-42093X | Morgenrot, Morgenrot, folk song | 1905 | matrix 17h |
Gramophones | 3-42199 | Deep in the Bohemian Forest, folk song (Hans Bichert) | 1905 | matrix 3066L |
Edison | 12262 | Two dark eyes | 1907 | |
Edison | 12264 | Aria ( Pardon de Ploërmel : Ah! Mon remords te venge) | 1907 | |
Edison | 15189 | Edelweiss | 1908 | |
Edison | 16090 | Ballad of Nelusko (L'Africaine: Adamastor, roi des vagues profondes) | ~ 1909 | |
Columbia | E2565 | The music is coming (Oskar Strauss) | 1915 | matrix 46163 take 2 |
Columbia | E2565 | Prinz Eugen, the noble knight (Carl Löwe) | 1915 | matrix 46164 take 1 |
Columbia | E2566 | The Golden Cross - Song of the Bombardon | 1915 | matrix 46165 take 1 |
Columbia | E2566 | Bonn (if only the Rhine weren't ...) | 1915 | matrix 46166 take 1 |
Columbia | E2644 | Homesickness ( Hugo Wolf ) | 1915 | matrix 46169 take 1 |
Columbia | E2644 | Nightingale song, from " The Bird Trader " ( Zeller ) | 1915 | matrix 46170 take 1 |
Columbia | A2053 | The trumpeter von Säkkingen: It wasn't meant to be | 1916 | matrix 43921 take 1 |
Columbia | A2053 | O good time, O happy time (idol) | 1916 | matrix 43922 take 1 |
Columbia | E2951 | Andreas Hofer | 1916 | matrix 43923 |
Columbia | E2951 | God receive (Austrian folk hymn) | 1916 | matrix 43924 |
Columbia | E3098 | The Silesian revelers and the devils (Reissiger) | 1916 | matrix 43975 take 2 |
Columbia | E3098 | Three hikers | 1916 | matrix 43978 take 1 |
Columbia | E3140 | From the youth (Radecke) | 1916 | matrix 44070 take 1 |
Columbia | E3230 | From the Rhine with wine | 1916 | |
Columbia | E3230 | Still as the night, deep as the sea | 1916 | with Julia Kuebler |
Columbia | E3273 | Six, seven or eight (Herrmann) | 1916 | matrix 44069 take 1 |
Columbia | E3273 | Praise of the Polish woman, from " The Begging Student " ( Millöcker ) | 1916 | matrix 44071 take 2 |
Columbia | E4898 | Well still drunk - Wanderlied | 1920 | matrix 86736 take 1 |
Columbia | E4898 | Loreley | 1920 | matrix 86737 take 2 |
Columbia | E4935 | From the youth | 1920 | matrix 86739 take 1 |
Columbia | E4935 | When the swallows return | 1920 | matrix 86891 take 2 |
Columbia | E4997 | Reiters Morgenlied | 1920 | matrix 86738 |
Columbia | E4997 | Andreas Hofer | 1920 | matrix 86875 |
Columbia | E4956 | The two grenadiers | 1920 | matrix 86874 take 1 |
Columbia | E4956 | Prince Eugene the Knight | 1920 | matrix 86889 take 3 |
Columbia | E7073 | The trumpeter from Säkkingen: God protect you | 1920 | matrix 86890 take 1 |
Columbia | E7073 | Nightingale song | 1920 | matrix 86896 take 2 |
Columbia | E7489 | The last greeting | 1920 | matrix 86873 |
Columbia | E7489 | Once I played with the scepter, from "Zar und Zimmermann" | 1920 | matrix 86897 |
Victor | 68583 | The trumpeter from Säkkingen: God protect you, it would have been too beautiful | 1921 | with Nathaniel Shilkret |
Victor | 68583 | Elf king | 1921 | with Nathaniel Shilkret |
Victor | 73258 | In the Prater the trees are blooming again (Kurt Robitschek - Robert Stolz ) | 1922 | matrix B 26208 take 2 |
Victor | 73258 | Do you know, Muatterl, what I was dreaming? (A. Kutschera) | 1922 | matrix B 26208 take 2 |
literature
- Ernie Bayly, Michael S. Kinnear: The Zon-o-phone record: a discography of recordings produced by the International Zonophone Company and associated companies in Europe and the Americas, 1901-1903. Michael Kinnear, Victoria, Australia 2001, ISBN 0-9577355-2-9 . (English)
- Alan Blyth, Malcolm Walker: Opera on Record. Volume 3, Hutchinson, London 1984, ISBN 0-09-158620-8 , p. 137. (English)
- Alan Kelly: The Gramophone Company - Standard German Catalog (1898-1929). Greenwood Press, 1988, ISBN 0-313-26498-8 . (English)
- Henry Edward Krehbiel: More Chapters of Opera: Being Historical and Critical Observations and Records Concerning the Lyric Drama in New York from 1908 to 1918. Henry Holt and Company, New York 1919, pp. 370, 398. (English)
- Karl-Josef Kutsch , Leo Riemens (Ed.): Immortal Voices: Small Singer Lexicon. A. Francke Verlag, Bern / Munich 1975, OCLC 835389281 .
- Peter Martland: Recording History: The British Record Industry, 1888-1931. Rowman & Littlefield, 2013, ISBN 978-0-8108-8252-2 . (English)
- Richard K. Spottswood: Ethnic Music on Records, a Discography of Ethnic Recordings Produced in the United States, 1893 to 1942. Vol. 1: Western Europe. University of Illinois Press, Urbana, Illinois 1990, ISBN 0-252-01719-6 , pp. 185-186. (English)
Web links
- Robert Leonhardt at Operissimo on the basis of the Great Singer Lexicon
- dismarc.org has 15 titles from Robert Leonhardt
- Works by Leonhardt at the Cylinder Preservation and Digitization Project. Donald C. Davidson Library, University of California, Santa Barbara
Individual evidence
- ^ Piet Hein Honig, Hanns-Georg Rodek : 100001. The show business encyclopedia of the 20th century. Showbiz-Data-Verlag, Villingen-Schwenningen 1992, ISBN 3-929009-01-5 , p. 563.
- ↑ Operissimo
- ↑ here he sang a. a. 1905 in the world premiere of the opera Flauto solo by Eugen d'Albert and in the same year in the opera Zierpuppen by Anselm Goetzl, cf. Operissimo
- ↑ he sang the Beckmesser in the Meistersingern and the Alberich in the Ring des Nibelungen , cf. Operissimo
- ↑ at the Volksoper in 1911 he sang the minstrel in the Vienna premiere of Humperdinck's Royal Children ; on November 23, 1911 he took part in the world premiere of the opera Der Kuhreigen by Wilhelm Kienzl , cf. Operissimo
- ^ Hard Voyage for Bremen. In: The New York Times. November 7, 1913.
- ^ New Baritone Appears. In: The New York Times. December 27, 1913, p. 18.
- ↑ Article "[Met Performance] CID: 55450 Hansel and Gretel {75} Matinee ed. Metropolitan Opera House: 12/26/1913". The Metropolitan Opera Archives. The Metropolitan Opera (accessed September 28, 2014)
- ↑ Metropolitan Grand Opera Season Closes; Company Goes to Boston. In: The Sunday Oregonian. April 16, 1916. p. Section 5, p. 7.
- ↑ Operissimo
- ^ Opera Clears Out 20 Enemy Aliens. In: The New York Times. April 27, 1918, p. 10 (accessed September 28, 2014)
- ↑ Operissimo
- ^ Obituary: Robert Leonhardt, Opera Baritone. In: The New York Times. February 3, 1923, p. 13.
- ↑ so Alan Blyth, Malcolm Walker: Opera on Record. Volume 3, 1984, p. 137.
- ↑ z. B. Season of Grand Opera Draws Near to Close in New York City. In: The Sunday Oregonian. April 2, 1916, Section 5, p. 2 (accessed September 28, 2014)
- ^ Peter Martland: Recording History: The British Record Industry, 1888-1931. 2013, pp. 21 f., 60, 69 u. 74, and Ernie Bayly, Michael S. Kinnear: The Zon-o-phone record: a discography of recordings produced by the International Zonophone Company and associated companies in Europe and the Americas, 1901–1903. 2001.
- ↑ cf. on this Art. at grammophon-platten.de
- ↑ "In contrast to other" record singers ", all of her recordings are of a high artistic level. These recordings reflect a repertoire of incredible versatility, so that her soprano voice cannot be assigned to any specialty ”, cf. Operissimo
- ↑ Karl-Josef Kutsch, Leo Riemens (Ed.): Immortal Voices: Small Singer Lexicon. 1975, p. 381.
- ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k l Alan Kelly: The Gramophone Company - Standard German Catalog (1898–1929). Recordings for which the composer is not stated. June 13, 2013, accessed December 9, 2014 .
personal data | |
---|---|
SURNAME | Leonhardt, Robert |
BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Austrian opera singer (baritone) |
DATE OF BIRTH | 1877 |
PLACE OF BIRTH | Linz |
DATE OF DEATH | February 2, 1923 |
Place of death | New York City |