Vincent Maria Demetz

Vinzenz Maria Demetz (born October 11, 1912 in Ortisei in Val Gardena ; † April 7, 2006 in Reykjavík , Iceland ; Icelandic Sigurður Demetz Franzson ) was a South Tyrolean tenor and composer of Ladin songs.

Life

Demetz left his home village at the age of 18, first in Padua and later in Milan to train as a singer. In 1935 he won a singing competition in Vienna and subsequently successfully applied for an engagement at the Semperoper in Dresden , but could not perform there due to a protracted health problem. After Demetz's recovery, Herbert von Karajan , whom he had met in Rome , referred him to the Theater Aachen , which was destroyed shortly before his first appearance during the Second World War. Despite various appearances at the Teatro dell'Opera in Rome, at the Teatro San Carlo in Naples and at the Teatro alla Scala in Milan, Demetz did not succeed in establishing himself permanently in the opera world.

In 1955 Demetz moved with his girlfriend at the time, the Icelandic singer Svanhit Egilsdóttir, to Iceland, where he took the name Sigurður Demetz Franzson in order to obtain citizenship. He worked in Reykjavík and Akureyri, among other things as a singing teacher and choir director, and established bel canto , opera and art song in Iceland. The Söngskóli Sigurðar Demetz singing school in Reykjavík is named after him.

Works

• Vinzenz Maria Demetz da Fëur: Nina Nana Ladina in 30 cianties per Gherdëina. Editor Union di Ladins de Gherdëina. Edizions Carrara, Bergamo 1955 (music book).
• Vincent Maria Demetz da Fëur: Anda Trina da Juntlan in 30 cianties per Gherdëina. Editor Union di Ladins de Gherdëina. Edizions Carrara, Bergamo 1955 (music book).

Honors

• Honorary citizen of the municipality of Ortisei in Val Gardena
• Cavaliere della Repubblica
• Order of the Falcons in Iceland (1981 knight, 2003 commander)

literature

• Paula Moroder: Zenzl da Fëur . In: Calënder de Gherdëina 1982, Union di Ladins de Gherdëina, Ortisei in Val Gardena, pp. 75–77. (Ladin).
• Toni Senoner: Vinzenz Maria Demetz da Fëur 45 ani te Iceland . In: Calënder de Gherdëina 1982, Union di Ladins de Gherdëina, Ortisei in Val Gardena, pp. 205–210. (Ladin).
• Inga Hosp : Vinzenz Maria Demetz. The pitfalls of bel canto . In: South Tyrol from the outside . Athesia, Bozen 1986, ISBN 88-7014-425-9 , pp. 47-55.
• Anja da Four: Vinzenz Maria Demetz "Zenz da Four" . In: Calënder de Gherdëina 2007, Union di Ladins de Gherdëina, Ortisei in Val Gardena, pp. 205–207 (Ladin).
• Georg Mair: "Southern Driftwood" . In: ff - Südtiroler Wochenmagazin , No. 26, June 27, 2013, pp. 42–45.
• Rut Bernardi, Paul Videsott: History of Ladin Literature . Bozen-Bolzano University Press 2013, ISBN 978-88-6046-060-8 . Pp. 587-591.