Wilhelm Elsner (singer)

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Wilhelm Elsner
Elsner's grave in the Protestant cemetery in Strašnice, Prague

Wilhelm Friedrich Josef Elsner (born November 10, 1869 in Brno , Austria-Hungary , † August 26, 1903 in Prague ) was a Moravian opera singer ( tenor ).

Elsner was born in Moravia in the area of ​​what was then the Austro-Hungarian Habsburg Monarchy . His family had German roots; Elsner grew up in a multilingual environment. He studied singing with Hermann Pfeiffer in Brno. He made his debut as an opera singer in 1889 at the Stadttheater Linz (Danube). There he was a permanent member of the ensemble until 1891. In the season 1891/92 he was engaged at the Regensburg City Theater. In 1892 he then went to the Graz City Theater , where he was permanently engaged until 1896. In 1893 he sang the title role in the world premiere of the opera Helfried von Siegmund von Hausegger in Graz . In 1896 he received an engagement at the Deutsches Theater in Prague .

Elsner first sang the role of lyric tenor . His repertoire included roles such as Don Ottavio in Don Giovanni and the title role in Faust . However, during his engagement in Prague, he changed his subject to intermediate subject tenor, from youthful hero tenor to hero tenor. He had a tenor of "pronounced heroic timbre". In particular, he turned to the Wagner repertoire. He sang the title roles in Tannhäuser and Lohengrin , Walther von Stolzing in Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg , Siegmund in Die Walküre and Loge in Das Rheingold . The Tristan in Tristan und Isolde was considered to be his special highlight . In 1903 he took part in the premiere of Cesare Rossi's opera Nadeya in Prague .

He made guest appearances, mainly in his Wagner roles, at the Vienna Court Opera (April 1899, as Tannhäuser), at the Munich Court Opera (1902), at the Dresden Court Opera (1902) and at the Frankfurt Opera House. M. (1902).

A permanent engagement at the Munich court opera was no longer possible because of his unexpected death. Elsner was also scheduled for the imminent premiere of Eugen d'Albert's opera Tiefland in November 1903 in Prague for the male lead of Pedro. Due to Elsner's death, the role was temporarily taken over by the Hungarian tenor Desider Arányi .

literature

Web links

Commons : Wilhelm Elsner  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Wilhelm Elsner obituary in: Prager Tagblatt of August 27, 1903. Retrieved on August 26, 2015.
  2. ↑ Professional and semi-professional singers in the Upper Palatinate . Entry Wilhelm Elsner. Oberpfälzer Kulturbund e. V. Accessed August 26, 2015
  3. ^ Richard Rosenheim : The history of the German theaters in Prague. 1883-1918. German Theater Association, Prague 1938, page 121.
  4. ^ Imperial & Royal Court Opera, Vienna - Playbills 1899 Cast sheet for the Vienna Court Opera from 1899. Retrieved on August 26, 2015
personal data
SURNAME Elsner, Wilhelm
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Elsner, Wilhelm Friedrich Josef (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Moravian opera singer (tenor)
DATE OF BIRTH November 10, 1869
PLACE OF BIRTH Brno , Austria-Hungary
DATE OF DEATH August 26, 1903
Place of death Prague