Christian Joseph Demmer (baptised 6 August 1772 – 22 September 1835) was a German-Austrian

tenor A tenor is a type of classical male singing voice whose vocal range lies between the countertenor and baritone voice types. It is the highest male chest voice type. The tenor's vocal range extends up to C5. The low extreme for tenors i ...

and actor.

Life

Demmer was baptized on 6 August 1772 in the

Cologne Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 million inhabitants in the city proper and 3.6 millio ...

parish under the name Christian Joseph. He was a brother of Joseph and

Carl Demmer Carl Ignaz Anton Demmer, also Karl, (baptised 11 February 1766 – after 1824) was an operatic tenor at the Theater am Kärntnertor, Vienna court opera, and possibly Florestan in the first version of Beethoven's opera ''Fidelio'' on 20 November 18 ...

and began his artistic career on 13 December 1780 as a

choir A choir ( ; also known as a chorale or chorus) is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform. Choirs may perform music from the classical music repertoire, which s ...

singer at

Cologne Cathedral Cologne Cathedral (german: Kölner Dom, officially ', English: Cathedral Church of Saint Peter) is a Catholic cathedral in Cologne, North Rhine-Westphalia. It is the seat of the Archbishop of Cologne and of the administration of the Archdiocese of ...

. On 23 May 1789 he was dismissed and went to the

Mainz Mainz () is the capital and largest city of Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. Mainz is on the left bank of the Rhine, opposite to the place that the Main joins the Rhine. Downstream of the confluence, the Rhine flows to the north-west, with Ma ...

theater in 1790. In spring 1795 he made a guest appearance with Friedrich Wilhelm Hunnius' troop in

Wetzlar Wetzlar () is a city in the state of Hesse, Germany. It is the twelfth largest city in Hesse with currently 55,371 inhabitants at the beginning of 2019 (including second homes). As an important cultural, industrial and commercial center, the un ...

and appeared there on 16 and 26 May as Tamino in Mozart's ''

The Magic Flute ''The Magic Flute'' (German: , ), K. 620, is an opera in two acts by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart to a German libretto by Emanuel Schikaneder. The work is in the form of a '' Singspiel'', a popular form during the time it was written that inc ...

''. Afterwards he followed Hunnius to Mainz, who united there with the travelling troop of Simon Friedrich Koberwein (1733 - after 1803). Also with this enterprise "Herr Demmer, the youngest of the three brothers" was active as first tenor. Afterwards he worked until 1798 for Johann Ludwig Büchner's troop, which played mainly in Cologne and Mainz. The

music director A music(al) director or director of music is the person responsible for the musical aspects of a performance, production, or organization. This would include the artistic director and usually chief conductor of an orchestra or concert band, the ...

of both troops was Friedrich August Burgmüller. At this time he was already married with the actress Sophie Demmer ''née'' Ernst. Shortly afterwards he moved to the theater in

Hamburg Hamburg (, ; nds, label=Hamburg German, Low Saxon, Hamborg ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg (german: Freie und Hansestadt Hamburg; nds, label=Low Saxon, Friee un Hansestadt Hamborg),. is the List of cities in Germany by popul ...

. In 1803 a report about the Hamburg theater reads: "Christian Demmer, singer at the local theater, left without saying goodbye to his friends, relatives and his wife." It is still unclear where he spent the following years. On March 30, 1809 he arrived from Regensburg in Vienna, where he moved to the

Theater an der Wien The is a historic theatre in Vienna located on the Left Wienzeile in the Mariahilf district. Completed in 1801, the theatre has hosted the premieres of many celebrated works of theatre, opera, and symphonic music. Since 2006, it has served pri ...

. From 28 April 1809 to 23 April 1824 he finally belonged to the ensemble of the Vienna Court Theatres. He celebrated his greatest successes in the role of Ober-Seneschall in the singspiel '' Jean de Paris'' by

François-Adrien Boieldieu François-Adrien Boieldieu (, also ) (16 December 1775 – 8 October 1834) was a French composer, mainly of operas, often called "the French Mozart". His date of birth was also cited as December 15 by his biographer and writer Lucien Augé de Las ...

, which was performed for the first time on 28 August 1812 in the

Theater am Kärntnertor or ( Carinthian Gate Theatre) was a prestigious theatre in Vienna during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Its official title was (Imperial and Royal Court Theatre of Vienna). History The theatre was built in 1709 to designs by An ...

. His brother Carl Demmer played the same role at the same time in a production of the Theater an der Wien.

Ignaz Franz Castelli Ignaz Franz Castelli (6 March 1781 – 5 February 1862) was an Austrian dramatist born in Vienna. He studied law at the university, and then entered the government service. During the Napoleonic invasions his patriotism inspired him to wri ...

writes in his memoirs: According to the Viennese artist directory by

Franz Heinrich Böckh Franz may refer to: People * Franz (given name) * Franz (surname) Places * Franz (crater), a lunar crater * Franz, Ontario, a railway junction and unorganized town in Canada * Franz Lake, in the state of Washington, United States – see Fran ...

, "Demmer Christ, K-k lived (Hof-Opern-Sänger" 1821) "An der Wien No 38." In autumn 1824 he went to the theatre in

Graz Graz (; sl, Gradec) is the capital city of the Austrian state of Styria and second-largest city in Austria after Vienna. As of 1 January 2021, it had a population of 331,562 (294,236 of whom had principal-residence status). In 2018, the popu ...

. Last he worked in Prague. Demmer died there at age 63.

Family

One daughter from Demmer's marriage with Sophie Ernst was the actress and singer Jeanette (actually Johanna) Ziegler née Demmer (1800 in Aachen - 2 July 1878 in

Pest Pest or The Pest may refer to: Science and medicine * Pest (organism), an animal or plant deemed to be detrimental to humans or human concerns ** Weed, a plant considered undesirable * Infectious disease, an illness resulting from an infection ** ...

), who as Jeanette Demmer or married Jeannette Schmidt-Demmer was a member of the

Vienna Court Opera The Vienna State Opera (, ) is an opera house and opera company based in Vienna, Austria. The 1,709-seat Renaissance Revival venue was the first major building on the Vienna Ring Road. It was built from 1861 to 1869 following plans by August Si ...

from 1808 to about 1815 and then worked at the

Theater in der Josefstadt The Theater in der Josefstadt is a theater in Vienna in the eighth district of Josefstadt. It was founded in 1788 and is the oldest still performing theater in Vienna. It is often referred to colloquially as simply ''Die Josefstadt''. Following ...

. Unter anderem spielte sie in jungen Jahren im Theater an der Wien an der Seite ihres Onkels, Carl Demmer, in der namensgebenden Rolle in 's ''Preciosa''.. His brothers were the singers and actors Carl Demmer and Joseph Demmer. His son Friedrich Demmer was also a singer and actor.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Demmer, Christian 18th-century German male actors German operatic tenors 1772 births 1835 deaths Musicians from Cologne Male actors from Cologne 19th-century German male actors

Life

Family

Further reading

References