Friedrich Schorr (September 2, 1888 – August 14, 1953), was a renowned

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

n- Hungarian bass-baritone

opera Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a libr ...

singer of

Jew Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""T ...

ish origin. He later became a naturalized American. Schorr was particularly famous for his profound portrayals of Wotan in ''

Der Ring des Nibelungen (''The Ring of the Nibelung''), WWV 86, is a cycle of four German-language epic music dramas composed by Richard Wagner. The works are based loosely on characters from Germanic heroic legend, namely Norse legendary sagas and the '' Nibe ...

'' and Hans Sachs in '' Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg''. He was celebrated, too, for his appearances as Don Pizarro in

Beethoven Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. Beethoven remains one of the most admired composers in the history of Western music; his works rank amongst the most performed of the classic ...

's ''

Fidelio ''Fidelio'' (; ), originally titled ' (''Leonore, or The Triumph of Marital Love''), Op. 72, is Ludwig van Beethoven's only opera. The German libretto was originally prepared by Joseph Sonnleithner from the French of Jean-Nicolas Bouilly, wi ...

''. His voice was powerful, steady, and rich-toned, with a beautiful ''mezza voce''. He placed a special emphasis on maintaining a smooth, ''legato'' line in his singing, with no trace of

Sprechgesang (, "spoken singing") and (, "spoken voice") are expressionist vocal techniques between singing and speaking. Though sometimes used interchangeably, ''Sprechgesang'' is directly related to the operatic ''recitative'' manner of singing (in which ...

. Towards the end of Schorr's career, his extreme top notes became somewhat 'wooden', however, as the result of many years of strenuous usage.

Biography

The son of a cantor ( hazzan) Mayer Schorr, who reportedly had a fine voice himself, Schorr was born in Oradea 'Nagyvarad'' at the time He studied in Brno and

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with Adolf Robinson. He made his stage debut in Graz, singing there in 1912-1916. Afterwards he worked in

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and List of cities in the Czech Republic, largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 milli ...

(1916–1918),

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(1918–1923),

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(''State Opera Unter den Linden'', 1923–1931). He also made acclaimed appearances in

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at Covent Garden (1924–1931), at New York's

Metropolitan Opera The Metropolitan Opera (commonly known as the Met) is an American opera company based in New York City, resident at the Metropolitan Opera House at Lincoln Center, currently situated on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. The company is oper ...

(1924–1943) and the Bayreuth Festival (1925–1933). Schorr emigrated to the

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in 1931. He lived in

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and performed regularly at the Metropolitan Opera until 1943. Some of the outstanding Wagnerian singers that he appeared with during his career included Frida Leider,

Lotte Lehmann Charlotte "Lotte" Lehmann (February 27, 1888 – August 26, 1976) was a German soprano who was especially associated with German repertory. She gave memorable performances in the operas of Richard Strauss, Richard Wagner, Ludwig van Beethoven, ...

Elisabeth Rethberg Elisabeth Rethberg ( Lisbeth Sättler; 22 September 1894 – 6 June 1976) was a German operatic soprano singer who was active from the period of the First World War through the early 1940s. Early years Rethberg was born Lisbeth Sättler ...

Lauritz Melchior Lauritz Melchior (20 March 1890 – 18 March 1973) was a Danish-American opera singer. He was the preeminent Richard Wagner, Wagnerian tenor of the 1920s, 1930s, and 1940s and has come to be considered the quintessence of his voice type. Late i ...

Kirsten Flagstad Kirsten Malfrid Flagstad (12 July 1895 – 7 December 1962) was a Norwegian opera singer, who was the outstanding Wagnerian soprano of her era. Her triumphant debut in New York on 2 February 1935 is one of the legends of opera. Giulio Gatti-Casa ...

, and

Helen Traubel Helen Francesca Traubel (June 16, 1899July 28, 1972) was an American opera and concert singer. A dramatic soprano, she was best known for her Wagnerian roles, especially those of Brünnhilde and Isolde. Born and raised in St. Louis, Missouri, ...

. After his retirement from performance he worked as a director and gave concerts. He also taught singing privately. One of his students was mezzo-soprano Nell Tangeman. He died in

Farmington, Connecticut Farmington is a town in Hartford County in the Farmington Valley area of central Connecticut in the United States. The population was 26,712 at the 2020 census. It sits 10 miles west of Hartford at the hub of major I-84 interchanges, 20 miles ...

Recordings

Schorr made a number of recordings both in Europe and America by both the acoustic and electrical processes. Although some of them, particularly those recorded in America, were produced after he had passed his artistic zenith, these records still prove Schorr's vocal strength and solidity, his clear diction, his excellent breathing, and the great emotional expressiveness of his interpretations. Most of his records are available on CD transfers issued by various companies, including a number of live operatic performances dating from the 1930s.

References

* Kennedy, Michael (2006), ''The Oxford Dictionary of Music'', 985 pages, *Warrack, John and West, Ewan (1992), ''The Oxford Dictionary of Opera'', 782 pages,

External links

Biography and photographs
{{DEFAULTSORT:Schorr, Friedrich 1888 births 1953 deaths Austrian expatriates in Germany 20th-century Austrian male opera singers Austro-Hungarian Jews Hungarian expatriates in Germany Jewish opera singers Operatic bass-baritones People from Oradea 20th-century American male opera singers Austrian emigrants to the United States