Josef von Manowarda (3 July 1890 in

Kraków , officially the Royal Capital City of Kraków, is the List of cities and towns in Poland, second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city has a population of 804,237 ...

– 24 December 1942 in Berlin) was an Austrian operatic singer (

bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Wood * Bass or basswood, the wood of the tilia americana tree Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in th ...

and Heldenbaritone).

Life

Manowarda was born in Kraków, the son of the Austrian general Eberhard Manowarda von Jana.Manowarda von Jana, Eberhard (1847-1915), Generalmajor
on OBL He first prepared himself for a diplomatic career in Vienna, but then studied philosophy in

Graz Graz () is the capital of the Austrian Federal states of Austria, federal state of Styria and the List of cities and towns in Austria, second-largest city in Austria, after Vienna. On 1 January 2025, Graz had a population of 306,068 (343,461 inc ...

. Early on he received violin lessons, in Graz and also speech and singing lessons. In 1911–15 he was engaged in the

Graz Opera The Graz Opera (German: Oper Graz) is an Austrian opera house and opera company based in Graz. The orchestra of the opera house also performs concerts as the Graz Philharmonic Orchestra (''Grazer Philharmonisches Orchester''). History Opera h ...

, in 1915–18 at the

Wiener Volksoper The Vienna Volksoper (''Volksoper'' or ''Vienna People's Opera'') is an opera house in Vienna, Austria. It produces three hundred performances of twenty-five German language productions of opera, operetta, musicals, and ballet, during an annual s ...

, and from 1919 to 1934 at the

Wiener Staatsoper The Vienna State Opera (, ) is a historic 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 ...

. According to the Salzburg Festival: history and repertoire, 1922-1926 he appeared at the

Salzburg Festival The Salzburg Festival () is a prominent festival of music and drama established in 1920. It is held each summer, for five weeks starting in late July, in Salzburg, Austria, the birthplace of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Mozart's operas are a focus of ...

. He was professor at the

Vienna Music Academy The University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna (, abbreviated MDW) is an Austrian university established in 1817 located in Vienna. With a student body of over three thousand, it is the largest institution of its kind in Austria, and one of t ...

. Manowarda had joined the

NSDAP The Nazi Party, officially the National Socialist German Workers' Party ( or NSDAP), was a far-right political party in Germany active between 1920 and 1945 that created and supported the ideology of Nazism. Its precursor, the German Workers ...

together with his wife before 1933 and remained politically active even after the party ban in 1933 by distributing

propaganda Propaganda is communication that is primarily used to influence or persuade an audience to further an agenda, which may not be objective and may be selectively presenting facts to encourage a particular synthesis or perception, or using loaded l ...

material to the staff of the Vienna State Opera and refusing to wear the badge of the Vaterländische Front despite threats of severe punishment. According to his own statements, this caused him political difficulties, which is why he moved to the

Berlin State Opera The Staatsoper Unter den Linden ( State Opera under the Lime Trees), also known as the Berlin State Opera (), is a listed building on Unter den Linden boulevard in the historic center of Berlin, Germany. The opera house was built by order of P ...

under

Clemens Krauss Clemens Heinrich Krauss (31 March 189316 May 1954) was an Austrian conducting, conductor and opera impresario, particularly associated with the music of Richard Strauss, Johann Strauss and Richard Wagner. He founded the Vienna New Year's Concert ...

in 1935.Straßennamen Wiens seit 1860 als „Politische Erinnerungsorte“
(PDF; 4,4–MB), p. 51f, Forschungsprojektendbericht, Wien, Juli 2013 Already in 1931 he sang his way to great success at the

Bayreuth Festival The Bayreuth Festival () is a music festival held annually in Bayreuth, Germany, at which performances of stage works by the 19th-century German composer Richard Wagner are presented. Wagner himself conceived and promoted the idea of a special ...

as the Landgrave in ''

Tannhäuser Tannhäuser (; ), often stylized "The Tannhäuser", was a German Minnesinger and traveling poet. Historically, his biography, including the dates he lived, is obscure beyond the poetry, which suggests he lived between 1245 and 1265. His name ...

'' under

Arturo Toscanini Arturo Toscanini (; ; March 25, 1867January 16, 1957) was an Italian conductor. He was one of the most acclaimed and influential musicians of the late 19th and early 20th century, renowned for his intensity, his perfectionism, his ear for orche ...

. After his move to Berlin, Manowarda was particularly popular with Adolf Hitler and Joseph Goebbels and used this attention to propose in 1936 to Heinz Tietjen the unification of the Staatstheaters of Berlin and Kassel with the

Burgtheater The Burgtheater (; literally: "Castle Theater" but alternatively translated as "(Imperial) Court Theater", originally known as '' K.K. Theater an der Burg'', then until 1918 as the ''K.K. Hofburgtheater'', is the national theater of Austria in ...

and the Vienna State Opera. However, the project was never realized due to internal power distribution struggles of the National Socialist leadership elite; further petitions to Hitler also remained unsuccessful. More appearances in Bayreuth followed until 1942, among them as Gurnemanz in the 1937 production of ''

Parsifal ''Parsifal'' ( WWV 111) is a music drama in three acts by the German composer Richard Wagner and his last composition. Wagner's own libretto for the work is freely based on the 13th-century Middle High German chivalric romance ''Parzival'' of th ...

''. Manowarda was married to the opera singer Cornelia "Nelly" Pirchhoff-Manowarda. He is buried at the In den Kisseln cemetery in Berlin

Bezirk Spandau Spandau () is the westernmost of the 12 boroughs of Berlin, boroughs () of Berlin, situated at the confluence (geography), confluence of the Havel and Spree (river), Spree rivers and extending along the western bank of the Havel. It is the smalle ...

Awards

Manowarda was awarded the honorary title of

Kammersänger Kammersänger (male; ) or Kammersängerin (female; ), abbreviated Ks. or KS, is a German Title of honor, honorific title for distinguished singers of opera and classical music. It literally means "chamber singer". Historically, the title was besto ...

in 1929. After Manowarda's death, a funeral service was held at the

in January 1943, attended by Goebbels and Hermann Göring. In Göring's speech, Manowarda was described as a "faithful, uncompromising and victory-believing henchman of the Führer". The coffin of the singer stood on the stage of the Berlin State Opera Unter den Linden on the orders of Hermann Göring at this funeral service.

References

External links

* *
Josef von Manowarda
on AllMusic
Josef von Manowarda singt Arien & Lieder
on JPc * {{DEFAULTSORT:Manowarda, Josef von 1890 births 1942 deaths Musicians from Graz Austrian basses Austrian Nazis Austrian operatic baritones 20th-century Austrian male opera singers Nazi Party members Austrian Nazi propagandists