Marcel Wittrisch (1 October 1901 – 3 June 1955) was a popular German

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 libre ...

tic

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 ...

Life and career

Wittrisch was born in Antwerp, Belgium to a German family, and subsequently studied in

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the third-largest city in Germany, after Berlin and Ha ...

Leipzig Leipzig ( , ; Upper Saxon: ) is the most populous city in the German state of Saxony. Leipzig's population of 605,407 inhabitants (1.1 million in the larger urban zone) as of 2021 places the city as Germany's eighth most populous, as ...

, and

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard language, Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the List of cities in Italy, second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 ...

. His career began in

Halle, Saxony-Anhalt Halle (Saale), or simply Halle (; from the 15th to the 17th century: ''Hall in Sachsen''; until the beginning of the 20th century: ''Halle an der Saale'' ; from 1965 to 1995: ''Halle/Saale'') is the largest city of the German state of Saxony-A ...

in 1925 in a production of ''

Hans Heiling ''Hans Heiling'' is a German Romantic opera in 3 acts with prologue by Heinrich Marschner with a libretto by Eduard Devrient, who also sang the title role at the première at the Königliche Hofoper (now Berlin State Opera), Berlin, on 24 May ...

'' by Marschner at the

Halle Opera House The Halle Opera House () is an opera house in Halle, Saxony-Anhalt. Originally named the Halle Town Theatre (), the theatre was built in 1886. A bomb attack on 31 March 1945 destroyed much of the original building. Restorative work ensued a few ...

. He then went to Brunswick and on to Berlin, where he sang opera from 1929 to 1944. Wittrisch also appeared as Eisenstein in ''

Die Fledermaus ' (, ''The Flittermouse'' or ''The Bat'', sometimes called ''The Revenge of the Bat'') is an operetta composed by Johann Strauss II to a German libretto by Karl Haffner and Richard Genée, which premiered in 1874. Background The original li ...

'' at the

Royal Opera House The Royal Opera House (ROH) is an opera house and major performing arts venue in Covent Garden, central London. The large building is often referred to as simply Covent Garden, after a previous use of the site. It is the home of The Royal ...

, London in 1931. The fact that Wittisch was able to carve out a fine career in the face of competition from such renowned German tenor rivals as

Richard Tauber Richard Tauber (16 May 1891 – 8 January 1948) was an Austrian tenor and film actor. Early life Richard Tauber was born in Linz, Austria, to Elisabeth Seifferth (née Denemy), a widow and an actress who played soubrette roles at the local thea ...

, Helge Roswaenge,

Franz Völker Franz Völker (31 March 1899, Neu-Isenburg, Grand Duchy of Hesse – 4 December 1965, Darmstadt, Hesse) was a dramatic tenor who enjoyed a major European career. He excelled specifically as a performer of the operas of Richard Wagner. He was disc ...

Julius Patzak Julius Patzak (9 April 189826 January 1974) was an Austrian tenor distinguished in operatic and concert work. He was particularly noted in Mozart, Beethoven and in early 20th-century German repertoire. Biography Julius Patzak was born in Vienna ...

, and Peter Anders, among others, testifies to his talent. Wittrisch's singing in its prime period during the 1930s was characterised by a fresh, gleaming tone and easy top notes. As his voice matured, he undertook heavier operatic roles such as

Wagner Wilhelm Richard Wagner ( ; ; 22 May 181313 February 1883) was a German composer, theatre director, polemicist, and conductor who is chiefly known for his operas (or, as some of his mature works were later known, "music dramas"). Unlike most op ...

's ''

Lohengrin Lohengrin () is a character in German Arthurian literature. The son of Parzival (Percival), he is a knight of the Holy Grail sent in a boat pulled by swans to rescue a maiden who can never ask his identity. His story, which first appears in Wolf ...

'' in 1937 at the

Bayreuth Festival The Bayreuth Festival (german: link=no, Bayreuther Festspiele) is a music festival held annually in Bayreuth, Germany, at which performances of operas by the 19th-century German composer Richard Wagner are presented. Wagner himself conceived ...

and eventually '' Siegmund'' and ''

Parsifal ''Parsifal'' ( WWV 111) is an opera or a music drama in three acts by the German composer Richard Wagner and his last composition. Wagner's own libretto for the work is loosely based on the 13th-century Middle High German epic poem '' Parziv ...

'' after the Second World War. He died in Stuttgart, aged 53.

Critical appreciation

Wittrisch is inevitably compared to his (now) better known contemporary Richard Tauber. According to the English music critic J B Steane: '' "Though less individual in style han Tauber he was certainly comparable in timbre and less restricted in the upper register." ''Steane, J B (1992), 'Wittrisch, Marcel' in ''The

New Grove Dictionary of Opera ''The New Grove Dictionary of Opera'' is an encyclopedia of opera, considered to be one of the best general reference sources on the subject. It is the largest work on opera in English, and in its printed form, amounts to 5,448 pages in four volu ...

'', ed. Stanley Sadie (London)

Recordings

Wittrisch made over 400 individual recordings.

Preiser Records Preiser Records is an independent Austrian record label. It was founded in 1952 by Otto G. Preiser (1920–1996). The label is particularly important for recordings from the Viennese cabaret scene, especially from the 1950s and 1960s ( Helmut Qu ...

released a selection of them entitled ''Lebendige Vergangenheit - Marcel Wittrisch'' (717281890243) on CD in 1990, followed by ''Lebendige Vergangenheit - Marcel Wittrisch Vol 2'' (717281895910) in 2004.

Films

* 1930 '' Darling of the Gods'' * 1930 ''

Only on the Rhine ''Only on the Rhine'' (german: Nur am Rhein...) is a 1930 German comedy film directed by Max Mack and starring Daisy D'Ora, Igo Sym, and Truus Van Aalten.Bock & Bergfelder p. 302 The film's sets were designed by Otto Erdmann and Hans Sohnle ...

'' * 1930 ''Gigolo, der schöne arme Tanzleutnant'' * 1930 ''

The Song Is Ended ''The Song Is Ended'' (german: Das Lied ist aus) is a 1930 German romantic musical film directed by Géza von Bolváry, and starring Liane Haid, Willi Forst, and Margarete Schlegel. A separate French-language version ''Petit officier... Adieu ...

'', music by

Robert Stolz Robert Elisabeth Stolz (25 August 188027 June 1975) was an Austrian songwriter and conductor as well as a composer of operettas and film music.Stanley Sadie Ed. (2002) ''The New Grove Dictionary of Opera'', Oxford University Press Biography ...

* 1931 ' * 1932 '' Once There Was a Waltz'', music by

Franz Lehár Franz Lehár ( ; hu, Lehár Ferenc ; 30 April 1870 – 24 October 1948) was an Austro-Hungarian composer. He is mainly known for his operettas, of which the most successful and best known is '' The Merry Widow'' (''Die lustige Witwe''). Life ...

* 1934 '' The Voice of Love'', music by

Eduard Künneke Eduard Künneke (also seen as Edward and spelled Künnecke) (27 January 1885 – 27 October 1953 in Berlin) was a German composer notable for his operettas, operas, theatre music and some orchestral works. Kuenneke was born in Emmerich, Lower ...

References

*Steane, J B (1992), 'Wittrisch, Marcel' in ''The

'', ed. Stanley Sadie (London)

External links

History of the Tenor - Sound Clips and NarrationPhotographs and literature
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wittrisch, Marcel 1901 births 1955 deaths German operatic tenors 20th-century German male opera singers German expatriates in Italy German expatriates in Belgium