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

opera Opera is a form of History of theatre#European theatre, Western theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by Singing, singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically ...

tic

tenor A tenor is a type of male singing voice whose vocal range lies between the countertenor and baritone voice types. It is the highest male chest voice type. Composers typically write music for this voice in the range from the second B below m ...

Life and career

Wittrisch was born in

Antwerp Antwerp (; ; ) is a City status in Belgium, city and a Municipalities of Belgium, municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of Antwerp Province, and the third-largest city in Belgium by area at , after ...

, Belgium to a German family, and subsequently studied in

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

Leipzig Leipzig (, ; ; Upper Saxon: ; ) is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Saxony. The city has a population of 628,718 inhabitants as of 2023. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, eighth-largest city in Ge ...

, and

Milan Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...

. His career began in

Halle, Saxony-Anhalt Halle (Saale), or simply Halle (), is the second largest city of the German state of Saxony-Anhalt. It is the sixth-most populous city in the area of former East Germany after (East) Berlin, Leipzig, Dresden, Chemnitz and Magdeburg as well as t ...

in 1925 in a production of '' Hans Heiling'' by Marschner at the

Halle Opera House The Halle Opera House () is an opera house located in Halle, Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. Originally named the Halle Town Theatre (), the theatre building was constructed in 1886 by architect Heinrich Seeling. On 31 March, 1945, a bomb attack des ...

. 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 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 literary source for ' was ...

'' at the

Royal Opera House The Royal Opera House (ROH) is a theatre in Covent Garden, central London. The building is often referred to as simply Covent Garden, after a previous use of the site. The ROH is the main home of The Royal Opera, The Royal Ballet, and the Orch ...

, 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, Linz – 8 January 1948, London) was an Austrian lyric tenor and film actor. He performed the tenor role in numerous operas, including ''Don Giovanni'' by Mozart and Lorenzo Da Ponte. Early life Richard Tauber was b ...

, 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, essayist, and conductor who is chiefly known for his operas (or, as some of his mature works were later known, "music dramas"). Unlike most o ...

'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 Wo ...

'' in 1937 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 ...

and eventually '' Siegmund'' and ''

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 ...

'' after the Second World War. He died in

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, 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. It is the largest work on opera in English, and in its printed form, amounts to 5,448 pages in four volumes. The dictionary was first published in 1992 by Macmillan Reference, L ...

'', 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 Qua ...

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'' * 1930 ''Gigolo, der schöne arme Tanzleutnant'' * 1930 '' The Song Is Ended'', 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 ''Once There Was a Waltz'' () is a 1932 Cinema of Germany, German operetta film directed by Victor Janson and starring Mártha Eggerth, Rolf von Goth and Paul Hörbiger. It was shot at the Tempelhof Studios in Berlin with sets designed by the art ...

'', music by

Franz Lehár Franz Lehár ( ; ; 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 and career L ...

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

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