Rudolf Johann Schock (4 September 1915 – 13 November 1986) was a German
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 ...
.
Rudolf Schock was born in
Duisburg
Duisburg () is a city in the Ruhr metropolitan area of the western German state of North Rhine-Westphalia. Lying on the confluence of the Rhine and the Ruhr rivers in the center of the Rhine-Ruhr Region, Duisburg is the 5th largest city in No ...
, in the
Prussian
Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was ''de facto'' dissolved by an ...
Rhine Province
The Rhine Province (german: Rheinprovinz), also known as Rhenish Prussia () or synonymous with the Rhineland (), was the westernmost province of the Kingdom of Prussia and the Free State of Prussia, within the German Reich, from 1822 to 1946. It ...
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 ...
'', recording among others
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 ...
and
lied
In Western classical music tradition, (, plural ; , plural , ) is a term for setting poetry to classical music to create a piece of polyphonic music. The term is used for any kind of song in contemporary German, but among English and French sp ...
er, doing television, radio and film work.Noël Goodwin, "Schock, Rudolf (Johann)", ''Grove Music Online'', version 15 May 2009. Retrieved 21 December 2009. Slim and handsome, he made many films.
His voice fell almost into the heldentenor
fach
The German system (; literally "compartment" or "subject of study", here in the sense of "vocal specialization") is a method of classifying singers, primarily opera singers, according to the range, weight, and color of their voices. It is used ...
but was smaller and more ardent than many voices in that category. Colored distinctly with a rich baritonal quality, Schock is described by ''
Grove
Grove may refer to:
* Grove (nature), a small group of trees
Places
England
*Grove, Buckinghamshire, a village
* Grove, Dorset
* Grove, Herefordshire
* Grove, Kent
* Grove, Nottinghamshire, a village
* Grove, Oxfordshire, a village and civil ...
'' as a " lyric tenor" with a warm flexible voice, and a "strong top voice" which suited him to "heroic roles". However the same source feels that his acting left something to be desired.
When he was 18 and still continuing his musical studies that took him to
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 ...
,
Hanover
Hanover (; german: Hannover ; nds, Hannober) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Lower Saxony. Its 535,932 (2021) inhabitants make it the 13th-largest city in Germany as well as the fourth-largest city in Northern Germany ...
and Berlin, Schock joined the opera chorus at Theater Duisburg in the city of his birth. The
Staatstheater Braunschweig
The Staatstheater Braunschweig is a theatre company and opera house in Braunschweig, Germany, presenting and producing music theatre (opera, operetta, musical), Tanztheater, theatre, Theatre for Young Audiences and concerts.
The ''Staatstheate ...
cast Schock in solo roles in 1937, but his career was interrupted by his being enlisted into the army in 1940."Rudolf Schock" Profile 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 ...
site (in German). Retrieved 21 December 2009. It resumed after the war in 1945 in Hanover. In 1946, he appeared with two of the Berlin-based opera companies and in 1947 he joined the
Hamburg State Opera
The Hamburg State Opera (in German: Staatsoper Hamburg) is a German opera company based in Hamburg. Its theatre is near the square of Gänsemarkt. Since 2015, the current ''Intendant'' of the company is Georges Delnon, and the current ''Genera ...
where he was a member until 1956.
He was one of the first Germans to sing at
Covent Garden
Covent Garden is a district in London, on the eastern fringes of the West End, between St Martin's Lane and Drury Lane. It is associated with the former fruit-and-vegetable market in the central square, now a popular shopping and tourist sit ...
in 1949. Appearing as
Rodolfo
Rodolfo is a given name. Notable people with the name include:
* Rodolfo (footballer, born 1992), Brazilian footballer Rodolfo José da Silva Bardella
*Rodolfo Albano III, Filipino politician
* Rodolfo Vera Quizon Sr. (1928-2012), Filipino actor ...
Pinkerton
Pinkerton may refer to:
Places
* Pinkerton, Ontario, named after surveyor and early settler Matthew Pinkerton
* Pinkerton's Landing Bridge, railroad bridge in Pennsylvania
People
* Allan Pinkerton (18191884), Scottish detective and spy
* Bill ...
and Tamino in his first season. He sang the title role at '' Idomeneo'' at the
Salzburg Festival
The Salzburg Festival (german: Salzburger Festspiele) is a prominent festival of music and drama established in 1920. It is held each summer (for five weeks starting in late July) in the Austrian town of Salzburg, the birthplace of Wolfgang Ama ...
and took part in the premiere there of
Rolf Liebermann
Rolf Liebermann (14 September 1910 – 2 January 1999), was a Swiss composer and music administrator. He served as the Artistic Director of the Hamburg State Opera from 1959 to 1973 and again from 1985 to 1988. He was also Artistic Director of ...
's, ''Penelope'' and the
Vienna State 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 ...
's first staging of ''
Lulu
Lulu may refer to:
Companies
* LuLu, an early automobile manufacturer
* Lulu.com, an online e-books and print self-publishing platform, distributor, and retailer
* Lulu Hypermarket, a retail chain in Asia
* Lululemon Athletica or simply Lulu, ...
''. Schock made repeat visits to the
Edinburgh International Festival
The Edinburgh International Festival is an annual arts festival in Edinburgh, Scotland, spread over the final three weeks in August. Notable figures from the international world of music (especially classical music) and the performing arts are ...
and sang Walther at Bayreuth in 1959.
In 1953 he played and sang the role of Richard Tauber in the film ' (released in English-speaking countries as either ''You Are the World for Me'' or ''The Richard Tauber Story''). He was often compared to the older tenor and was spoken of as his successor. He was also considered the most successful German film singer of his generation.
He sold over three million records and his German films made him almost a superstar of his day. Schock's most impressive performances include the roles of Paul in '' Die Tote Stadt'' (
Korngold
Erich Wolfgang Korngold (May 29, 1897November 29, 1957) was an Austrian-born American composer and conductor. A child prodigy, he became one of the most important and influential composers in Hollywood history. He was a noted pianist and compo ...
), and multiple
Puccini
Giacomo Puccini (Lucca, 22 December 1858Bruxelles, 29 November 1924) was an Italian composer known primarily for his operas. Regarded as the greatest and most successful proponent of Italian opera after Verdi, he was descended from a long li ...
principals.
Schock was also interested in the development of younger singers by judging vocal competitions. After discovering Karl Ridderbusch at one of these, Schock part-funded the bass's musical training.Elizabeth Forbesbr>Obituary:Karl Ridderbusch ''
The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper
A newspaper is a periodical publication containing written information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background.
Newspapers can cover a wide ...
'', Tuesday, 8 July 1997.
Rudolf Schock continued making concert appearances into his sixties. Aged 71, he died suddenly of a heart attack in Gürzenich a district of the town of
Düren
Düren (; ripuarian: Düre) is a town in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, between Aachen and Cologne on the river Rur.
History
Roman era
The area of Düren was part of Gallia Belgica, more specifically the territory of the Eburones, a pe ...
The Happy Wanderer
"The Happy Wanderer" ("''Der fröhliche Wanderer''" or "''Mein Vater war ein Wandersmann''") is a popular song. The original text was written by Florenz Friedrich Sigismund (1791–1877).Ten on Every Finger'' (1954) as Himself
* '' The Csardas King'' (1958), as Janos
* '' Gräfin Mariza'' (1958), as Michael
* '' The House of Three Girls'' (1958), as
Franz von Schober
Franz Adolf Friedrich Schober, since 1801 von Schober (born 17 May 1796, Torup Castle at Malmö, Sweden; died 13 September 1882 in Dresden), was an Austrian poet, librettist, lithographer, actor in Breslau and ''Legationsrat'' in Weimar.
Schobe ...