Walter Schneider (1878–1935) was a German operatic

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 ...

Professional career

Born in

Bretzenheim Bretzenheim is an ''Ortsgemeinde'' – a municipality belonging to a ''Verbandsgemeinde'', a kind of collective municipality – in the Bad Kreuznach district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It belongs to the ''Verbandsgemeinde'' Langenlonsheim- ...

, his initial musical ambition was to become a conductor, but in the end he decided on a singing career. His first engagement was at the

Cologne Opera The Cologne Opera (German language, German: Oper der Stadt Köln or Oper Köln) refers to both the main opera house in Cologne, Germany and its resident opera company. History of the company From the mid 18th century, opera was performed in the ...

in 1903. During the 1904-1905 season he was engaged at the Stadttheater in

Aachen Aachen is the List of cities in North Rhine-Westphalia by population, 13th-largest city in North Rhine-Westphalia and the List of cities in Germany by population, 27th-largest city of Germany, with around 261,000 inhabitants. Aachen is locat ...

. In 1905 he moved to the

Frankfurt Opera The Oper Frankfurt (Frankfurt Opera) is a German opera company based in Frankfurt. Opera in Frankfurt am Main has a long tradition, with many world premieres such as Franz Schreker's '' Der ferne Klang'' in 1912, '' Fennimore und Gerda'' by Fre ...

: he was a member of this opera house for the remainder of his professional career, singing more than 200 roles in over 4000 performances. His repertoire included several major

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 ...

bass roles (Gurnemanz in ''

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 ...

'', King Marke in ''

Tristan und Isolde ''Tristan und Isolde'' (''Tristan and Isolde''), WWV 90, is a music drama in three acts by Richard Wagner set to a German libretto by the composer, loosely based on the medieval 12th-century romance ''Tristan and Iseult'' by Gottfried von Stras ...

'', Fasolt and Hunding 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 . The compo ...

'' a.o.). He sang in several world premiere performances: Schreker's ''

Der ferne Klang ''Der ferne Klang'' (''The Distant Sound'') is an opera by Franz Schreker, set to his own libretto. Begun in 1903, it was first performed by the Oper Frankfurt on 18 August 1912. It was the composer's breakthrough to fame, and was frequently perf ...

'' (18 August 1912), '' Das Spielwerk und die Prinzessin'' (15 March 1913) and ''

Die Gezeichneten ' (''The Branded'' or ''The Stigmatized'') is an opera in three acts by Franz Schreker with a German-language libretto by the composer, based on Frank Wedekind's play ''Hidalla''. Composition history Schreker wrote the libretto in 1911 at the r ...

'' (25 April 1918), Delius's ''

Fennimore and Gerda (subtitled ''Two Episodes from the Life of Niels Lyhne in Eleven Pictures'', RT I/8) is a German-language opera with four interludes, by the English composer Frederick Delius. It is usually performed and recorded in English, as ''Fennimore and Ge ...

'' (21 October 1919), Rudi Stephan's ''

Die ersten Menschen ''Die ersten Menschen'' ''(The first humans)'' is an opera in two acts by Rudi Stephan. For the libretto the composer chose a drama of the same name by Otto Borngräber. The opera was premiered at the Oper Frankfurt on 1 July 1920. History T ...

'' (1 July 1920), and d'Albert's '' Der Golem'' (14 November 1926). In December 1934 he made his final appearance in Frankfurt as Mephisto in Gounod's ''

Faust Faust ( , ) is the protagonist of a classic German folklore, German legend based on the historical Johann Georg Faust (). The erudite Faust is highly successful yet dissatisfied with his life, which leads him to make a deal with the Devil at a ...

'', the same role in which he had made his Frankfurt debut nineteen years earlier. He died in Frankfurt on 22 May 1935.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Schneider, Walter 1878 births 1935 deaths Musicians from the Rhine Province People from Bad Kreuznach (district) German operatic basses