Walther Falkenstein, also Walther Siebert-Falkenstein and Walter Siebert, (8 February 1862 – 27 May 1940) was a German operatic

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 ...

and

stage actor An actor (masculine/gender-neutral), or actress (feminine), is a person who portrays a character in a production. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. ...

Life

Born in Dresden, Falkenstein devoted himself to a commercial profession after attending commercial school in Dresden. It was then that Franz Wüllner discovered his tenor voice and advised him to pursue a stage career. After attending the Hochschule für Musik Carl Maria von Weber Dresden for three years, where

Gustav Scharfe Gustav Scharfe (11 September 1835 – 25 June 1892) was a German operatic baritone and voice teacher. Life Born in Grimma, Saxony, Scharfe was originally an assistant teacher (1854) at the and in 1856 at the Leipzig Institute for the Deaf and D ...

was his singing master, he took up engagements in Basel in 1885 and made his debut there as "Radames" and "Bois Rose". He then came to Mainz, Detmold, Metz, Breslau, Magdeburg, the

Theater an der Wien The is a historic theatre in Vienna located on the Left Wienzeile in the Mariahilf district. Completed in 1801, the theatre has hosted the premieres of many celebrated works of theatre, opera, and symphonic music. Since 2006, it has served prim ...

(1890 to 1892), Wiesbaden in 1893, Frankfurt (1894 to 1895), Dresdner Residenztheater (1894 to 1895), Linz (1897 to 1899) and then joined the company of the Brno City Theatre, where he made his debut as "Postillon". Falkenstein was an excellent operetta and opera tenor and knew how to use his vocal resources in a very successful way. His correct singing, his appearance and his extremely sympathetic acting were quite suitable to give a characteristic picture of his heroes. In addition to "Max", "Lyonel", "Faust" etc., "Gypsy Baron", "Beggar Student", "King" in "Don Caesar", "Arthur Bryk" in "Carnival in Rome" etc. should also be mentioned. From 1902 the artist worked as a guest at the Landestheater in Linz and later again at the Stadttheater Brünn. Falkenstein died in

Bad Schandau Bad Schandau (; , ) is a spa town in Germany, in the Sächsische Schweiz-Osterzgebirge, Sächsische Schweiz-Osterzgebirge district of Saxony. It is situated on the right bank of the Elbe, at the mouth of the valley of the Kirnitzsch and in the ar ...

at the age of 78.

Life

References

Further reading