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(1) German tenor Walter
Kirchhoff (1879-1951) studied with Lilli Lehmann and Robert Weiss. He
made his debut (1906) at the Berlin Imperial Opera as Faust. He was
particularly noted as a Wagnerian singer. As Walter von Stolzing (seen here)
in a 1913 Meistersinger at Covent Garden, The Times said, "Mr.
Kirchhoff gives what one so rarely gets in a Wagnerian tenor, a combination
of vocal power and manly personality, which is essential to a satisfactory
representation." Kirchhoff sang at the 1911-14 Bayreuth Festivals, during
which time he also served as the chief administrative assistant to the Crown
Prince of Germany.
(2) Paul Klante as
Nachtwächter.
(3) Rheinmaidens Gertrude
Föerstel,
Ottilie Metzger-Lattermann, and Sophie Bischoff-David.
German soprano
Gertrude Föerstel
(Leipzig, Germany: 4 Dec 1880 - Bad Godesburg, near Bonn: Germany: 7 Jun
1950). Föerstel had a brief operatic career. She made her debut (1901) as
Amina at the German Opera in Prague. After six seasons in Prague she
appeared in Vienna and Bayreuth. From 1912 on she confined her appearances
to the concert stage.
German contralto Ottilie
Metzger-Lattermann (Frankfurt: 15 Jul 1878 - Auschwitz, Poland: Feb
1943?) studied in Berlin with Nicklass-Kempner and Emanuel Reicher. She
made her debut (1898) in Halle. She made guest appearances throughout Europe
including Cologne, Hamburg, Berlin, Vienna, St. Petersburg, Dresden, Covent
Garden, Munich, Brussels, and Budapest. She also toured the United States
(1911-12) with the German Opera company. She sang at the Bayreuth Festivals
from 1901-12. Her first marriage (1902) was to novelist Clemens Froitzheim.
Her second was to the baritone Theodor Lattermann. She fled Germany in 1934
to become a teacher in Brussels. However, during the invasion of Brussels
she was arrested by German authorities and sent to the concentration camp at
Auschwitz. She died during her internment there.
German soprano Sophie
Bischoff-David (Germany: 13 May 1875 - ?).
She had successes in Prague, Danzig,
Cologne,
Amsterdam,
Brussels, Covent Garden, Zurich and
Darmstadt.
Bischoff-David was married the baritone Johannes Bischoff (1874-1935).
Together with her husband she toured North America with the Savage Opera
Company (1904-05). She sang smaller roles at the Bayreuth Festivals.
(4) Belgian tenor Ernest
van Dyck (1861-1923). For a short time he studied law and worked as a
journalist before beginning singing lessons with, among others, the
composers Chabrier and Massenet, an association that led to his creation of
Massenet's Werther in 1892. His first appearance in Bayreuth was in
1888 as Parsifal (seen here). Although he did not have the most beautiful
voice, his intelligence and the ability to learn roles on short notice were
a godsend to opera house managements.
(5) Carl Braun.
German bass (Meisenheim, Germany: 2 Jun 1886 - Hamburg: 24 Apr 1960). A
pupil of the Berlin Imperial Opera. Sang with the Wiesbaden Royal Opera
(1906-11), Vienna Imperial Opera (1911-12), Berlin City Opera (1912-14).
Sang for many years at the Bayreuth Festivals (1906-31). Metropolitan Opera
(1912-17), Berlin State Opera (1920-27). Seen here as Gurnemanz in
Parsifal.
(6) German tenor Heinrich
Hensel (1874-1935) as Loge in Das Rheingold. He was particularly
known for his Loge as well as his portrayal of Parsifal, which he created
for London audiences. Siegfried Wagner engaged him to create the principal
tenor role for his opera Banadietrich (Karlsruhe, 1910). He was
married to German soprano Elsa Schweitzer (1878-1937).
(7) Gisela Staudigl (Magdelene)
and Karl Ziegler (David) in Die Meistersinger.
Austrian contralto/mezzo
Gisela Staudigl [née Koppmayer] (Braunau am Inn, Austria: 4 Sep 1864 -
Karlsruhe, Germany: 22 Feb 1929) was married to bass-baritone Joseph
Staudigl, Jr. She studied with Marchesi in Vienna. She made her debut (in
concert) in Vienna (1879). She appeared in Hamburg (1882-83), Karlsruhe
(1883-84), and Bayreuth (1886-92). She also made guest appearances in
Munich, Berlin, and Leipzig. She appeared as Brangäne in the first Bayreuth
Tristan und Isolde. She appeared during one season (1885-86) at the
Metropolitan Opera. She sang eight performances as the Queen in Die
Konigin von Saba, and eight performances as Adriano in Rienzi.
Karl Ziegler appeared
in the Viennese premiere (15 Jan 1927) of Strauss's Intermezzo, along
with Lotte Lehmann and Alfred Jerger.
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(8) Ernst Lehmann as
Hunding.
(9) Swedish soprano Lili
Hafgren (1884-1965) made her Bayreuth debut in the role of Freia (Das
Rheingold), seen here. She was invited by Siegfried Wagner to the 1909
Festival, subsequently returning in 1911, 1912 and 1924. She was a favorite
Elsa, and her Eva was highly praised by the Bayreuth critics. Her successes in
Bayreuth led to contracts in Mannheim and Berlin.
(10) Austrian bass Richard
Mayr (1877-1935).
(11) Wilhelm Ulmer (Siegmund)
and Helena Forti (Sieglinde).
(12) Wilhelm Ulmer (Siegmund)
and Helena Forti (Sieglinde).
(13) German soprano Helena
Forti (Berlin: 25 Apr 1884 - Vienna: 11 May 1942) as Sieglinde. She
studied with Schiedemantel in Dresden and with Emmerich in Berlin. She made
her debut (1906) at Dessau as Valentine in Les Huguenots. She appeared in
Brünn, Prague, Dresden, Vienna, Berlin, Bucharest, Cologne, Brussels, and
Amsterdam. In 1914 she appeared as Sieglinde at the Bayreuth Festival and was
applauded as a first-rate Wagnerian. She was married to the manager of the
Dresden Opera, Walter Bruno Iltz.
(14) German tenor Walter
Kirchhoff (1879-1951) studied with Lilli Lehmann and Robert Weiss. He made
his debut (1906) at the Berlin Imperial Opera as Faust. He was particularly
noted as a Wagnerian singer. As Walter von Stolzing in a 1913 Meistersinger
at Covent Garden, The Times said, "Mr. Kirchhoff gives what one so
rarely gets in a Wagnerian tenor, a combination of vocal power and manly
personality, which is essential to a satisfactory representation." Kirchhoff
sang at the 1911-14 Bayreuth Festivals, during which time he also served as
the chief administrative assistant to the Crown Prince of Germany. Seen here
as Parsifal.
(15) American (Great Neck,
Long Island) baritone Bennett Challis as the Dutchman. He was seen at
the 1914 Bayreuth Festival. He was the leading baritone of the Hamburg
Municipal Opera. During the 1914 Festival he was seen as Hagen (Götterdämmerung).
He sang in Italy, and at the Berlin State Opera. On November 18, 1928 Challis
contributed an article to the New York Times (Operatic Common Sense:
A Grandiose Tradition of Star Opera and Its Effect on Growth of Public
Taste---The Young Stage Aspirant) in which he laments the inability of
small opera companies to operate successfully in the United States thus
denying young singers the opportunity of experience.
(16) Bohemian, later American,
contralto Ernestine Schumann-Heink (1861-1936). Her concert
debut took place in Graz at the age of fifteen in a performance of Beethoven's
Ninth Symphony. Only two years later she made her operatic debut as
Azucena (Il Trovatore) at the Dresden Royal Opera. In 1926, to
commemorate the fiftieth anniversary of her singing debut in Graz, she
performed to a packed house at Carnegie Hall. Seen here as Mary.
(17) Tenor Alfred von Bary
(1873-1926) as Siegfried. He was engaged for Bayreuth in 1904 and returned
every summer through 1914. Albert von Puttkamer, who wrote 50 Jahre
Bayreuth, an important book on Bayreuth (published in 1927), believed that
von Bary was the greatest Lohengrin of his time. His rare recordings reveal a
strong and pleasant voice. Seen here as Siegfried.
(18) German baritone
Hermann Weil (1876-1949). He initially trained under conductor Felix Mottl
with aspirations to become a chorus-master. However, the discovery of his
voice altered his goals. He spent the majority of his career in Stuttgart. He
appeared in Bayreuth in 1911, 1912, 1924, and 1925 in the roles of Günther
(Götterdämmerung), Amfortas (Parsifal), and as Hans Sachs (seen
here) in Die Meistersinger. He sang these three roles as well as
Friedrich and Herald (Lohengrin), Wolfram (Tannhäuser), Wanderer
(Siegfried), Wotan (Die Walküre and Das Rheingold), and
Kurwenal (Tristan und Isolde) during his six seasons at the
Metropolitan Opera (1911-1917).
(19) Emilie Frick as
Freia (Rheingold).
(20) Walter Eckard as
Gurnemanz (Parsifal).
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