Marcel Wittrisch
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Marcel Wittrisch
( b Antwerp , 1Oct1903; d Stuttgart , 3June 1955). German tenor. Born of German parents, he was brought up in Belgium and studied in Munich, Leipzig and Milan. He made his début in 1925 at Halle in Heinrich Marschner's Hans Heiling and joined the company at Brunswick the following year. The Berlin Staatsoper engaged him in 1929 and he remained there as principal lyric tenor until 1944, singing a wide range of roles; he gained a special reputation in W.A. Mozart. At Covent Garden in 1931 his Eisenstein (Die Fledermaus) was admired but he was considered somewhat hard and throaty in Die Zauberflöte. In the 1930s his repertory widened to include Lohengrin, which he sang at Bayreuth in 1937. After World War II he was heard as Narraboth (Salome) in Paris and as Siegmund and Parsifal at Stuttgart, where he continued to appear until his death. He made many concert tours, sang in operetta and films and, above all, made recordings, in which he was often compared to Richard Tauber . Though less individual in style, he was certainly comparable in timbre and less restricted in the upper register.
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Marcel Wittrisch
Marcel Wittrisch (born Antwerp, 1 October 1901 – died Stuttgart, 3 June 1955) was a popular German operatic tenor.
Wittrisch was born in Belgium to a German family, and subsequently studied in Munich, Leipzig and Milan. His career began in Halle, Saxony-Anhalt in 1925 in a production of Hans Heiling by Marschner at the Halle Opera House. 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 at the Royal Opera House, 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, Helge Roswaenge, Franz Völker, Julius Patzak 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's Lohengrin in 1937 at the Bayreuth Festival and eventually Siegmund and Parsifal after the Second World War.
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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 [than Tauber], he was certainly comparable in timbre and less restricted in the upper register." [1]
Recordings
Wittrisch made over 400 individual recordings. Preiser Records 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 Liebling der Götter
- 1930 Gigolo, der schöne arme Tanzleutnant
- 1930 Das Lied ist aus, music by Robert Stolz
- 1931 Liebeskommando
- 1932 Es war einmal ein Walze, music by Franz Lehár
- 1933 Die Stimme der Liebe, music by Eduard Künneke
References
- ^ Steane, J B (1992), 'Wittrisch, Marcel' in The New Grove Dictionary of Opera, ed. Stanley Sadie (London) ISBN 0-333-73432-7
- Steane, J B (1992), 'Wittrisch, Marcel' in The New Grove Dictionary of Opera, ed. Stanley Sadie (London) ISBN 0-333-73432-7
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Oxford Grove Book of Opera Singers
The New Grove Book of Opera Singers. © 2008
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