Richard Tauber | |
|---|---|
 Richard Tauber on acigarette card | |
| Born | Richard Denemy (1891-05-16)16 May 1891 |
| Died | 8 January 1948(1948-01-08) (aged 56) London, England |
| Occupation(s) | Opera singer, actor |
| Years active | 1912–1947 |
| Spouses | |
Richard Tauber (16 May 1891 – 8 January 1948)[1] was an Austrian lyrictenor and film actor. He performed the tenor role in numerous operas, includingDon Giovanni byMozart andLorenzo Da Ponte.
Richard Tauber was born inLinz, Austria, to Elisabeth Seifferth (née Denemy), a widow and actress who performedsoubrette roles at the local theater, and Richard Anton Tauber, an actor. His parents were not married, and his father was reportedly unaware of his birth as he was touring North America at the time. The child was namedRichard Denemy. He was sometimes known as [Carl] Richard Tauber and also used his mother's married name, Seiffert; however, the claim by theEncyclopædia Britannica that he was ever known as Ernst Seiffert[2] is not supported by any of the 12 published books and monographs about him listed in Daniel O'Hara's comprehensive Richard Tauber Chronology.[3] After being adopted by his father in 1913, his legal name became Richard Denemy-Tauber.[3]
Tauber accompanied his mother on theatrical tours, but she found it increasingly difficult to manage and eventually left him with foster parents in Urfahr, now a suburb ofLinz. In 1897–98, he attended school in Linz, after which his father assumed responsibility for his upbringing, moving him toGraz,Prague,Berlin,Salzburg, and finallyWiesbaden.[4] His father, who was bornJewish,[5] but had converted toRoman Catholicism,[6] hoped his son would become a priest. However, the boy missed the excitement of the theater and instead joined his father in Prague and later, in 1903, at thetheater in Wiesbaden.
Although Tauber aspired to become a singer, he failed to impress the teachers he auditioned for, likely because he chose to singWagner, a repertoire unsuited to his voice. His father enrolled him at theHoch Conservatory in Frankfurt to study piano, composition, and conducting. Tauber made rapid progress in his studies but remained determined to pursue a career as a singer.[7][8]
After an intensive period of vocal training underCarl Beines, Tauber made his public debut at a concert inFreiburg on 17 May 1912. That same year, his father was appointedIntendant of the Municipal Theater inChemnitz, which allowed him to arrange Tauber's debut as Tamino inThe Magic Flute on 2 March 1913. A few weeks later, on 16 April, Tauber performed the role of Max inDer Freischütz. This performance was attended byNikolaus Count von Seebach [de] of theDresden Opera, who had already offered Tauber a five-year contract starting on 1 August. The Count encouraged Tauber to take small roles with other companies to broaden his experience.
During his tenure in Dresden, Tauber earned a reputation as an exceptionally quick learner. He masteredGounod'sFaust in 48 hours and learnedBacchus inRichard Strauss'sAriadne auf Naxos overnight, astonishing Strauss, who conducted the performance in Berlin. This earned him the nickname "the SOS Tenor."[4][7][9] In 1926, he rescued the German premiere of Puccini'sTurandot at the Staatsoper Dresden by learning the role of Calaf in three days after tenor Curt Taucher fell ill.[10]
After guest appearances at theWiener Volksoper in 1920, Tauber made hisVienna State Opera debut on 16 June inLa bohème, stepping in for an indisposedAlfred Piccaver. In 1922, he signed a five-year contract with theVienna State Opera and subsequently performed with theBerlin State Opera. For many years, he divided his time between these two companies, spending four months with each, while reserving the remaining months for concerts, guest appearances with other companies, and international tours.
Tauber sang tenor roles in numerous operas, includingDon Giovanni,The Bartered Bride,Tosca,Mignon,Faust,Carmen, andDie Fledermaus. He also appeared in modern works such asErich Korngold'sDie tote Stadt andWilhelm Kienzl'sDer Evangelimann. According to Daniel O'Hara's Tauber Chronology, he performed over 100 roles in opera and operetta.[3]
In June 1919, Tauber made the first of more than seven hundredgramophone records. All his vocal recordings were produced for theOdeon Records label, and from 1933 onwards, for the associatedParlophone label. Tauber's lyrical, flexible tenor voice was renowned for its warm, elegant legato. His exceptional breath control allowed him to produce a superb head voice, remarkablemessa di voce, and exquisitepianissimo. His physical appearance also contributed to his elegant stage presence, despite a slightsquint in his right eye, which he camouflaged by wearing a monocle. When paired with a top hat, the monocle enhanced his distinctive and sophisticated look.[citation needed]
Tauber first performed in anoperetta byFranz Lehár at the Volksbühne in Berlin in 1920. This wasZigeunerliebe, a role he also performed in Linz and Salzburg in 1921. In 1922, he was offered the role of Armand in Lehár'sFrasquita [de] at theTheater an der Wien, and the experience was a resounding success.[11] Although some critics looked down on his venture into operetta, it proved beneficial for Tauber, helping him gain a new audience and revitalizing Lehár's career as a composer of operetta. In the years that followed, Lehár composed several operettas with roles written specifically for Richard Tauber, includingPaganini (1925, although Tauber was unavailable for the Vienna premiere and first performed it in Berlin in 1926),Der Zarewitsch (1927),Friederike (1928),The Land of Smiles (1929), which featured the famous aria "Dein ist mein ganzes Herz",Schön ist die Welt (1930), andGiuditta (1934).[11] The hit songs, typically in the second act, became informally known asTauberlieder.
Tauber also appeared in several films, both in Germany and later in England. Notably, he provided a 'voice-over', singing the title song in the otherwise silent filmI Kiss Your Hand, Madame (1929).
While in Vienna, Tauber also conducted at the Theater an der Wien, where, in 1924, he met the soprano Carlotta Vanconti. She soon divorced her Italian husband and married Tauber on 18 March 1926. They separated in 1928 and divorced later that same year in Berlin. However, the divorce was only legally recognized in Germany. In 1929, Tauber metMary Losseff at Rudolf Nelson's review in Berlin, and they lived together for about five years. Losseff became his muse, and it was for her that he composedDer singende Traum. Although Losseff's career was cut short by alcoholism, Tauber remained her lifelong friend and supported her until his death.
In 1931, Tauber made his London debut in operetta, and London performances became a regular part of his schedule. He also toured the United States that same year. In 1933, Tauber was attacked in the street by a group ofNaziBrownshirts due to hisJewish ancestry. Following the assault, he decided to leave Germany for his native Austria, where he continued to perform at the Vienna State Opera until theAnschluss in March 1938.
During the mid-1930s, Tauber made several musical films in England. In April 1935, at the premiere of the filmMimi, he met the English actressDiana Napier (1905–1982). After protracted legal proceedings to secure an Austrian divorce from Vanconti, they married on 20 June 1936. Napier appeared in three of his British films:Heart's Desire (1935),Land Without Music, andPagliacci (both 1936).
In 1938, Tauber made his London operatic debut inDie Zauberflöte under SirThomas Beecham. Earlier that year, the Nazi government of Germany annexed Austria, and Tauber left for good. In response, the Nazis withdrew the Taubers' passports andright of abode; this left the couple technicallystateless, prompting Tauber to apply for British citizenship. He was touring South Africa when World War II broke out and returned to Switzerland until receiving the papers allowing him to enter the UK in March 1940.[12][13] Germany had banned recordings of his music in 1937.[14]
Despite receiving lucrative offers from the United States, he remained in the UK throughout the war. With little opera staged in wartime Britain, he earned a living by singing, conducting, and making gramophone records and radio broadcasts. He even composed English operettas with lyricist Fred S. Tysh. From one of these,Old Chelsea, the song "My Heart and I" became one of his most popular English recordings. It was only these English records that generated royalties for him; for his earlier recordings, he had been paid per performance and had been forced to leave his savings behind in Austria. By this time, he was so crippled byarthritis that he could no longer move in and out of the microphone for softer and louder notes. To address this, a small trolley was constructed on rubber wheels, allowing engineers to silently roll him back and forth while recording.
In 1946, Tauber appeared in aBroadway adaptation ofThe Land of Smiles (Yours is my Heart), which flopped, leaving him with huge personal losses and in debt to the backers. He was thus forced to tour the United States, Canada, Central, and South America for six months to recoup the losses, with Arpad Sandor andGeorge Schick serving as his accompanists, andNeil Chotem as an assisting artist.[15] In April 1947, Tauber returned to London and sought medical attention for a persistent cough. He was eventually diagnosed withlung cancer: one lung was already useless, and the other nearly so.[13]
The Vienna State Opera was in London for a short season at theRoyal Opera House – their first visit since the war – and they invited Tauber to sing one performance with his old company. On 27 September 1947, he sang the role of Don Ottavio inDon Giovanni, a relatively small part but with two difficult arias that demand good breath control. Those in the audience reported that he sang wonderfully, earning loud applause. Live excerpts of these two arias from this performance survive, revealing a tone of undiminished focus and steadiness, a good line, and somewhat shortened phrasing.
Three days after his last performance,[11] Tauber enteredGuy's Hospital on October 1, 1947,[11] to have his left lung removed to treat the cancer. Despite this, he died of complications on January 8, 1948,[11] at theLondon Clinic, Devonshire Place. His Requiem Mass was held atSt. James's Church, Spanish Place. He was interred inBrompton Cemetery in London.
Tauber made over 720 vocal recordings for theOdeon/Parlophone companies, as well as several as an orchestral conductor, primarily of his own works, but also of music byGrieg andJohann Strauss, Jr.. Among the 120 acoustic recordings, the most notable include arias byMozart,Tchaikovsky, andKienzl, along with songs bySchumann,Richard Strauss, and Grieg. Additionally, there are five duets withElisabeth Rethberg, arias byVerdi,Puccini, and others, as well as excerpts fromKorngold'sDie tote Stadt, including a duet withLotte Lehmann.[16] Among the electrical recordings are albums of German folksongs, 12 songs fromSchubert'sWinterreise, accompanied byMischa Spoliansky, and an album of folksongs by Franz Gabriel andHermann Löns. Perhaps most prized are the four Mozart arias recorded in 1938 and 1939, and the aria fromDer Freischütz made in 1946. Among his final recordings are two songs by Richard Strauss, accompanied at the piano byPercy Kahn. During his lifetime, his numerous recordings of music byFranz Lehár, much of which was composed specifically for him, and his own songs from the operettaOld Chelsea (1942) were bestsellers, alongside a vast array of lighter and popular music in both German and English. A number of his broadcasts have been preserved, including a series ofGeneral Motors Concerts from America in 1937, aRadio Hilversum concert from 1939, and excerpts from his three series of weekly programs for theBBC (1945–47).[16][17]
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