Lauritz Melchior (20 March 1890 – 18 March 1973)[1] was a Danish-American opera singer. He was the preeminentWagnerianheldentenor of the 1920s through the 1940s and has come to be considered the quintessence of his voice type. Late in his career, Melchior appeared inmovie musicals and on radio and television. He also made numerous recordings.
BornLauritz Lebrecht Hommel Melchior inCopenhagen,Denmark, the young Melchior was atreble and amateur singer before starting his first operatic vocal studies under Paul Bang at the Royal Opera School in Copenhagen at the age of 18 in 1908.
His sister, Agnes Melchior (1883–1945), was a blind DanishEsperantist.
In 1913, Melchior made his debut as a baritone in the secondary role of Silvio inRuggero Leoncavallo'sPagliacci at theRoyal Theatre (Det Kongelige Teater) in Copenhagen. He sang mostly secondary baritone and bass roles for the Royal Danish Opera and provincial Scandinavian opera companies for the next few years.
One night, while on tour, Melchior helped an ailing soprano performing inIl trovatore by singing a high C in the Act IV Leonara and De Luna duet. The American contraltoMme Charles Cahier, who was singing the role of Azucena, was impressed by the tone she had heard and gave her young colleague sound advice: he was no baritone, but a tenor "with the lid on." She even contacted the Royal Opera pleading that Melchior be given a sabbatical and a stipend to restudy his voice. This he did during 1917 and 1918, studying with the noted Danish tenorVilhelm Herold (1865–1937) who had sung Wagnerian roles atCovent Garden, theChicago Opera and elsewhere from 1900 to 1915. This proved to be a turning point in Melchior's career. His high baritone voice was recast into that of a low tenor, but with a strong high extension. His second debut was on 8 October 1918 in the title role ofTannhäuser, also at the Royal Opera in Copenhagen.
In 1920, Melchior visited England to sing in an experimental radio broadcast to the Scandinavian capital cities from theMarconi station inChelmsford. From 1920, Melchior was a frequent performer in London, appearing atSir Henry J. Wood'sProm Concerts inQueen's Hall.
In September 1920, when he was singing the Steersman's Song, from Wagner'sDer fliegende Holländer at a Prom Concert, he met the popular novelist and passionate WagneriteHugh Walpole and the two quickly became firm friends, travelling together and staying in each other's houses. On a visit to Walpole's cottage inPolperro Melchior "caused a sensation by singing at a concert in the village", and later on a visit to Helston he and Walpole both took part in theFloral Dance. In December 1921 on a visit with Walpole to his (Walpole's) parents in Edinburgh, Melchior gave a concert in the Usher Hall. Walpole provided the fledglingHeldentenor with financial aid in February 1922, paying in advance two-thirds of the fees for his studies underVictor Beigel. In 1923, Walpole gave Melchior a further £800, enabling him to continue his studies withErnst Grenzebach and the legendary dramatic soprano of theVienna Court Opera,Anna Bahr von Mildenburg.[2]
Word of his talent spread and was heard of byCosima andSiegfried Wagner atBayreuth. There the re-opening of the Festival for 1924 was under preparation. Melchior was engaged to sing Siegmund and Parsifal. This prestigious contract opened the way to several other appearances such as a Wagner concert withFrida Leider in Berlin in 1923. Around this time several acoustic records were cut for Polydor.
On May 14, 1924, Lauritz Melchior made his debut, as Siegmund, at theRoyal Opera House atCovent Garden in London. The result was a smashing success. Some weeks later Melchior made his debut on the stage of theFestspielhaus inBayreuth in the roles of Siegmund and Parsifal. In July 1925 Adolf Hitler attended a performance ofParsifal in Bayreuth as a guest ofWinifred Wagner. According to Walpole, who was sitting in Wagner's box next to Hitler, as Melchior sang, "the tears poured down Hitler's cheeks".[2] On February 17, 1926, his first appearance at theMetropolitan Opera in New York City took place. He sang Tannhäuser oppositeMaria Jeritza,Friedrich Schorr,Karin Branzell, andMichael Bohnen withArtur Bodanzky conducting. Although he was not adversely criticized, there was not much enthusiasm elicited by this debut. In his first season at the Metropolitan opera, Melchior sang only eight times. His second season brought only one appearance. To build up his repertory and gain more stage experience, he accepted an engagement at theHamburg State Opera, where he appeared asLohengrin,Otello, Radames inAida and Jean van Leyden inLe prophète. He also sang regularly at other major German music theaters, like the State Operas ofBerlin andMunich.
Although Melchior sang at most of the theatres and concert halls of theWestern world during his long career, he is perhaps best remembered as a member of the Metropolitan Opera company, where he sang 519 performances of Wagnerian roles between 1926 and 1950. Melchior's breakthrough at the Metropolitan Opera finally came when he performed inTristan und Isolde on March 20, 1929. From this point on, his career flourished.
Melchior appeared at Covent Garden from 1924 to 1939, also as Otello (oppositeViorica Ursuleac as Desdemona) and Florestan, besides the Wagnerian repertory. Also at Covent Garden in 1932, he sang opposite popular sopranoFlorence Easton inSiegfried, the only time they appeared together. Other important stations of his career were in theBuenos Aires (Teatro Colón) (1931–1943),San Francisco Opera (1934–1945) andChicago Opera (1934–1945). It was Lohengrin's Farewell that served as Melchior's "swan song" in his last stage performance, on February 2, 1950.
Some of Melchior's most notable colleagues in the opera houses of the world included thesopranosFrida Leider,Kirsten Flagstad,Lotte Lehmann,Helen Traubel,Marjorie Lawrence, andElisabeth Rethberg, and conductorsFelix Weingartner,Bruno Walter,Wilhelm Furtwängler,Fritz Reiner, SirThomas Beecham,Arturo Toscanini,Erich Leinsdorf,George Szell, andOtto Klemperer.
He playedcontract bridge, and holds the world record for the lowest score (13%) secured in aduplicate bridge tournament.[3]
Between 1944 and 1952, Melchior performed in fiveHollywood musical films forMetro-Goldwyn-Mayer andParamount Pictures and made numerous US radio and television appearances. In 1947, he put his hand and footprints in cement in the forecourt ofGrauman's Chinese Theatre inHollywood.
From 1946 to 1949, Melchior went on a world tour with his personal conductorEzra Rachlin. Their visit to Denmark was particularly meaningful as they were the guests ofKing Frederik IX, who was an amateur conductor with his own personal concert hall in his palace.
In 1952, Melchior performed at New York'sPalace Theatre, following the popular singer-actressJudy Garland, after she set a record-breaking vaudeville engagement there which lasted nineteen weeks.
Following unofficial retirement circa 1955, Melchior made sporadic singing appearances. On occasion, he sang the national anthem at Dodgers baseball games in Los Angeles, such as Game 3 of the1963 World Series. In the late 1960s, he established a fund through theJuilliard School for the training of potential heldentenors called "The Lauritz Melchior Heldentenor Foundation."
In the 1960s, he made at least one television appearance onThe Danny Thomas Show, where he sang with Shirley Jones in the role of her father, to assist her entry into show business.
In the summer of 1972, Melchior conducted theSan Francisco Opera Orchestra at Sigmund Stern Grove in theRadetzky March byJohann Strauss I as part of the 50th anniversary celebration of the company. This was one of his last public appearances.
On June 18, 1957, three men (Richard McFall, Wayne Burke and Alfred J. Pope) forcibly entered Melchior's Los Angeles home and tied/bound four victims (Melchior, his wife and two servants) before fleeing with an estimated value of $100,000 in cash, jewels, furs and other personal property. The three robbers were told of the valuables by a former Melchior chauffeur, Louis J. Spivak, who was to receive a 1/3 share of the booty.[4][5]
An American citizen since 1947, Melchior died inSanta Monica, California in 1973, two days before his 83rd birthday. He was put to rest in theAssistens Kirkegaard cemetery in Copenhagen.[6] He was survived by his son, Danish-American novelist and filmmakerIb Melchior, who wrote a biography of his father and for years fought a legal battle to reclaim the Melchior family estate Chossewitz in Germany, which was confiscated by East Germany.
Melchior made many recordings, first as a baritone onHis Master's Voice, then as a tenor forDeutsche Grammophon (Polydor) (1923–1930),His Master's Voice (1927–1935),RCA Victor (1938–1941), AmericanColumbia (1942–1950) and lastlyWarner Bros. His final appearance with Danish radio was in 1960 with a performance of the first act ofDie Walküre to celebrate his 70th birthday, which was released as a recording.
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1945 | Thrill of a Romance | Mr. Nils Knudsen | |
| 1946 | Two Sisters from Boston | Olstrom | |
| 1947 | This Time for Keeps | Richard Herald | |
| 1948 | Luxury Liner | Olaf Eriksen | |
| 1953 | The Stars Are Singing | Jan Poldi |
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