#Elise Elizza

[opera-ghosts]

I wish you all a very Good New Year.

Arthur Preuss & Elise Elizza - Libiamo ne' lieti calici

Arthur Preuss (1878-1944) was one of the finest character tenors of the early 20th century. Born the son of a merchant in Königsberg, Preuss wanted to be a singer from childhood. The boy’s father supported his son’s singing ambitions and sent him to Berlin to study at the tender age of fifteen. During this period of study, Preuss was heard by renowned composer and conductor Gustav Mahler, who was greatly impressed by the young tenor’s singing. Mahler secured an engagement for Preuss at the Vienna Hofoper, where the young tenor took on such buffo roles as David in Die Meistersinger, Monostatos in Die Zauberflöte, Pedrillo in Die Entführung aus dem Serail, Leopold in La Juive, Beppe in Pagliacci, the Marquis in Zar und Zimmerman, Baba Mustafa in Der Barbier von Bagdad and others. While working under Mahler at the Hofoper, Preuss was an invaluable member of the company, singing over 100 performances each season. The tenor participated in ten premieres, including first Vienna performances of Madama Butterfly (Goro) and Der Rosenkavalier (Valzacchi). Preuss left the Hofoper in February of 1915 following a personal clash with director Hans Gregor. He sang for a few years at the Vienna Volksoper and made a handful of guest appearances at the Staatsoper. By the mid-1920s, Preuss began participating in early radio broadcasts, including transmissions of complete operas. The tenor’s lyric tone had darkened somewhat, allowing him to essay such roles as Max in Der Freischütz and the title role in Fra Diavolo. Preuss was also intrigued by the advent of sound films, and lent his acting and singing talents to a few early German talkies. Following his retirement from active performing in 1930, Preuss opened a successful singing school in Vienna. The retired tenor continued working with young students throughout the 1930s and into the war years. Although he was largely neutral in his political leanings, Preuss’ son was active in the anti-Nazi resistance movement in Czechoslovakia. On August 20, 1944, the elder Preuss was arrested by the Gestapo and interrogated as to his son’s activities. Although he does not seem to have been physically abused by his captors, the emotional strain proved too much for the sixty-six-year-old tenor. In the midst of the lengthy interrogation, Preuss collapsed to the floor, dead from an apparent heart attack.

Arthur Preuss made a few discs for G&T and the Gramophone Company in the early years of the 20th century. These recordings reveal a voice that was well suited to both character parts and leading lyric tenor roles. Although Preuss easily transitioned from the comic roles of Pagliacci and Abduction From the Seraglio to the romantic leads of La Traviata and Merry Wives of Windsor, his was essentially a buffo tenor…albeit a very attractive and expressive buffo tenor. In this recording, Preuss joins soprano Elise Elizza (1870-1926) for a German language version of "Libiamo" from Act I of Verdi's La Traviata. This was recorded for G&T in 1904.

[todayclassical]

January 06 in Music History

1695 Birth of Italian composer Giuseppe Sammartini in Milan.  1755 FP of Karl Heinrich Graun's opera Montezuma.

1824 Birth of Italian baritone Gottardo Aldighieri in Lazise Lake Garda.

1838 Birth in Cologne of Germany of composer Max Bruch in Köln.  1850 Birth of Polish composer Franz Xaver Scharwenka in Szamotuly. 

1856 Birth of Italian conductor, pianist and composer Giuseppe Martucci in Capua.

1858 Birth of tenor Ben Davies in Pontardawe. 

1862 Birth of American soprano Frances Saville in San Francisco. 

1866 Death of French tenor and coach Louis Antoine Ponchard.  1868 Birth of Italian composer Vittorio Monti in Naples. 

1871 Birth of soprano Regina Pacini in Lisbon. 

1872 Birth of Russian composer Alexander Scriabin.

1874 Birth of American composer Charles Gilbert Spross. 

1875 Birth of Swedish baritone Thor Mandahl in Goteburg. 

1879 Birth of Austrian soprano Elise Elizza  in Vienna. 

1888 FP of Antonin Dvorák's Piano Quintet No, 2 in A, Op. 81, in Prague.

1890 Birth of Italian bass Bruno Carmassi. 

1891 Birth of tenor Stanislaw Grusczynski in Wilna. 

1894 Birth of bass-baritone Andre Pernet in Rambersville. 

1899 Birth of Canadian composer Sophie-Carmen Eckhardt-Gramatte in Moscow. 

1900 Birth of French composer Pierre-Octave Ferroud in Chasseley, suburban Lyon. 

1902 Birth of American composer Mark Brunswick. 

1903 Birth of Greek born American conductor Maurice Abravanel in Saloniki. 

1903 Birth of soprano Mafalda Favero in Portomaggiore. 

1906 Death of Austrian soprano Marie Gabrielle Krauss. 

1906 FP of Ravel's piano pieces called Miroirs by Spanish pianist Ricardo Vines, in Paris. 

1907 Birth of American baritone Frank Valentino in Denver. 

1912 Birth of German pianist Hans Richter-Haaser. 

1913 Death of tenor Anton Schott. 

1916 Birth of American composer Philip Bezanson. 

1920 Birth of American composer Earl Kim in Dinuba, CA. 

1922 Birth of Norwegian composer Finn Mortensen in Oslo.  1924 FP of Jacques Ibert's Escales 'Ports of Call', in Paris. 

1926 Death of French composer Emile Paladilhe in Paris. 

1927 Birth of baritone David Ohanesian in Bucharest. 

1932 Birth of tenor Andrej Kucharsky in Zilina.  

1938 Death of tenor Heinrich Botel.

1940 Birth of mezzo-soprano Shirley Love in Detroit. 

1942 Death of soprano Emma Calve. 

1949 Birth of American composer Richard Horowitz. 

1950 FP of Francis Poulenc's Piano Concerto, composer was soloist, in Boston, MA. 

1951 Birth of American composer Howard Buss in Allentown, PA. 

1956 Birth of English cellist Alexander Baillie. 

1963 Death of mezzo-soprano Lina Abarbanell. 

1967 Birth of Greek composer Panayoti Karoussos in Arta.

1967 FP of Elliott Carter's Piano Concerto. Boston Symphony. 

1970 Death of soprano Margaret Halstead.  1977 Death of mezzo-soprano Gusta Hammer. 

1978 Birth of American composer Ben Hunter in Boise, ID.

1983 Death of English composer Bernard Stevens in Colchester

1987 Death of Chilian composer Domingo Santa-Cruz-Wilson in Santiago.

1991 FP of Michael Torke's Bronze for piano and orchestra. American Composers Orchestra conducted by David Zinman. The composer, pianist, at Carnegie Hall in NYC.

1999 FP of Christopher Rouse's Kabir Padavali for soprano and orchestra. Minnesota Orchestra conducted by David Zinman, with Dawn Upshaw, in Minneapolis.

2000 FP of Bright Sheng's Red Silk Dance. Emanuel Ax, piano and the Boston Symphony conducted by Robert Spano.

2001 Death of baritone Victor Braun.

2014 Death of composer H. Owen Reed in Athens GA.