Albert Niemann (tenor)
Encyclopedia
Albert Wilhelm Karl Niemann (15 January 1831 – 13 January 1917) was a leading German tenor
opera singer especially associated with the operas of Richard Wagner
. He gave important premieres in France, Germany, England and the United States, and played Siegmund in the first complete production of Der Ring des Nibelungen
(Bayreuth 1876).
, near Magdeburg
, Niemann lost his father (an innkeeper) at an early age and was brought up by his mother, a woman 'of almost unwomanly hardness' who lived to be ninety. He was apprenticed to an engine-maker, but ran away to Dresden to make his own life. He grew up with a Germanic dedication to hunting but also student-like, reading extensively in science, history and philosophy. He was not particularly sociable or tactful, was blunt in speech and often boorish in behaviour.
Niemann made a debut in Dessau
in 1849, singing in minor roles and in chorus. He received training from Fritz Schneider (director of the ducal Hofkapell), from Albert Nusch and from Gilbert Duprez
in Paris. Until 1866 he had various engagements in Stuttgart, Königsberg, Stettin, and from 1854 in Hanover. At Hanover he sang Tannhäuser (from 1854), Lohengrin (from 1855) and Rienzi (from 1859).
He had a large physique and a large voice to match. In 1859 he married the soprano Marie Seebach
: however it is said that this marriage ended in divorce after he threw her out of a first-floor window.
, in Paris in 1860. The plan was for Niemann to sing Tannhäuser
and Josef Tichatschek
to sing Lohengrin
, alternating to rest their voices and able to replace each other if needed, and both to share a production of Tristan und Isolde as well. However, the projected Isolde, Frau Bürde-Ney, could not be released from a Leipzig contract, and the project foundered.
had little time for Niemann, either for his forced timbre or for his loutishness towards Wagner. Over the months of the rehearsals, Niemann refused to respond to Wagner's artistic direction and, desirous but doubtful of success, would not modify his brilliant ringing tones to the mood of resignation and ghostlike tonelessness required for the final act, despite Wagner's almost superhuman patience and encouragements towards him. He had learned that a Parisian faction intended to disrupt the production, and disloyally went through with it presenting himself as the unlucky artist involved in a work unworthy of his powers. The performances were utterly disrupted, and Niemann remained disingenuously aloof from Wagner's artistic claims throughout. Baudelaire wrote that Niemann had 'sung out of tune with deplorable assiduity', and condemned 'his weaknesses, his swoons, his tantrums of a spoiled child.' The Meyerbeer press, however, took Niemann's side, and he returned to Hanover to sing Raoul in Les Huguenots
.
. Ludwig invited Niemann to repeat these roles in Munich in 1866, but war intervened: in the following year he was again invited, but declined, because the usual cuts were not to be made. In 1866, he became a member of the Berlin Opera, and remained so until 1888. In April 1870, he sang Walther in the Berlin Meistersinger
premiere. As Tichatschek had grown old, and after Ludwig Schnorr
's death in 1865, Niemann had become one of the most experienced and advanced Wagnerian tenors. In 1871, he married the actress Hedwig Raabe
.
, Marie Lehmann and Franz Betz
) in the inaugural performance of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony at the foundation-stone laying of the Bayreuth Festspielhaus
, and the gigantic Niemann made a truly heroic impression when striking the foundation-stone with a hammer. By 1874, Wagner had mentally settled on Niemann for the role of Siegmund in the complete Ring cycle as it was to be performed at Bayreuth. Wagner had involved Niemann in his discussions about the casting of the Ring, but Niemann (who had agreed to participate without remuneration), in dudgeon because Wagner wanted a younger man for the role of Siegfried, arrived at Wahnfried
in 1875 for rehearsals and within three days had stormed out and injected poison into the atmosphere of exhilaration at Bayreuth.
However, his departure gave Wagner the opportunity to coach Georg Unger
as Siegfried. Niemann returned to continue work in October, and in the following March he performed Tristan under Wagner's supervision in Berlin. Rehearsals were resumed in May (with a new Sieglinde), and the opening of Bayreuth was brought to completion in August 1876. Niemann sang Siegmund with Josephine Schefsky
as Sieglinde and Amalie Materna
as Brünnhilde. Lilli Lehmann
wrote of him, 'never since have I heard or seen a Siegmund to compare with him... His intellectual power, his physical impressiveness, his incomparable expression were superb beyond words.' (Of his Tristan she remarked, 'it was certainly the most sublime thing that has ever been achieved in the sphere of music drama.') Saint-Saëns, however, considered that since the Paris 1861 Tannhäuser, time had eaten away Niemann's high notes, and he could no longer sing piano or legato.
. In 1883, he was one of the twelve pall-bearers at Wagner's funeral at Wahnfried. From 1886 to 1888 he appeared at the Metropolitan Opera House
, as the first American Tristan (December 1, 1886, Anton Seidl
, conductor, Lilli Lehmann, Isolde), as Siegfried in the first American Götterdämmerung
( January 25, 1888, with Lilli Lehmann as Brünnhilde), and in Spontini's opera Fernando Cortez. In New York, he also sang Siegmund, John of Leyden in Le prophète
, Tannhäuser, Lohengrin, Florestan (in Fidelio
) and Eleazar in La juive
. Angelo Neumann's touring company, in which Niemann took part under Seidl's conductorship, toured with the Ring through many towns of Germany, Belgium, Holland, Switzerland, Italy, Hungary, and Austria.
Albert Niemann died in Berlin, two days short of his 86th birthday.
His son Albert Niemann
(1880-1921) was the paediatrician who described Niemann-Pick disease
.
Tenor
The tenor is a type of male singing voice and is the highest male voice within the modal register. The typical tenor voice lies between C3, the C one octave below middle C, to the A above middle C in choral music, and up to high C in solo work. The low extreme for tenors is roughly B2...
opera singer especially associated with the operas of Richard Wagner
Richard Wagner
Wilhelm Richard Wagner was a German composer, conductor, theatre director, philosopher, music theorist, poet, essayist and writer primarily known for his operas...
. He gave important premieres in France, Germany, England and the United States, and played Siegmund in the first complete production of Der Ring des Nibelungen
Der Ring des Nibelungen
Der Ring des Nibelungen is a cycle of four epic operas by the German composer Richard Wagner . The works are based loosely on characters from the Norse sagas and the Nibelungenlied...
(Bayreuth 1876).
Early career
Born in ErxlebenErxleben, Börde
Erxleben is a municipality in the Börde district in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany....
, near Magdeburg
Magdeburg
Magdeburg , is the largest city and the capital city of the Bundesland of Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. Magdeburg is situated on the Elbe River and was one of the most important medieval cities of Europe....
, Niemann lost his father (an innkeeper) at an early age and was brought up by his mother, a woman 'of almost unwomanly hardness' who lived to be ninety. He was apprenticed to an engine-maker, but ran away to Dresden to make his own life. He grew up with a Germanic dedication to hunting but also student-like, reading extensively in science, history and philosophy. He was not particularly sociable or tactful, was blunt in speech and often boorish in behaviour.
Niemann made a debut in Dessau
Dessau
Dessau is a town in Germany on the junction of the rivers Mulde and Elbe, in the Bundesland of Saxony-Anhalt. Since 1 July 2007, it is part of the merged town Dessau-Roßlau. Population of Dessau proper: 77,973 .-Geography:...
in 1849, singing in minor roles and in chorus. He received training from Fritz Schneider (director of the ducal Hofkapell), from Albert Nusch and from Gilbert Duprez
Gilbert Duprez
Gilbert Duprez was a French tenor, singing teacher and minor composer who famously pioneered the delivery of the operatic high C from the chest. He also created the role of Edgardo in the popular bel canto-era opera Lucia di Lammermoor in 1835.-Biography:Gilbert-Louis Duprez, to give his full...
in Paris. Until 1866 he had various engagements in Stuttgart, Königsberg, Stettin, and from 1854 in Hanover. At Hanover he sang Tannhäuser (from 1854), Lohengrin (from 1855) and Rienzi (from 1859).
He had a large physique and a large voice to match. In 1859 he married the soprano Marie Seebach
Marie Seebach
Marie Seebach was a German actress.She was born in Riga, Livonia, Russian Empire as the daughter of an actor, Wilhelm Friedrich Seebach . After appearing first at Nuremberg as Julie in Kean, she played soubrette parts at Lübeck, Danzig and Cassel...
: however it is said that this marriage ended in divorce after he threw her out of a first-floor window.
Wagner's 'model company'
Niemann visited Wagner in the Asyl, at the composer's invitation, in summer 1858. Wagner had him in mind to create the role of Siegfried. From 1859, Wagner had involved Niemann (then at Hanover) in his plan to form a model German company to perform some operas, including Tristan und IsoldeTristan und Isolde
Tristan und Isolde is an opera, or music drama, in three acts by Richard Wagner to a German libretto by the composer, based largely on the romance by Gottfried von Straßburg. It was composed between 1857 and 1859 and premiered in Munich on 10 June 1865 with Hans von Bülow conducting...
, in Paris in 1860. The plan was for Niemann to sing Tannhäuser
Tannhäuser (opera)
Tannhäuser is an opera in three acts, music and text by Richard Wagner, based on the two German legends of Tannhäuser and the song contest at Wartburg...
and Josef Tichatschek
Josef Tichatschek
Josef Aloys Tichatschek , originally Tichaček, was a Bohemian opera singer highly regarded by Richard Wagner...
to sing Lohengrin
Lohengrin (opera)
Lohengrin is a romantic opera in three acts composed and written by Richard Wagner, first performed in 1850. The story of the eponymous character is taken from medieval German romance, notably the Parzival of Wolfram von Eschenbach and its sequel, Lohengrin, written by a different author, itself...
, alternating to rest their voices and able to replace each other if needed, and both to share a production of Tristan und Isolde as well. However, the projected Isolde, Frau Bürde-Ney, could not be released from a Leipzig contract, and the project foundered.
The Paris Tannhäuser
However, Paris issued an imperial command for Tannhäuser, and Niemann obtained a nine-month contract to join these rehearsals in September 1860. Hans von BülowHans von Bülow
Hans Guido Freiherr von Bülow was a German conductor, virtuoso pianist, and composer of the Romantic era. He was one of the most famous conductors of the 19th century, and his activity was critical for establishing the successes of several major composers of the time, including Richard...
had little time for Niemann, either for his forced timbre or for his loutishness towards Wagner. Over the months of the rehearsals, Niemann refused to respond to Wagner's artistic direction and, desirous but doubtful of success, would not modify his brilliant ringing tones to the mood of resignation and ghostlike tonelessness required for the final act, despite Wagner's almost superhuman patience and encouragements towards him. He had learned that a Parisian faction intended to disrupt the production, and disloyally went through with it presenting himself as the unlucky artist involved in a work unworthy of his powers. The performances were utterly disrupted, and Niemann remained disingenuously aloof from Wagner's artistic claims throughout. Baudelaire wrote that Niemann had 'sung out of tune with deplorable assiduity', and condemned 'his weaknesses, his swoons, his tantrums of a spoiled child.' The Meyerbeer press, however, took Niemann's side, and he returned to Hanover to sing Raoul in Les Huguenots
Les Huguenots
Les Huguenots is a French opera by Giacomo Meyerbeer, one of the most popular and spectacular examples of the style of grand opera. The opera is in five acts and premiered in Paris in 1836. The libretto was written by Eugène Scribe and Émile Deschamps....
.
Continuing career
In 1864, Niemann sang as guest in two performances of Tannhäuser at Munich, and in one of Lohengrin by the arrangement of Ludwig II, shortly before the death of King Maximilian II of BavariaMaximilian II of Bavaria
Maximilian II of Bavaria was king of Bavaria from 1848 until 1864. He was son of Ludwig I of Bavaria and Therese of Saxe-Hildburghausen.-Crown Prince:...
. Ludwig invited Niemann to repeat these roles in Munich in 1866, but war intervened: in the following year he was again invited, but declined, because the usual cuts were not to be made. In 1866, he became a member of the Berlin Opera, and remained so until 1888. In April 1870, he sang Walther in the Berlin Meistersinger
Meistersinger
A Meistersinger was a member of a German guild for lyric poetry, composition and unaccompanied art song of the 14th, 15th and 16th centuries. The Meistersingers were drawn from middle class males for the most part.-Guilds:...
premiere. As Tichatschek had grown old, and after Ludwig Schnorr
Ludwig Schnorr von Carolsfeld
Ludwig Schnorr von Carolsfeld was a German Heldentenor and the creator of the role of Tristan in Richard Wagner's opera Tristan und Isolde...
's death in 1865, Niemann had become one of the most experienced and advanced Wagnerian tenors. In 1871, he married the actress Hedwig Raabe
Hedwig Raabe
Hedwig Raabe , German actress, was born in Magdeburg, and at the age of fourteen was playing in the company of the Thalia theatre, Hamburg....
.
Bayreuth 1875-1876
In May 1872 he was in the quartet of soloists (with Johanna Jachmann-WagnerJohanna Jachmann-Wagner
Johanna Jachmann-Wagner or Johanna Wagner was a mezzo-soprano singer, tragédienne in theatrical drama, and teacher of singing and theatrical performance who won great distinction in Europe during the third quarter of the 19th century...
, Marie Lehmann and Franz Betz
Franz Betz
Franz Betz was a German bass-baritone opera singer who sang at the Berlin State Opera from 1859 to 1897. He was particularly known for his performances in operas by Richard Wagner and created the role of Hans Sachs in Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg.-Biography:Franz Betz was born in Mainz and...
) in the inaugural performance of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony at the foundation-stone laying of the Bayreuth Festspielhaus
Bayreuth Festspielhaus
The or Bayreuth Festival Theatre is an opera house north of Bayreuth, Germany, dedicated solely to the performance of operas by the 19th-century German composer Richard Wagner...
, and the gigantic Niemann made a truly heroic impression when striking the foundation-stone with a hammer. By 1874, Wagner had mentally settled on Niemann for the role of Siegmund in the complete Ring cycle as it was to be performed at Bayreuth. Wagner had involved Niemann in his discussions about the casting of the Ring, but Niemann (who had agreed to participate without remuneration), in dudgeon because Wagner wanted a younger man for the role of Siegfried, arrived at Wahnfried
Wahnfried
Wahnfried may refer to:*Wahnfried, Richard Wagner's villa in Bayreuth*Richard Wahnfried , the long-time alias for German composer and musician Klaus Schulze...
in 1875 for rehearsals and within three days had stormed out and injected poison into the atmosphere of exhilaration at Bayreuth.
However, his departure gave Wagner the opportunity to coach Georg Unger
Georg Unger
Georg Unger was a German tenor most famous for playing Siegfried in Der Ring des Nibelungen written by Richard Wagner.Unger was born in Leipzig in Germany, and as a student studied Theology and music...
as Siegfried. Niemann returned to continue work in October, and in the following March he performed Tristan under Wagner's supervision in Berlin. Rehearsals were resumed in May (with a new Sieglinde), and the opening of Bayreuth was brought to completion in August 1876. Niemann sang Siegmund with Josephine Schefsky
Josephine Schefsky
Josephine Schefsky was an opera singer who had an active career during the latter half of the 19th century. Possessing a powerful voice with a wide vocal range, she tackled roles from both the soprano and mezzo-soprano repertoires...
as Sieglinde and Amalie Materna
Amalie Materna
Amalie Materna was an Austrian operatic soprano. While possessing a famously powerful voice, Materna also maintained a youthful bright vocal timbre throughout her career which spanned for three decades...
as Brünnhilde. Lilli Lehmann
Lilli Lehmann
Lilli Lehmann, born Elisabeth Maria Lehmann, later Elisabeth Maria Lehmann-Kalisch was a German operatic soprano of phenomenal versatility...
wrote of him, 'never since have I heard or seen a Siegmund to compare with him... His intellectual power, his physical impressiveness, his incomparable expression were superb beyond words.' (Of his Tristan she remarked, 'it was certainly the most sublime thing that has ever been achieved in the sphere of music drama.') Saint-Saëns, however, considered that since the Paris 1861 Tannhäuser, time had eaten away Niemann's high notes, and he could no longer sing piano or legato.
Later premieres
Niemann remained with the Berlin opera until 1888, but in the later years of his career he participated in several important tours. In 1882, he appeared as Siegmund in the first London Die Walküre, at Her Majesty's TheatreHer Majesty's Theatre
Her Majesty's Theatre is a West End theatre, in Haymarket, City of Westminster, London. The present building was designed by Charles J. Phipps and was constructed in 1897 for actor-manager Herbert Beerbohm Tree, who established the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art at the theatre...
. In 1883, he was one of the twelve pall-bearers at Wagner's funeral at Wahnfried. From 1886 to 1888 he appeared at the Metropolitan Opera House
Metropolitan Opera House (39th St)
The Metropolitan Opera House was an opera house located at 1411 Broadway in New York City. Opened in 1883 and demolished in 1967, it was the first home of the Metropolitan Opera Company.-History:...
, as the first American Tristan (December 1, 1886, Anton Seidl
Anton Seidl
Anton Seidl was a Hungarian conductor.-Biography:He was born at Pest, Hungary. He began the study of music at a very early age, and when only seven years old could pick out at the piano melodies which he had heard at the theatre...
, conductor, Lilli Lehmann, Isolde), as Siegfried in the first American Götterdämmerung
Götterdämmerung
is the last in Richard Wagner's cycle of four operas titled Der Ring des Nibelungen...
( January 25, 1888, with Lilli Lehmann as Brünnhilde), and in Spontini's opera Fernando Cortez. In New York, he also sang Siegmund, John of Leyden in Le prophète
Le prophète
Le prophète is an opera in five acts by Giacomo Meyerbeer. The French-language libretto was by Eugène Scribe.-Performance history:...
, Tannhäuser, Lohengrin, Florestan (in Fidelio
Fidelio
Fidelio is a German opera in two acts by Ludwig van Beethoven. It is Beethoven's only opera. The German libretto is by Joseph Sonnleithner from the French of Jean-Nicolas Bouilly which had been used for the 1798 opera Léonore, ou L’amour conjugal by Pierre Gaveaux, and for the 1804 opera Leonora...
) and Eleazar in La juive
La Juive
La Juive is a grand opera in five acts by Fromental Halévy to an original French libretto by Eugène Scribe; it was first performed at the Opéra, Paris, on February 23, 1835.-Composition history:...
. Angelo Neumann's touring company, in which Niemann took part under Seidl's conductorship, toured with the Ring through many towns of Germany, Belgium, Holland, Switzerland, Italy, Hungary, and Austria.
Albert Niemann died in Berlin, two days short of his 86th birthday.
His son Albert Niemann
Albert Niemann (paediatrician)
Albert Niemann was a German physician.Niemann-Pick disease is named for him and Ludwig Pick.He was the son of Albert Niemann, a well known tenor with the same name.-References:...
(1880-1921) was the paediatrician who described Niemann-Pick disease
Niemann-Pick disease
Niemann–Pick disease refers to a group of fatal inherited metabolic disorders that are included in the larger family of lysosomal storage diseases .-Signs and symptoms:Symptoms are related to the organs in which they accumulate...
.
Image
- Albert Niemann as Lohengrin, taken in 1881 http://www.luminous-lint.com/__sw.php?image/04755005504194542091367139/
Sources
- Richard AldrichRichard AldrichRichard Aldrich was an American music critic. From 1902–23, he was music critic for The New York Times.Aldrich was born in Providence, Rhode Island and graduated A.B. in 1885 from Harvard College, where he had studied music. He began his journalistic career on the Providence Journal...
(1917), 'Albert Niemann, A Great Wagnerian Tenor'. New York Times, 11 February 1917. http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?_r=1&res=990DE1D8173AE433A25752C1A9649C946696D6CF&oref=slogin - Wilhelm Altmann (ed) (1924), Richard Wagner und Albert Niemann. Ein Gedenkbuch. Georg Stilke Verlag, Berlin.
- Gustav KobbéGustav KobbéGustav Kobbé M.A. was an American music critic and author, best known for his guide to the operas, The Complete Opera Book, first published in the United States in 1919 and the United Kingdom in 1922.- Biography :Kobbé was born in March 1857 in New York City to William...
(1935 edition), The Complete Opera BookThe Complete Opera BookThe Complete Opera Book is a guide to operas by American music critic and author Gustav Kobbé first published in the United States in 1919 and the United Kingdom in 1922...
. Putnam, London. - Ernest NewmanErnest NewmanErnest Newman was an English music critic and musicologist. Grove's Dictionary of Music and Musicians describes him as "the most celebrated British music critic in the first half of the 20th century." His style of criticism, aiming at intellectual objectivity in contrast to the more subjective...
(1933-1946), The Life of Richard Wagner (4 Vols). Alfred Knopf, New York. - H. Rosenthal and J. Warrack (1974 edn.), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Opera. Oxford University Press, London.
- Richard Sternfeld (1904), Albert Niemann. Das Theater Band IV. Schuster and Loeffler, Berlin and Leipzig.