Helge Lindberg
Encyclopedia
Helge Igor Lindberg was a Finnish
opera singer who was a popular concert singer in the 1920s throughout Europe
. He was also a sculptor
.
From Musica Fennica (1965) (Timo Makinin and Seppo Nummi, authors):
"Helge Igor Lindberg, [a] baritone, spent a significant part of his life in Vienna. He was a great individualist both as a private person and as an artist, and his legendary career was to be both strange and extraordinary. Immediately on leaving school he left the country to study singing abroad. He first travelled to Munich and from there to Florence and Stuttgart. In 1919 he settled in Vienna and died there suddenly in 1928 after a serious illness. His best years were the last years of his life. Helge Lindberg was a powerful man, an athlete both in his looks and in his artistic demands. He was famous for his breathing technique. He liked to sing the arias of Bach and Handel and had mastered their long phrases, developing his own technique to an almost superhuman degree. He was also interested in his contemporary modernists, such as Schoenberg. Of Finnish composers his repertoire mostly included Kilpinen's songs. His fame as a singer was based on a technique that had been developed to perfection and on his minutely-studied performing style.""
He received a medal from the King of Sweden for his singing. His known sculptures include a 12-inch wooden statue of himself as a satyr (1927); a sitting Buddha; and a black stone bust of his second wife (lost in Buenos Aires after her death).
He died of pneumonia
in 1927 (though according to the above book,in 1928) and his ashes are interred on a small island off the southern coast of Finland, which he had bought as a summer retreat. He was survived by his first wife; his second wife Fritzi, a member of the novelty group the Seven Viennese Singing Sisters (see Wikipedia link); and his sons Kim, Lars, and Dian.
Finland
Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...
opera singer who was a popular concert singer in the 1920s throughout Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
. He was also a sculptor
Sculpture
Sculpture is three-dimensional artwork created by shaping or combining hard materials—typically stone such as marble—or metal, glass, or wood. Softer materials can also be used, such as clay, textiles, plastics, polymers and softer metals...
.
From Musica Fennica (1965) (Timo Makinin and Seppo Nummi, authors):
"Helge Igor Lindberg, [a] baritone, spent a significant part of his life in Vienna. He was a great individualist both as a private person and as an artist, and his legendary career was to be both strange and extraordinary. Immediately on leaving school he left the country to study singing abroad. He first travelled to Munich and from there to Florence and Stuttgart. In 1919 he settled in Vienna and died there suddenly in 1928 after a serious illness. His best years were the last years of his life. Helge Lindberg was a powerful man, an athlete both in his looks and in his artistic demands. He was famous for his breathing technique. He liked to sing the arias of Bach and Handel and had mastered their long phrases, developing his own technique to an almost superhuman degree. He was also interested in his contemporary modernists, such as Schoenberg. Of Finnish composers his repertoire mostly included Kilpinen's songs. His fame as a singer was based on a technique that had been developed to perfection and on his minutely-studied performing style.""
He received a medal from the King of Sweden for his singing. His known sculptures include a 12-inch wooden statue of himself as a satyr (1927); a sitting Buddha; and a black stone bust of his second wife (lost in Buenos Aires after her death).
He died of pneumonia
Pneumonia
Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung—especially affecting the microscopic air sacs —associated with fever, chest symptoms, and a lack of air space on a chest X-ray. Pneumonia is typically caused by an infection but there are a number of other causes...
in 1927 (though according to the above book,in 1928) and his ashes are interred on a small island off the southern coast of Finland, which he had bought as a summer retreat. He was survived by his first wife; his second wife Fritzi, a member of the novelty group the Seven Viennese Singing Sisters (see Wikipedia link); and his sons Kim, Lars, and Dian.
External links
- Laulaja at 194.252.88.3 (Finnish page)
- Froh lacht die Brust mir - RealAudio file
- http://www.flickr.com/photos/63979448@N00/6201039799/ picture in 1917.
- http://www.flickr.com/photos/63979448@N00/5922870948/in/photostream/ later picture