Max Alvary
Encyclopedia
Max Alvary originally Maximilian Achenbach, was a German operatic tenor
.
Born in Düsseldorf
, Germany, he was the son of the painter Andreas Achenbach
, over whose initial objections he pursued his singing career. He studied in Frankfurt
with Julius Stockhausen
, and in Milan with Francesco Lamperti
.
Gifted with a fine dramatic voice and a handsome stage presence, he speedily made a reputation in Germany in the leading roles in Wagnerian
opera
, and from 1885 onwards appeared also in America and England. He was at his best in 1892, when his performances as Tristan
and Siegfried
at Covent Garden
aroused great enthusiasm.
In October 1894 he was seriously injured in a fall while rehearsing Siegfried at Mannheim and never fully recovered; he retired from the stage in 1897.
Alvary died in Großtabarz
, Thüringen
, Germany in 1898.
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...
.
Born in Düsseldorf
Düsseldorf
Düsseldorf is the capital city of the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and centre of the Rhine-Ruhr metropolitan region.Düsseldorf is an important international business and financial centre and renowned for its fashion and trade fairs. Located centrally within the European Megalopolis, the...
, Germany, he was the son of the painter Andreas Achenbach
Andreas Achenbach
Andreas Achenbach was a German landscape painter.Born at Kassel, he began his art education in 1827 in Düsseldorf under Friedrich Wilhelm Schadow at the Düsseldorf Academy of Painting. He studied at St Petersburg and travelled in Italy, Holland and Scandinavia...
, over whose initial objections he pursued his singing career. He studied in Frankfurt
Frankfurt
Frankfurt am Main , commonly known simply as Frankfurt, is the largest city in the German state of Hesse and the fifth-largest city in Germany, with a 2010 population of 688,249. The urban area had an estimated population of 2,300,000 in 2010...
with Julius Stockhausen
Julius Stockhausen
Julius Christian Stockhausen was a German singer and singing master.- Life :Stockhausens' parents, Franz Stockhausen Sr...
, and in Milan with Francesco Lamperti
Francesco Lamperti
Francesco Lamperti was an Italian singing teacher.A native of Savona, Lamperti attended the Milan Conservatory where, beginning in 1850, he taught for a quarter of a century. He was director at the Teatro Filodrammatico in Lodi. In 1875 he left the school and began to teach as a private tutor...
.
Gifted with a fine dramatic voice and a handsome stage presence, he speedily made a reputation in Germany in the leading roles in Wagnerian
Richard Wagner
Wilhelm Richard Wagner was a German composer, conductor, theatre director, philosopher, music theorist, poet, essayist and writer primarily known for his operas...
opera
Opera
Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...
, and from 1885 onwards appeared also in America and England. He was at his best in 1892, when his performances as Tristan
Tristan
Tristan is one of the main characters of the Tristan and Iseult story, a Cornish hero and one of the Knights of the Round Table featuring in the Matter of Britain...
and Siegfried
Siegfried (opera)
Siegfried is the third of the four operas that constitute Der Ring des Nibelungen , by Richard Wagner. It received its premiere at the Bayreuth Festspielhaus on 16 August 1876, as part of the first complete performance of The Ring...
at Covent Garden
Royal Opera House
The Royal Opera House is an opera house and major performing arts venue in Covent Garden, central London. The large building is often referred to as simply "Covent Garden", after a previous use of the site of the opera house's original construction in 1732. It is the home of The Royal Opera, The...
aroused great enthusiasm.
In October 1894 he was seriously injured in a fall while rehearsing Siegfried at Mannheim and never fully recovered; he retired from the stage in 1897.
Alvary died in Großtabarz
Tabarz
Tabarz is a municipality in the district of Gotha, in Thuringia, Germany. It is a winter sports resort and the terminus of the Thüringerwaldbahn rural tramway....
, Thüringen
Thuringia
The Free State of Thuringia is a state of Germany, located in the central part of the country.It has an area of and 2.29 million inhabitants, making it the sixth smallest by area and the fifth smallest by population of Germany's sixteen states....
, Germany in 1898.