Paul Kalisch was a German opera singer. He was the son of David Kalisch

David Kalisch

David Kalisch was a German playwright and humorist.-Early life:...

, a Jewish Christian

Christian

A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...

 writer, founder of the Kladderadatsch

Kladderadatsch

Kladderadatsch was a satirical German-language magazine first published in Berlin on May 7, 1848, and appearing "daily, except for weekdays". It was founded by Albert Hofmann and David Kalisch, the latter the son of a Jewish merchant and the author of several works of comedy...

.

Kalisch was destined for a career as an architect, but at a gathering at the home of his brother-in-law Paul Lindau

Paul Lindau

Paul Lindau was a German dramatist and novelist.-Life and Works:Lindau was born in Magdeburg as the son of a Protestant pastor. He was educated at Halle, Leipzig, and Berlin. He spent five years in Paris to further his studies, acting meanwhile as foreign correspondent to German papers...

, where Kalisch sang a few selections from Schubert

Franz Schubert

Franz Peter Schubert was an Austrian composer.Although he died at an early age, Schubert was tremendously prolific. He wrote some 600 Lieder, nine symphonies , liturgical music, operas, some incidental music, and a large body of chamber and solo piano music...

 and 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...

, his voice so impressed Pollini and Adelina Patti

Adelina Patti

Adelina Patti was a highly acclaimed 19th-century opera singer, earning huge fees at the height of her career in the music capitals of Europe and America. She first sang in public as a child in 1851 and gave her last performance before an audience in 1914...

 that they urged him to go on the stage

Stage (theatre)

In theatre or performance arts, the stage is a designated space for the performance productions. The stage serves as a space for actors or performers and a focal point for the members of the audience...

. Shortly afterward Kalisch went to Italy to study under Leoni

Leoni

Leoni is an italian surname, literally meaning "lions", and can refer to:*Anilza Leoni , Brazilian actress, singer, ballerina and painter*Bruno Leoni , Italian political philosopher and lawyer...

 and Lamperti

Lamperti

Lamperti is the surname of an Italian family of musicians.* Francesco Lamperti , Italian voice teacher* Giovanni Battista Lamperti , Italian voice teacher, son of Francesco...

, and he made his debut at Varese

Varese

Varese is a town and comune in north-western Lombardy, northern Italy, 55 km north of Milan.It is the capital of the Province of Varese. The hinterland or urban part of the city is called Varesotto.- Geography :...

 in 1880 as Edgardo in Lucia di Lammermoor

Lucia di Lammermoor

Lucia di Lammermoor is a dramma tragico in three acts by Gaetano Donizetti. Salvadore Cammarano wrote the Italian language libretto loosely based upon Sir Walter Scott's historical novel The Bride of Lammermoor....

. After a most successful tour through Italy and Spain he sang in 1883 at the royal operas at Munich

Bavarian State Opera

The Bavarian State Opera is an opera company based in Munich, Germany.Its orchestra is the Bavarian State Orchestra.- History:The opera company which was founded under Princess Henriette Adelaide of Savoy has been in existence since 1653...

, Berlin, and Vienna

Vienna State Opera

The Vienna State Opera is an opera house – and opera company – with a history dating back to the mid-19th century. It is located in the centre of Vienna, Austria. It was originally called the Vienna Court Opera . In 1920, with the replacement of the Habsburg Monarchy by the First Austrian...

, and at the Stadttheaters of Hamburg

Hamburg

-History:The first historic name for the city was, according to Claudius Ptolemy's reports, Treva.But the city takes its modern name, Hamburg, from the first permanent building on the site, a castle whose construction was ordered by the Emperor Charlemagne in AD 808...

, Leipzig

Leipzig

Leipzig Leipzig has always been a trade city, situated during the time of the Holy Roman Empire at the intersection of the Via Regia and Via Imperii, two important trade routes. At one time, Leipzig was one of the major European centres of learning and culture in fields such as music and publishing...

, and Cologne

Cologne

Cologne is Germany's fourth-largest city , and is the largest city both in the Germany Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia and within the Rhine-Ruhr Metropolitan Area, one of the major European metropolitan areas with more than ten million inhabitants.Cologne is located on both sides of the...

.

He stayed a short time in Germany, and then together with Lilli Lehmann

Lilli Lehmann

Lilli Lehmann, born Elisabeth Maria Lehmann, later Elisabeth Maria Lehmann-Kalisch was a German operatic soprano of phenomenal versatility...

, whom he later married, went to London, where he sang in Tristan und Isolde

Tristan 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...

at Her Majesty's Theatre

Her 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...

. From England Kalisch went to the United States, where he spent six winter seasons: four seasons 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:...

, New York

New York

New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...

, while for two seasons he toured the country together with 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...

, singing in many of Wagner's operas. Upon his return to Europe he again toured Germany, and also sang at Vienna, Budapest

Budapest

Budapest is the capital of Hungary. As the largest city of Hungary, it is the country's principal political, cultural, commercial, industrial, and transportation centre. In 2011, Budapest had 1,733,685 inhabitants, down from its 1989 peak of 2,113,645 due to suburbanization. The Budapest Commuter...

, Paris, and London; but he achieved his greatest success at the Wiesbadener Festspiele, where he sang before the royal family. He was made Kammersänger

Kammersänger

Kammersänger , abbreviation: "Ks.", literally means "Chamber singer." It is a German honorific title for distinguished singers...

by Duke Ernst of Saxe-Coburg. Kalisch's most successful rôles are The Prophet, Eleazar

Eleazar

Eleazar , was a priest in the Hebrew Bible, the second Kohen Gadol - succeeding his father Aaron. He was a nephew of Moses.-Life:...

, Othello

Othello

The Tragedy of Othello, the Moor of Venice is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written in approximately 1603, and based on the Italian short story "Un Capitano Moro" by Cinthio, a disciple of Boccaccio, first published in 1565...

, Siegmund, 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...

, 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 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...

. Kalisch again appeared in Tristan and Isolde at Paris and Cologne in 1901.