1903-ERIK SCHMEDES-DANICH-AUSTRO- SINGER OPERATIC-TENOR-AUTOGRAPH. W/H PHOTO-2

Description

The condition of this item can be seen on the scan.Shipping is .00 for a single item and .00 for multiple items for registered mail.You can pay me with:PayPal
Erik Schmedes
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to navigation
Jump to search
Erik Schmedes as Lohengrin, 1902.
Erik Anton Julius Schmedes
(27 August 1868, in Gentofte,
Denmark
– 21 March 1931, in
Vienna
) was an
operatic
tenor
, particularly known for his roles in operas by
Richard Wagner
. He was the brother-in-law of
Vaslav Nijinsky
's wife.
Schmedes was born into a family of musicians, the most prominent of which was his brother Hakon, a noted violinist and composer. After studying in Paris, Berlin, and Vienna, he made his debut as a
baritone
(following encouragement from
Pauline Viardot
) in
Wiesbaden
, in 1891, as the Herald in
Lohengrin
. He continued to sing as a baritone until 1897. However, after further study with August Iffert in Vienna, his
Heldentenor
emerged. He made his debut as a tenor in 1898, singing the title role in
Siegfried
at the
Vienna State Opera
. His career remained largely based at that opera house, where he was a
Kammersänger
and one of the most prominent tenors during the years of
Gustav Mahler
's direction of the company.
Schmedes sang frequently at
Bayreuth
from 1899 through 1906. He also appeared at the
Metropolitan Opera
in the 1908–09 season, singing in
Die Walküre
(with
Johanna Gadski
,
Olive Fremstad
, and
Louise Homer
),
Tiefland
(the United States premiere, opposite
Emmy Destinn
),
Parsifal
,
Götterdämmerung
(conducted by
Arturo Toscanini
), and
Tristan und Isolde
(conducted by Mahler).
Although he primarily sang roles from the Wagnerian repertoire, Schmedes was also an admired interpreter of Florestan in
Beethoven
's
Fidelio
and the title role of
Hans Pfitzner
's
Palestrina
.
[1]
During his career, he sang 1,130 performances of forty-two roles and recorded for several companies, including
Gramophone
and
Pathé
, from 1902 to 1912.
[2]