Artist description Possibly the most musical singer of all time, both very capable in Opera and Operetta Richard Tauber was one of the greatest tenors of the century.Richard Tauber was one of the most popular singers of his day with a wide repertoire, excelling in Mozart and operetta (Franz Lehar wrote a starring part for Tauber in all his later operettas). He was also one of the most recorded artists of his time (possibly second behind John McCormack), with maybe 600+ 78rpm sides(?). Like McCormack he was criticised for squandering his talents on unworthy popular material, but also like McCormack, he could extract hidden depths from the more popular songs in his repertoire, depths that were inaccessible to the "popular" singers!Tauber produced a number of Lieder recordings, but unfortunately many of these were with "orchestra", a common feature of the period but totally incomprehensible today. However, even in these recordings his wonderful tenor cuts through the fog. He did record some of the songs from Winterreise, and these were with the original piano accompaniment. It is regretable that he didn't record this cycle complete for the first time,

Music Style Opera, Operetta and light music

Musical Influences Franz Lehar, Giacomo Puccini

Similar Artists Absolutely unique voice

Artist History Richard Tauber was born in Linz, Austria, the illegitimate son of Richard Anton Tauber and Elisabeth Seiffert. His father was an actor and theatre director, his mother a widowed actress. The boy was raised by his mother until he was seven and later by his father, who officially gave Richard his name. Tauber's early association with the theatre no doubt contributed to the development of his enormous musical talent.After training with Beines, Tauber made his debut at Chemnitz in 1913 where he sang the roles of Tamino in Die Zauberflöte and Max in Der Freischütz. He was quickly engaged for major roles at the Dresden Opera, where he stayed until 1926. This time to join the Vienna Staatsoper. Within a decade he had sung on most of the world's great operatic stages. He gained a reputation as a quick learner and strong performer, which lead to his nickname as the "S.O.S. Tenor." His sweet and superbly managed voice, full of musicianship, was especially well suited for the Mozartian tenor roles. Fame came almost instantly for him.From 1923-32 he became a well known singer of operetta, especially the roles associated with his famous collaboration with Franz Lehár. Tauber sang the leading male roles in the Lehár operettas - each of which traditionally included a "Tauber song" composed especially for the tenor. Through these roles he became the best known and most popular singer in Germany and Austria. Unlike most of his operatic peers at this time, Tauber had also gained a stunning reputation as both a critically acclaimed composer and conductor. He was known to have completed an orchestral suite, two operettes and dozens of art songs.Unfortunately, Tauber's father was half Jewish. This was enough for the Nazis to condemn him. Despite his fame and popularity, the singer had to flee Hitler's Germany, and later, Austria. Britain welcomed him, however, and Tauber made his permanent home in England. There he continued to sing in opera and operetta, appeared regularly on radio programs and in concerts, made motion pictures, composed, conducted and recorded. He remained in London for the rest of his years, until his unfortunate death in 1948.Tauber, being as popular as he was, completed a total of 735 commercial recordings. Additionally, numerous private recordings and air checks are also known to exist. His recordings include opera, operetta, art song, popular tunes and novelties. Tauber loved opera, but he believed that popular music was also worth performing. In his later years, his concerts were divided between serious and light music. Tauber was often critcised for his mixture of serious art with popular songs, but rather than defiling the former, he dignified the latter. No other singer could make their performance of popular music sound so important.Richard Tauber made his last stage apperance as Ottavio in Don Giovanni, performed at Covent Garden on September 27, 1947. He had been fighting a battle with cancer for quite some time. During this final performance, his left lung was nearly consumed by cancer, but this did not stop him from giving one of the strongest performances of his life. Those who attended the performance or listened to the broadcast can attest that Tauber remained a great and dedicated artist to the very last.By Michael J. Cochran Richard Tauber Mit 16 Jahren schon stand fŸr Richard Tauber fest: Er wird ein SŠnger werden. In Familie und Freundeskreis war man keineswegs begeistert von dieser Idee: "Um Gottes Willen, halte Deinen Sohn davon ab, SŠnger zu werden. Was er besitzt, ist ein Zwirnsfaden, aber keine Stimme. Glaube mir, aus ihm wird niemals ein SŠnger", riet KammersŠnger Leopold Demuth aus Wien dem Vater. Auch der Kšnigliche Kapellmeister des Theaters in Wiesbaden, Josef Schlar, lehnte den spŠteren Star-Tenor nach dem Vorsingen ab. Seine Worte: "So a Stimm habÕ i a!". Der junge Tauber sollte etwas "VernŸnftiges" lernen, das hei§t Klavier studieren, Komposition und Dirigieren, um Kapellmeister zu werden. Zu diesem Zwecke besuchte der verkannte SŠnger zunŠchst das Konservatorium in Frankfurt und dann die UniversitŠt Freiburg. Vom "Zwirnsfaden" zum Star-TenorDoch sein Vorhaben, auf der BŸhne zu stehen, hatte er sich trotz der vernichtenden Urteile Ÿber seine StimmqualitŠten nicht aufgegeben, erfolgreich, wie sich bald herausstellen sollte: Im Jahre 1913 debŸtierte er im Stadttheater Chemnitz als "Tamino" in der "Zauberflšte" - und landete einen Riesenerfolg. Wenige Tage spŠter wurde er vom Grafen Seebach nach Dresden beordert und erhielt ein fŸnfjŠhriges Engagement an der kšniglichen Oper. In jenen Jahren sang er alle gro§en Rollen des Opern-Repertoirs - Mozart, Weber, Verdi, DÕAlbert, Strau§. Mit dem Lied "MŠdchen, mein MŠdchen" aus "Friederike" eroberte er wenig spŠter die Welt. Es folgten, fast unweigerlich, Film- und Operettenerfolge. Kuchen von MarleneDann kam das FrŸhjahr 1933. "JudenlŸmmel raus aus Deutschland!" brŸllte es auch in Berlin, vor dem Hotel Kempinski wurde Richard Tauber zusammengeschlagen. Er ging. Zuerst nach England, dann in die USA, zwischendurch reiste er quer durch die Welt. In den USA empfing ihn Marlene Dietrich mit einem selbst gebackenen Kuchen, zu seinen Fans zŠhlten Franklin D. Roosevelt, Clark Gable, Max Reinhardt und viele andere namhafte Persšnlichkeiten. Richard Tauber war der Liebling der Society, vergšttert von allen Stimmfreaks und - zeitweise - MillionŠr. Seinem Leben in Saus und Braus folgte der Absturz in den Bankrott. Tauber starb im Januar 1948 in einem Londoner Hospital, bis Ÿber beide Ohren verschuldet. Seine Lieder bleiben.

Instruments Tenor

Location Cologne, RFA - Germany

Copyright notice. All material on MP3.com is protected by copyright law and by international treaties. You may download this material and make reasonable number of copies of this material only for your own personal use. You may not otherwise reproduce, distribute, publicly perform, publicly display, or create derivative works of this material, unless authorized by the appropriate copyright owner(s).