Adolf Dallapozza
Encyclopedia
Adolf Dallapozza is an Austrian tenor
in opera
, operetta
and musical theatre
He worked for more than 40 years at the Vienna Volksoper
.
At the Volksoper, he sang in his solo debut in 1962 the role of Ernesto in Donizetti's opera Don Pasquale
. In the German premiere of Bernstein's West Side Story
in 1968, directed by Marcel Prawy
, Dallapozza sang the role of Tony opposite Julia Migenes
. That year, he was engaged at the Vienna State Opera
, but the Volksoper remained his home for the rest of his career. Until 2008, he had sung in 1,893 performances in 74 different roles there. In 1984, the Volksoper made Dallapozza an honoray member.
, Johann Strauss
, Franz Lehár
und Emmerich Kálmán
. In opera, he sang Rudolfo in a 1984 production of La bohème
, directed by Harry Kupfer
; in 1988 Wilhem Meister in Thomas's Mignon
; in 1990 the role of Lenski in Tchaikovsky's Eugene Onegin
. His performance as the witch in Humperdinck's Hänsel und Gretel was particularly well received, a role he sang as recently as 2008/09. He celebrated his 50th stage anniversary on 6 November 2008 as von Eisenstein in Die Fledermaus
.
. In 1985, he received the Austrian Cross of Honour for Science and Art, First Class, and in 1998 the Grand Decoration of Honour for Services to the Republic of Austria.
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...
in 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...
, operetta
Operetta
Operetta is a genre of light opera, light in terms both of music and subject matter. It is also closely related, in English-language works, to forms of musical theatre.-Origins:...
and musical theatre
Musical theatre
Musical theatre is a form of theatre combining songs, spoken dialogue, acting, and dance. The emotional content of the piece – humor, pathos, love, anger – as well as the story itself, is communicated through the words, music, movement and technical aspects of the entertainment as an...
He worked for more than 40 years at the Vienna Volksoper
Vienna Volksoper
The Vienna Volksoper is a major opera house in Vienna, Austria. It gives about three hundred performances of twenty-five productions during an annual season running from September through June....
.
Career
Dallapozza was trained as a clerk and started work in a book shop. At the same time, he studied singing and sang in the chorus of the Vienna Volksoper.At the Volksoper, he sang in his solo debut in 1962 the role of Ernesto in Donizetti's opera Don Pasquale
Don Pasquale
Don Pasquale is an opera buffa, or comic opera, in three acts by Gaetano Donizetti. The librettist Giovanni Ruffini wrote the Italian language libretto after Angelo Anelli's libretto for Stefano Pavesi's Ser Marcantonio ....
. In the German premiere of Bernstein's West Side Story
West Side Story
West Side Story is an American musical with a script by Arthur Laurents, music by Leonard Bernstein, lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, and choreographed by Jerome Robbins...
in 1968, directed by Marcel Prawy
Marcel Prawy
Marcel Horace Frydmann, Ritter von Prawy was an Austrian dramaturg, opera connoisseur and opera critic.Prawy was born into a Jewish Austro-Hungarian noble family....
, Dallapozza sang the role of Tony opposite Julia Migenes
Julia Migenes
Julia Migenes is an American mezzo-soprano working primarily in musical theatre repertoire. She was born on the Lower East Side of New York to a family of Greek and Irish-Puerto Rican descent...
. That year, he was engaged at the Vienna State Opera
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...
, but the Volksoper remained his home for the rest of his career. Until 2008, he had sung in 1,893 performances in 74 different roles there. In 1984, the Volksoper made Dallapozza an honoray member.
Repertoire
Dalapozza sang almost all the tenor roles in the operettas of Karl MillöckerKarl Millöcker
Carl Joseph Millöcker , was an Austrian composer of operettas and a conductor.He was born in Vienna, where he studied the flute at the Vienna Conservatory. While holding various conducting posts in the city, he began to compose operettas...
, Johann Strauss
Johann Strauss II
Johann Strauss II , also known as Johann Baptist Strauss or Johann Strauss, Jr., the Younger, or the Son , was an Austrian composer of light music, particularly dance music and operettas. He composed over 500 waltzes, polkas, quadrilles, and other types of dance music, as well as several operettas...
, Franz Lehár
Franz Lehár
Franz Lehár was an Austrian-Hungarian composer. He is mainly known for his operettas of which the most successful and best known is The Merry Widow .-Biography:...
und Emmerich Kálmán
Emmerich Kalman
Emmerich Kálmán was a Hungarian-born composer of operettas.- Biography :Kálmán was born Imre Koppstein in Siófok, on the southern shore of Lake Balaton, Hungary in a Jewish family.Kálmán initially intended to become a concert pianist, but because of early-onset arthritis, he focused on composition...
. In opera, he sang Rudolfo in a 1984 production of La bohème
La bohème
La bohème is an opera in four acts,Puccini called the divisions quadro, a tableau or "image", rather than atto . by Giacomo Puccini to an Italian libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa, based on Scènes de la vie de bohème by Henri Murger...
, directed by Harry Kupfer
Harry Kupfer
Harry Kupfer is a German opera director. He studied theatre in Leipzig and directed his first opera, Antonín Dvořák's Rusalka, in 1958....
; in 1988 Wilhem Meister in Thomas's Mignon
Mignon
Mignon is an opéra comique in three acts by Ambroise Thomas. The original French libretto was by Jules Barbier and Michel Carré, based on Goethe's novel Wilhelm Meisters Lehrjahre. The Italian version was translated by Giuseppe Zaffira. The opera is mentioned in James Joyce's The Dead,...
; in 1990 the role of Lenski in Tchaikovsky's Eugene Onegin
Eugene Onegin (opera)
Eugene Onegin, Op. 24, is an opera in 3 acts , by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky. The libretto was written by Konstantin Shilovsky and the composer and his brother Modest, and is based on the novel in verse by Alexander Pushkin....
. His performance as the witch in Humperdinck's Hänsel und Gretel was particularly well received, a role he sang as recently as 2008/09. He celebrated his 50th stage anniversary on 6 November 2008 as von Eisenstein in Die Fledermaus
Die Fledermaus
Die Fledermaus is an operetta composed by Johann Strauss II to a German libretto by Karl Haffner and Richard Genée.- Literary sources :...
.
Honours
In 1976, Dallapozza was awarded the title of KammersängerKammersänger
Kammersänger , abbreviation: "Ks.", literally means "Chamber singer." It is a German honorific title for distinguished singers...
. In 1985, he received the Austrian Cross of Honour for Science and Art, First Class, and in 1998 the Grand Decoration of Honour for Services to the Republic of Austria.
External links
- Adolf Dallapozza at the German National LibraryGerman National LibraryThe German National Library is the central archival library and national bibliographic centre for the Federal Republic of Germany...