Hans Erl
Encyclopedia
Hans Tobias Erl was a German operatic bass
.
, after already having sung in the world premiere performance of Oscar Straus
' operetta
Die lustigen Nibelungen at the Wiener Carl-Theater in 1904. Further engagements were at the Stadttheater Augsburg
(1911–1913), the Stadttheater Elberfeld
(1913–1914), and the Stadttheater Chemnitz
(1914–1918, interrupted by military service during World War I in 1914-1915). In 1918 he began a fifteen year engagement with the Frankfurt Opera as the first bass, where he became one of the ensemble's best known singers. He was dismissed from the Opera on 11 June 1933.
His repertoire included the major basso profondo roles (Padre Guardiano in Verdi
's La forza del destino
, Il Commendatore in Mozart
's Don Giovanni
and Sarastro in Mozart's Die Zauberflöte
), and the major Wagner
bass roles (the Landgrave in Tannhäuser
, Pogner in Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg
, Hunding in Die Walküre
, Gurnemanz in Parsifal
). He sang the role of the King in the world premiere performance of Franz Schreker
's Der Schatzgräber
(21 January 1920).
and Erl was forced to sing "In Diesen Heilgen Hallen". He was deported in 1942 and died (probably the same year) in Auschwitz
.
Bass (voice type)
A bass is a type of male singing voice and possesses the lowest vocal range of all voice types. According to The New Grove Dictionary of Opera, a bass is typically classified as having a range extending from around the second E below middle C to the E above middle C...
.
Professional career
He began his actual career in the theatre during the 1908-1909 season at the Raimund-Theater in ViennaVienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
, after already having sung in the world premiere performance of Oscar Straus
Oscar Straus (composer)
Oscar Nathan Straus was a Viennese composer of operettas and film scores and songs. He also wrote about 500 cabaret songs, chamber music, and orchestral and choral works...
' 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:...
Die lustigen Nibelungen at the Wiener Carl-Theater in 1904. Further engagements were at the Stadttheater Augsburg
Augsburg
Augsburg is a city in the south-west of Bavaria, Germany. It is a university town and home of the Regierungsbezirk Schwaben and the Bezirk Schwaben. Augsburg is an urban district and home to the institutions of the Landkreis Augsburg. It is, as of 2008, the third-largest city in Bavaria with a...
(1911–1913), the Stadttheater Elberfeld
Elberfeld
Elberfeld is a municipal subdivision of the German city of Wuppertal; it was an independent town until 1929.-History:The first official mentioning of the geographic area on the banks of today's Wupper River as "elverfelde" was in a document of 1161...
(1913–1914), and the Stadttheater Chemnitz
Chemnitz
Chemnitz is the third-largest city of the Free State of Saxony, Germany. Chemnitz is an independent city which is not part of any county and seat of the government region Direktionsbezirk Chemnitz. Located in the northern foothills of the Ore Mountains, it is a part of the Saxon triangle...
(1914–1918, interrupted by military service during World War I in 1914-1915). In 1918 he began a fifteen year engagement with the Frankfurt Opera as the first bass, where he became one of the ensemble's best known singers. He was dismissed from the Opera on 11 June 1933.
His repertoire included the major basso profondo roles (Padre Guardiano in Verdi
Giuseppe Verdi
Giuseppe Fortunino Francesco Verdi was an Italian Romantic composer, mainly of opera. He was one of the most influential composers of the 19th century...
's La forza del destino
La forza del destino
La forza del destino is an Italian opera by Giuseppe Verdi. The libretto was written by Francesco Maria Piave based on a Spanish drama, Don Álvaro o la fuerza del sino , by Ángel de Saavedra, Duke of Rivas, with a scene adapted from Friedrich Schiller's Wallensteins Lager. It was first performed...
, Il Commendatore in Mozart
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart , baptismal name Johannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart , was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical era. He composed over 600 works, many acknowledged as pinnacles of symphonic, concertante, chamber, piano, operatic, and choral music...
's Don Giovanni
Don Giovanni
Don Giovanni is an opera in two acts with music by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and with an Italian libretto by Lorenzo Da Ponte. It was premiered by the Prague Italian opera at the Teatro di Praga on October 29, 1787...
and Sarastro in Mozart's Die Zauberflöte
The Magic Flute
The Magic Flute is an opera in two acts composed in 1791 by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart to a German libretto by Emanuel Schikaneder. The work is in the form of a Singspiel, a popular form that included both singing and spoken dialogue....
), and the major 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...
bass roles (the Landgrave in 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...
, Pogner in Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg
Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg
Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg is an opera in three acts, written and composed by Richard Wagner. It is among the longest operas still commonly performed today, usually taking around four and a half hours. It was first performed at the Königliches Hof- und National-Theater in Munich, on June 21,...
, Hunding in Die Walküre
Die Walküre
Die Walküre , WWV 86B, is the second of the four operas that form the cycle Der Ring des Nibelungen , by Richard Wagner...
, Gurnemanz in Parsifal
Parsifal
Parsifal is an opera in three acts by Richard Wagner. It is loosely based on Wolfram von Eschenbach's Parzival, the 13th century epic poem of the Arthurian knight Parzival and his quest for the Holy Grail, and on Chrétien de Troyes' Perceval, the Story of the Grail.Wagner first conceived the work...
). He sang the role of the King in the world premiere performance of Franz Schreker
Franz Schreker
Franz Schreker was an Austrian composer, conductor, teacher and administrator. Primarily a composer of operas, his style is characterized by aesthetic plurality , timbral experimentation, strategies of extended tonality and...
's Der Schatzgräber
Der Schatzgräber
Der Schatzgräber is an opera in four acts, with a prologue and an epilogue, by Franz Schreker, libretto by the composer.-Composition history:...
(21 January 1920).
Holocaust
Being a Jew, he was fired from the Frankfurt Opera in 1933. The Jews were forced to gather in the Festhalle FrankfurtFesthalle Frankfurt
The Festhalle Frankfurt in Frankfurt, Germany in Frankfurt is a representative Built in 1907 and 1908 multi-purpose hall at the Frankfurt Exhibition Centre. The interior of about 40 metres high dome provides an area of 5646 square metres up to 4880 seats...
and Erl was forced to sing "In Diesen Heilgen Hallen". He was deported in 1942 and died (probably the same year) in Auschwitz
Auschwitz concentration camp
Concentration camp Auschwitz was a network of Nazi concentration and extermination camps built and operated by the Third Reich in Polish areas annexed by Nazi Germany during World War II...
.