Scheidemantel, Karl

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Scheidemantel, Karl

Scheidemantel, Karl, noted German baritone; b. Weimar, Jan. 21, 1859; d. there, June 26, 1923. He was a pupil of Bodo Borchers, and sang at the court theater in Weimar (1878–86); also studied voice with Julius Stock-hausen in the summers of 1881–83. He was a member of the Dresden Court Opera from 1886 to 1911; also sang at the Munich Court Opera (1882), London’s Covent Garden (debut as Wolfram, June 14, 1884), the Vienna Court Opera (1890), and Milan’s La Scala (1892). From 1911 to 1920 he was a prof. at the Grossherzogliche Musikschule in Weimar; from 1920 to 1922 he was director of the Landestheater in Dresden. He publ. Stimmbildung (1907; fourth ed. as Gesangsbildung, 1913; in Eng., 1910); also ed. a collection of songs, Meisterweisen (1914). Among his finest roles were Hans Sachs, Kurwenal, Amfortas, Klingsor, Telramund, Pizarro, and Scarpia; he also created the roles of Kunrad in Feuersnot (Dresden, Nov. 21, 1901) and Faninal in Der Rosenkavalier (Dresden, Jan. 26 1911).

Bibliography

P. Trede, K. S. (Dresden, 1911).

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire

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