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appearances than he was for his formerly brilliant virtuosity. Around 1950 he abandoned the heavy heroic roles, returning to his former showpiece roles of
Telramund, Holländer and Amfortas. Janssen made his final appearance with the Metropolitan Opera as Kothner on 25 April 1952, during the company's spring tour in Boston.
150:
From 1940 onwards
Janssen also sang regularly at Buenos Aires and with the San Francisco Opera between 1945 and 1951. His final guest appearances in Europe as Amonasro, Jochanaan, Kurwenal and Orest were made at the Vienna Staatsoper in June 1950. He began teaching a small number of singing pupils in
46:
of
Swedish origin, he claimed to be related to the painter Victor Emil Janssen and the writer Werner Hasenclever. After serving as an officer in the German army between 1914-1918, Janssen initially took up studying law in Berlin. He then took vocal instruction from Oscar Daniel and made his debut at
101:
and Legge's sister, the
Janssens then settled temporarily in Vienna where Janssen sang with the State Opera in the 1937 and 1938 seasons. Despite successes - "the audience idolises me and the newspapers are full of the highest praise" - Janssen recognised he had no long-term future in Austria, and
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company, first appearing with them at the beginning of 1939 on their tour of
Philadelphia; he would sing with the company until 1952. At this point he also began to change his repertory. Up to this time Janssen had been known for his brilliant high range more than for his abilities as a heroic
146:
at the Met as the first heroic bass-baritone of the house; this meant the majority of
Janssen's Metropolitan performances would now be of these heavy roles, to the greater detriment of his voice. By the end of the 1940s he was becoming more conspicuous for being indisposed or having to cancel
155:(granddaughter of Richard Wagner), who like Janssen had fled the Nazi regime. Janssen and his wife Erna had acquired US citizenship in 1946/1947, and following his retirement from the Metropolitan Opera they remained in New York City, where Janssen continued to work as a singing teacher.
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would say, "whenever he was allowed to sing one of the truly lyrical baritone roles in the Wagner repertoire, there was nobody better. His meltingly lovely song to the evening star in the third act of
Tannhauser could steal the show almost completely from any tenor but
96:
Janssen reportedly disliked the Nazi regime that took power in
Germany in 1933. In 1937 he fell foul of the regime, and was warned he should leave the country immediately. Initially travelling with his wife Erna to Britain, where he was found temporary accommodation by
122:. Now in Philadelphia, he performed this role again, the first of many performances of heavy bass-baritone roles he would sing with the company. Though he continued to sing his old roles, as well as occasional roles such as Don Fernando in Beethoven's
118:
baritone, and had focused his attention on the more lyrical
Wagnerian roles such as Wolfram. In Buenos Aires in 1938, as an experiment he sang his first a heavier and more demanding bass-baritone role, that of the Wanderer in
55:, and became a member of the regular opera company there. Initially focusing on Italian roles in Berlin, he began expanding into Wagnerian roles during the 1923–1924 season in Berlin, singing Wolfram in
852:
Prieberg published the analysis of his private archives under the title
Handbook 1933-1945 German musicians in the electronic self-publishing as a resource on a CD-ROM as a pdf file.
134:, a shortage of suitable singers also pressured him into singing those heavier bass-baritone Wagner parts to which his voice was less well suited: for example Hans Sachs in
904:
142:. It was difficult for him to handle the low tessitura of these roles, forcing him to use resources of power that strained his voice. In 1943 he succeeded
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Rosenthal, Harold and Warrack, John: The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Opera, second edition, Oxford University Press, London, 1980.
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At the Metropolitan Opera, Janssen was cast overwhelmingly in Wagnerian roles. He was known for his interpretations of Kurwenal in
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Strauss, Herbert A.; Röder, Werner; Caplan, Hannah; Radvany, Egon; Möller, Horst; Schneider, Dieter Marc (2014-02-07).
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Strauss, Herbert A.; Röder, Werner; Caplan, Hannah; Radvany, Egon; Möller, Horst; Schneider, Dieter Marc (2014-02-07).
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began reaching out to connections in the United States. Narrowly escaping Austria in March 1938 ahead of the
248:
Janssen made commercial gramophone records of some of his roles. There is a recording derived from the 1930
740:, Volume 11 (1947), Page 3: "Herbert Janssen and his wife Erna have become American citizens this month."
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with him performing Wolfram's music, while he sang the role of Don Pisarro in a 1944 radio broadcast of
106:, he temporarily settled in France, from where he visited South America to give some performances in
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New York City from 1939 onwards, including (from 1941) an acquaintance from his time at Bayreuth,
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69:(now Sopot, Poland). Between 1925 and 1937, Janssen centered his career on Berlin, Zoppot, the
856:
Kesting, Jürgen: Die großen Sänger des 20. Jahrhunderts, 1993, ECON Verlag GmbH, Düsseldorf,
93:
in Brussels (1934, 1935), and Dresden, Munich, The Hague (1929), and Barcelona (1928, 1929).
65:. In 1925 he made a career breakthrough, again singing Wolfram, this time at the Waldoper in
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of the 20th century who had a career in Europe and the United States.
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by turning down an invitation to join Hitler for dinner at Bayreuth.
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647:"Herbert Janssen- Bio, Albums, Pictures – Naxos Classical Music"
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417:"Herbert Janssen- Bio, Albums, Pictures – Naxos Classical Music"
342:"Herbert Janssen- Bio, Albums, Pictures – Naxos Classical Music"
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Originally, Janssen sang an extensive repertory. He appeared in
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Once in the United States, Janssen became a member of the
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conducting. These recordings have all been re-issued on
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110:, before eventually emigrating to the United States.
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Janssen had been married to Erna Carstens since 1932
493:According to one account, he had deeply offended
905:Emigrants from Nazi Germany to the United States
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777:Fifty-five Years in Five Acts: My Life in Opera
470:Fifty-five Years in Five Acts: My Life in Opera
773:
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73:, and the annual grand opera season at the
774:Varnay, Astrid; Arthur, Donald (2000).
467:Varnay, Astrid; Arthur, Donald (2000).
183:. He also sang major baritone roles of
895:20th-century German male opera singers
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807:. Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG.
717:. Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG.
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804:The Arts, Sciences, and Literature
714:The Arts, Sciences, and Literature
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205:. He also performed Escamillo in
236:. Of his singing, his colleague
30:) was a leading German operatic
831:The Grove Book of Opera Singers
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136:Die Meistersinger von NĂĽrnberg
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828:Macy, Laura Williams (2008).
684:Carr, Jonathan (2011-02-03).
571:Macy, Laura Williams (2008).
523:Walter Legge: Words and Music
443:Walter Legge: Words and Music
365:Macy, Laura Williams (2008).
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187:, including Conte di Luna in
301:Macy, Laura Williams (Ed.),
286:Macy, Laura Williams (Ed.),
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130:and The Speaker in Mozart's
51:on 5 May 1922 in Schreker's
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834:. Oxford University Press.
577:. Oxford University Press.
371:. Oxford University Press.
167:roles such as the Count in
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138:and Wotan/the Wanderer in
880:German operatic baritones
126:, Jochanaan in Strauss's
140:Der Ring des Nibelungen
26:– 3 June 1965 in
900:Musicians from Cologne
520:Legge, Walter (1998).
440:Legge, Walter (1998).
89:in Paris (1931–1934),
22:(22 September 1892 in
755:www.preiserrecords.at
690:. Faber & Faber.
665:www.preiserrecords.at
627:www.preiserrecords.at
603:www.preiserrecords.at
397:www.preiserrecords.at
322:www.preiserrecords.at
193:as well as Renato in
42:The son of a wealthy
526:. Psychology Press.
446:. Psychology Press.
196:Un ballo in maschera
16:German opera singer
221:Tristan und Isolde
180:Zar und Zimmermann
170:Le nozze di Figaro
115:Metropolitan Opera
83:Vienna State Opera
49:Berlin State Opera
841:978-0-19-533765-5
814:978-3-11-097027-2
787:978-1-55553-455-4
751:"Herbert Janssen"
724:978-3-11-097027-2
697:978-0-571-26096-6
661:"Herbert Janssen"
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599:"Herbert Janssen"
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533:978-0-415-92108-4
480:978-1-55553-455-4
453:978-0-415-92108-4
393:"Herbert Janssen"
378:978-0-19-533765-5
318:"Herbert Janssen"
250:Bayreuth Festival
230:) and Wolfram in
153:Friedelind Wagner
75:Royal Opera House
71:Bayreuth Festival
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274:References
233:Tannhäuser
91:La Monnaie
62:Tannhäuser
254:Beethoven
159:Repertory
120:Siegfried
104:Anschluss
38:Biography
780:. UPNE.
473:. UPNE.
243:Melchior
227:Parsifal
175:Lortzing
32:baritone
28:New York
259:Fidelio
173:and as
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165:Mozart
128:Salome
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262:with
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