The Danish singer Lauritz Melchior is universally acknowledged to be the greatest Wagnerian heroic tenor of all time. He received his training in the Wagnerian roles under the tutelage of Wagner’s widow, Cosima—the daughter of Franz Liszt—and his performances remained faithful to this tradition until his retirement in 1950.
Melchior was born in Copenhagen, Denmark, on March 20, 1890. His father was a schoolmaster and amateur singer. His mother died when he was only one month old, and he was raised by the Melchiors’ housekeeper, who used the royalties from a cookbook she had written to pay for Lauritz’s lessons. In 1908, the school that was the family’s support was forced to close, and Melchior had to terminate his studies except for his lessons in voice, diction, and acting at the Royal Opera School. To support himself, he worked as a clerk in a music store.
At this time, Melchior was singing baritone roles. He alternated studies with periods in the Royal Danish Guard, and made his debut as Germont in La Traviata with a private opera company. After singing the role of Silvio in Leoncavallo’s I Pagliacci at the Berlin Stadtische Oper, Melchior secured a three-year contract at that house in 1913, which enabled him to marry his first wife, Inger Holst-Rasmussen.
Melchior studied at this time with the Danish tenor Vilhem Herold, who gave h im free lessons for a year in order to develop the upper part of his voice. He tried out his new tenor range in the title role of Wagner’s Tannhäuser, but the performance was not well received. However, his portrayal of Faninal in Richard STRAUSS’ Der Rosenkavalier was praised by the composer, and he was invited to London to sing in the Promenade Concerts of 1920. The novelist Hugh Walpole heard h im and was so impressed that he paid for Melchior’s lessons with Victor Beigel (whom he credited with his later success), supported Melchior’s family while he was studying, and financed his recital debut in 1921.
Melchior returned triumphantly that year to the Royal Opera as Tannhäuser, but realised that his poor German diction would inevitably limit his career, so he spent the next year studying in Munich. He made his London debut at the Covent Garden opera house in May 1924 as Siegmund in Wagner’s Die Walküre, and auditioned for the Bayreuth Festival, making his debut there on July 23, 1924, singing the roles of Siegmund and Parsifal.
Appearances followed in Berlin and Vienna, and he was invited to sing at the Metropolitan Opera House in New York in 1926. For the next 20 years, the Metropolitan was to be Lauritz Melchior’s second home. He was ultimately to give 551 performances there, partnering the famed sopranos Frida Lieder, Lotte Lehmann, and Kirsten FLAGSTAD, as well as his American protege, Helen Traubel.
Melchior’s popularity stretched well beyond the stage. From 1949 onward, he was a frequent guest on the Fred Allen Comedy Hour, and also appeared in four films, Thrill of a Romance (1945), Two Sisters from Boston (1946), This Time for Keeps (1947), and Luxury Liner (1948).
Melchior retired from the Metropolitan i n 1950, and sang his last Siegmund with the Danish Radio Symphony to celebrate his 70th birthday in I960. He died on March 18, 1973, leaving a quarter of his estate to the Melchior Heldentenor Foundation for the training of young singers.
Jane Prendergast
Emmons, Shirlee. Tristanissimo: The Authorized Biography of Heroic Tenor Lauritz Melchior (New York: Schirmer Books, 1990)..
Smith, Betty. Journey to Valhalla: The Lauritz Melchior Story ( New York: Paragon House, 1992).
Kirsten Flagstad and Lauritz Melchior: Legendary Repertoire;
The Radio Years: Lauritz Melchior Sings America; Wagner: Lohengrin; Der Ring des Nibelungen; Tristan und Isolde.