Mit Hilfe meines Lesers "trishengrin" aus New Hampshire, USA, kann ich hier die kompletten Aufnahmen präsentieren, die Jaques Urlus auf niederländisch in der as-Serie gemacht hat. Es fällt auf, dass kein einziger Wagner-Titel bei den Aufnahmen ist. Sie entstanden im Sommer 1923 (ich schätze im August), kurz bevor er für den Rest des Jahres auf Amerika-Tournee ging. Jaques Urlus (1867-1935) hatte eine lange Karriere und machte Aufnahmen zwischen 1901 (auf Pathé) und 1927 (zwei elektrische Aufnehmen auf Odeon). Die spätakustischen Aufnahmen, die hier präsentiert werden, werden im Sängerlexikon von Kutsch/Riemens nicht erwähnt.
all recorded summer 1923
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| Jaques Urlus als Tristan. Er sang diese Rolle zuletzt in seinem 65. Lebensjahr! |
Jaques Urlus - as-Recordings
1315as Tosca (Puccini): En de sterren zij straalden (E lucevan le stelle) H22001
1316as Pagliacci (Leoncavallo): Thans spelen (Vesti la giubba) H22002
1320as Faust (Gounod): Gegroet, verblijf (Cavatina) H22009
1321as Tosca (Puccini): Welk zachte harmonie (Recondita armonia) H22000
1322as Trovatore (Verdi): O, gij mijn een'ge hoop (Ah! si ben mio) H22004
1323as Aida (Verdi): O waar'ik veldheer thans (Celeste Aida) H22006
1324as Carmen (Bizet): Bloempje, det gij mij hebt gegeven (La fleur) H22005
1325as Huguenots (Meyerbeer): Rein als de sneeuw (Plus blanche) H22008
1326as Africaine (Meyerbeer): O Paradijs H22007
1327as Cavalleria Rusticana (Mascagni): Moeder de wijn was al te vurig H22003
1328as Stabat Mater (Rossini): Cujus animam J22011, H22011?
1329as Ave Maria (Gounod) J22012, H22012?
all recorded summer 1923
Instead of posting the entry of the Sängerlexikon of Kutsch/Riemens I quote from the CD inlay of the album Symposium 1433 about Urlus, which gives a solid biographical scetch. It is a pity that this fine record project Symposium does not exist anymore, but I was lucky to buy about 50 albums from an Ebay seller who sold off the remains of their CD stock. Here is the text, the author is not given.
Jacques Urlus was born in 1867 at Hergenrath, a small town near Aix-la-
Chapelle, then in Germany now in Belgium. However, he was Dutch by parentage,
his father being from Limburg and his mother from Tilburg. When he was one
year old the family moved to his mother's birthplace. He went to the Fraterschool
until he was 12 years old and he was a boy soprano in the local church choir. His
father had a good baritone voice which he exercised with a wide range of operatic
arias. The boy, deciding on a career in music, was able to study the rudiments and
to buy a cornet, a piano being beyond the family's means, which he was allowed to
practice in an outhouse at the bottom of the garden. After school he was
apprenticed to a blacksmith and at 15 joined his father at a steel mill in Utrecht.
The following year a friend took him to the Fidelio Club where, after only two
weeks, he was invited to sing a solo in a performance of Haydn's Die Jahreszeiten.
After a further year he moved to the choir of the Minnebroeder Kerk, but the fair
there was largely Gregorian chant, which did not appeal to him. Hence, a further
move, this time to the Augustinerkerk, where he was able to take part in the great
masses of Haydn, Beethoven and Mozart. There being still no piano at home,
practice was regulated with a tuning fork.
At 19 military service called him to Zeist. An officer hearing him arranged
for him to enter the Brussels Conservatoire, but, fundless, he could not avail
himself of the offer. On completion of service he returned to Utrecht and joined
five music societies with the informal arrangement that he sang solos in lieu of
membership subscriptions, but he still had to find money for outfit and fares. On
being asked to sing for the Association of Church Choirs he said that his fee would
be 15 Guilders. It was granted. For his next engagement, a cavalry reunion, he
asked for 35 Guilders. This also was granted. The cavalry paid him scant attention,
but the pianist accompanying him thought him worth recommending to the local
opera manager and its leading baritone. Promises were not fulfilled. In 1893 he
married Hendrika Jacobs, who remembered him favourably from his days at the
Augustinerkerk. Her words of encouragement helped him forward and her work as
a dressmaker helped their finances. There were four sons and one daughter. The
quality of his singing was again brought to the notice of the local opera manager.
This time he was asked to audition for the conductor Kees van der Linden. After
some delay a contract resulted for him to sing the roles of Manrico and Wilhelm
Meister, but with the clause that he must take lessons.
The counsel of the majority of his acquaintances was that, with a young
family, he should stick to his trade. However his wife urged him to accept. He did
accept and studied for three months with Hugo Nolthenius. On the basis of a 20
Guilders weekly advance he was then able to move to Amsterdam for three years of
study under Antoon Averkamp and Cornélie van Zanten. He took the opportunity
of reading and studying intensively at the university library and the state museum.
In 1887 Urlus made his début on the concert platform in Utrecht. His début
in opera followed in 1894 when he appeared as Beppo in Pagliacci as a member of
the Netherlands Opera in Amsterdam. His first real success was an appearance in
Joseph by Méhul in which he replaced an inadequate tenor. He travelled with the
company all over the Netherlands gaining much experience. However, at the end
of the season, when the management announced a general cut of 25 %, he
auditioned at the Royal Flemish Opera of Antwerp. He was offered 300 francs per
month, but could not move, so he said, without consulting his wife. In fact he
showed the new contract to his Dutch employers who promptly re-employed him at
his previous salary. This sort of manoeuvre became a fairly regular feature of
Urlus's career, whilst, be it noted, he never actually broke a contract. Such
manoeuvres did not always work; on a later occasion he misplayed his hand
thereby losing an important chance to sing in Berlin.
Urlus showed his worth when the company's first tenor, Desiré Pauwels, fell
ill he was able to sing Tannhäuser at short notice in German. At this time he began
to sing on the concert platform and also he was able at last to buy a piano. When,
in the following season Pauwels decamped to the French Opera at the Hague, Urlus
was given a rise and told to prepare Lohengrin. He also appeared in Aïda, Carmen,
Faust and Die Walküre. During his fourth season ( 1897/1898) he sang with Sigrid
Arnoldson and Francisco d'Andrade. Perhaps becoming aware of their fees, hebegan to look around.
Urlus made his début abroad as Lohengrin at Hanover. Afterwards he and
Cato Engelen-Sewing, a colleague in the company, travelled on to Bayreuth to
audition for Cosima Wagner. No offer resulted, but on the way home he stopped at
Frankfurt-am-Main to sing for the director Claer. He was at once offered a contract
for 5 years at 20,000 Marks per annum, but as the director would not agree to leave
of three months if invited to sing at Bayreuth, he returned to Amsterdam and much
lesser pay. In 1900 he moved to Leipzig with the position of first tenor. The
director, Staegemann undertook to arrange guest appearances for him at Berlin,
Dresden and Vienna. In his first season he sang Nureddin (Barbier von Bagdad),
Oberon, Samson, Siegfried, Siegmund, Tristan, and Walther. At this time also he
sang the Evangelist in the St. Matthew Passion under Willem Mengelberg. He
continued to sing in Leipzig well into the 1920s. In his autobiography he
particularly recalled singing parts of the Ring Cycle in 1905 with Lilli Lehmann,
Nikisch conducting. By then she had silver hair but her voice was still magnificent.
She took work very seriously; including singing in full voice at all rehearsals. A
disagreement with Mahler precluded appearances in Vienna until 1908.
Urlus sang all over Europe, particularly in German and Dutch speaking areas
in which he sang the languages accordingly. His Covent Garden début was as
Tristan under Sir Thomas Beecham in 1910 and until 1914 he appeared every
season in the big Wagnerian roles. He first appeared at Bayreuth in 1911 singing
Siegmund with Minnie Saltzmann-Stevens as Sieglinde, Ellen Gulbranson as
Brünnhilde and Walter Soomer as Wotan. Siegfried Wagner thought extremely
highly of him. Tristan in Boston marked the occasion of Urlus's American début in
1912. Isolde was sung by Gadski. However, a greater impression was made on
Urlus by Nordica who sang succeeding performances. Sight-seeing in New York's
February weather brought on a cold so that his début at the Metropolitan Opera in
1913 was spoiled. Subsequent appearances, however, gained for him great praise
for voice, musicianship and acting. In 1914 the copyright on Parsifal ran out
allowing Urlus to sing the first performances in Leipzig and Covent Garden. A
critic at this time complained that wear was evident in Urlus's voice, but if it was it
was not reported or evident elsewhere.
1914. After covering for von Bary as Siegfried in Bayreuth, Urlus collected
his belongings from Leipzig and returned home. In October he sailed for New
York on a four-year contract with Gatti-Casazza. The list of operas in which he
appeared includes: Fidelio, Die Götterdämmerung, Lohengrin, Die Meistersinger,
Parsifal, Siegfried, Tannhäuser, Tristan und Isolde, Die Walküre and Die
Zauberflöte. His concert programmes included, besides Lieder, arias from operas
in which he not appear, L'Africaine, for example, and also arias from oratorios such
as Elijah. When the United States entered the war transatlantic travel became
dangerous and Gatti Casazza advised Urlus to remain there with his family. Urlus,
however, decided to return to Holland. The journey took a month and it became
impossible to return to the United States in time for the new season. Gatti Casazza,
performances of German operas being cancelled, was doubtless relieved to have an
excuse to inform Urlus that his contract was annulled.
In 1918 Urlus began to rebuild his career. He sang Das Lied von der Erde in
a performance conducted by Willem Mengelberg and he was soon engaged for 20
guest appearances per annum at Leipzig. Next he was asked to appear on the
concert platform at Copenhagen, Gothenborg and Stockholm. These appearances
led to guest performances as Canio and Lohengrin which he sang in Dutch and
German respectively. After the Armistice he sang at the Volksoper, Berlin until
inflation took hold. In 1921 Mengelberg mounted a major Mahler Festival in
Amsterdam. Urlus was engaged for Das klagende Lied, Lieder eines fahrenden
Gesellen and the eighth symphony.
He returned to the United States in 1923 as a member the German company
at the Manhattan Opera House. The takings at the box office were such that at the
end of the originally booked three weeks the company moved to the Lexington
Theatre for further four weeks. On his return to Europe Urlus sang at Zoppot and
the following year he was at Covent Garden for the first post-war Grand Opera
season in which he shared Siegmund and Tristan with Melchior and Soot.
At the start of 1926 Urlus was heard by wireless from Berlin and in the
1926/1927 season he appeared at the Berlin State Opera some 24 times;
at the age of 63 he was still singing Florestan, Parsifal, Siegfried and Tristan. After an
appearance as Walther von Stolzing in 1932 there were a few concerts, the last
including Das Lied von der Erde. He was to have sung in Munich in the summer
of 1933, but on arrival there was a brush with officials over the position of his
name on posters. Apparently the Führer and Minister for Culture were to attend
and would expect the names of German artists to take precedence. Urlus got back
into his car and drove home.
Urlus underwent an operation in 1934 and he died suddenly in 1935. A
square in the town of Leiden is named after him.
Frequent appearances in Wagnerian roles led to Urlus being thought a
Heldentenor, but he was equally at home as Tamino, Faust and George Brown (La
Dame Blanche) and records from Euryanthe and Les Huguenots suggest, he was
perhaps nearer to Slezak or Knote then to Melchior. Be that as it may, in the big
Wagnerian roles he and Lauritz Melchior are generally considered the supreme
artists of the twentieth century. If Melchior is now the best remembered it is on
account of his making many more records than Urlus and, moreover, mainly by the
electric process. Both of them sing; there is not the smallest hint of Bayreuth-bark.
(Jean de Reszke and Hermann Winkelmann were essentially 19th-century artists
and in any case their recordings are so limited in number and are so unsatisfactory
technically that legitimate comparisons are not possible.)
Chapelle, then in Germany now in Belgium. However, he was Dutch by parentage,
his father being from Limburg and his mother from Tilburg. When he was one
year old the family moved to his mother's birthplace. He went to the Fraterschool
until he was 12 years old and he was a boy soprano in the local church choir. His
father had a good baritone voice which he exercised with a wide range of operatic
arias. The boy, deciding on a career in music, was able to study the rudiments and
to buy a cornet, a piano being beyond the family's means, which he was allowed to
practice in an outhouse at the bottom of the garden. After school he was
apprenticed to a blacksmith and at 15 joined his father at a steel mill in Utrecht.
The following year a friend took him to the Fidelio Club where, after only two
weeks, he was invited to sing a solo in a performance of Haydn's Die Jahreszeiten.
After a further year he moved to the choir of the Minnebroeder Kerk, but the fair
there was largely Gregorian chant, which did not appeal to him. Hence, a further
move, this time to the Augustinerkerk, where he was able to take part in the great
masses of Haydn, Beethoven and Mozart. There being still no piano at home,
practice was regulated with a tuning fork.
At 19 military service called him to Zeist. An officer hearing him arranged
for him to enter the Brussels Conservatoire, but, fundless, he could not avail
himself of the offer. On completion of service he returned to Utrecht and joined
five music societies with the informal arrangement that he sang solos in lieu of
membership subscriptions, but he still had to find money for outfit and fares. On
being asked to sing for the Association of Church Choirs he said that his fee would
be 15 Guilders. It was granted. For his next engagement, a cavalry reunion, he
asked for 35 Guilders. This also was granted. The cavalry paid him scant attention,
but the pianist accompanying him thought him worth recommending to the local
opera manager and its leading baritone. Promises were not fulfilled. In 1893 he
married Hendrika Jacobs, who remembered him favourably from his days at the
Augustinerkerk. Her words of encouragement helped him forward and her work as
a dressmaker helped their finances. There were four sons and one daughter. The
quality of his singing was again brought to the notice of the local opera manager.
This time he was asked to audition for the conductor Kees van der Linden. After
some delay a contract resulted for him to sing the roles of Manrico and Wilhelm
Meister, but with the clause that he must take lessons.
The counsel of the majority of his acquaintances was that, with a young
family, he should stick to his trade. However his wife urged him to accept. He did
accept and studied for three months with Hugo Nolthenius. On the basis of a 20
Guilders weekly advance he was then able to move to Amsterdam for three years of
study under Antoon Averkamp and Cornélie van Zanten. He took the opportunity
of reading and studying intensively at the university library and the state museum.
In 1887 Urlus made his début on the concert platform in Utrecht. His début
in opera followed in 1894 when he appeared as Beppo in Pagliacci as a member of
the Netherlands Opera in Amsterdam. His first real success was an appearance in
Joseph by Méhul in which he replaced an inadequate tenor. He travelled with the
company all over the Netherlands gaining much experience. However, at the end
of the season, when the management announced a general cut of 25 %, he
auditioned at the Royal Flemish Opera of Antwerp. He was offered 300 francs per
month, but could not move, so he said, without consulting his wife. In fact he
showed the new contract to his Dutch employers who promptly re-employed him at
his previous salary. This sort of manoeuvre became a fairly regular feature of
Urlus's career, whilst, be it noted, he never actually broke a contract. Such
manoeuvres did not always work; on a later occasion he misplayed his hand
thereby losing an important chance to sing in Berlin.
Urlus showed his worth when the company's first tenor, Desiré Pauwels, fell
ill he was able to sing Tannhäuser at short notice in German. At this time he began
to sing on the concert platform and also he was able at last to buy a piano. When,
in the following season Pauwels decamped to the French Opera at the Hague, Urlus
was given a rise and told to prepare Lohengrin. He also appeared in Aïda, Carmen,
Faust and Die Walküre. During his fourth season ( 1897/1898) he sang with Sigrid
Arnoldson and Francisco d'Andrade. Perhaps becoming aware of their fees, hebegan to look around.
Urlus made his début abroad as Lohengrin at Hanover. Afterwards he and
Cato Engelen-Sewing, a colleague in the company, travelled on to Bayreuth to
audition for Cosima Wagner. No offer resulted, but on the way home he stopped at
Frankfurt-am-Main to sing for the director Claer. He was at once offered a contract
for 5 years at 20,000 Marks per annum, but as the director would not agree to leave
of three months if invited to sing at Bayreuth, he returned to Amsterdam and much
lesser pay. In 1900 he moved to Leipzig with the position of first tenor. The
director, Staegemann undertook to arrange guest appearances for him at Berlin,
Dresden and Vienna. In his first season he sang Nureddin (Barbier von Bagdad),
Oberon, Samson, Siegfried, Siegmund, Tristan, and Walther. At this time also he
sang the Evangelist in the St. Matthew Passion under Willem Mengelberg. He
continued to sing in Leipzig well into the 1920s. In his autobiography he
particularly recalled singing parts of the Ring Cycle in 1905 with Lilli Lehmann,
Nikisch conducting. By then she had silver hair but her voice was still magnificent.
She took work very seriously; including singing in full voice at all rehearsals. A
disagreement with Mahler precluded appearances in Vienna until 1908.
Urlus sang all over Europe, particularly in German and Dutch speaking areas
in which he sang the languages accordingly. His Covent Garden début was as
Tristan under Sir Thomas Beecham in 1910 and until 1914 he appeared every
season in the big Wagnerian roles. He first appeared at Bayreuth in 1911 singing
Siegmund with Minnie Saltzmann-Stevens as Sieglinde, Ellen Gulbranson as
Brünnhilde and Walter Soomer as Wotan. Siegfried Wagner thought extremely
highly of him. Tristan in Boston marked the occasion of Urlus's American début in
1912. Isolde was sung by Gadski. However, a greater impression was made on
Urlus by Nordica who sang succeeding performances. Sight-seeing in New York's
February weather brought on a cold so that his début at the Metropolitan Opera in
1913 was spoiled. Subsequent appearances, however, gained for him great praise
for voice, musicianship and acting. In 1914 the copyright on Parsifal ran out
allowing Urlus to sing the first performances in Leipzig and Covent Garden. A
critic at this time complained that wear was evident in Urlus's voice, but if it was it
was not reported or evident elsewhere.
1914. After covering for von Bary as Siegfried in Bayreuth, Urlus collected
his belongings from Leipzig and returned home. In October he sailed for New
York on a four-year contract with Gatti-Casazza. The list of operas in which he
appeared includes: Fidelio, Die Götterdämmerung, Lohengrin, Die Meistersinger,
Parsifal, Siegfried, Tannhäuser, Tristan und Isolde, Die Walküre and Die
Zauberflöte. His concert programmes included, besides Lieder, arias from operas
in which he not appear, L'Africaine, for example, and also arias from oratorios such
as Elijah. When the United States entered the war transatlantic travel became
dangerous and Gatti Casazza advised Urlus to remain there with his family. Urlus,
however, decided to return to Holland. The journey took a month and it became
impossible to return to the United States in time for the new season. Gatti Casazza,
performances of German operas being cancelled, was doubtless relieved to have an
excuse to inform Urlus that his contract was annulled.
In 1918 Urlus began to rebuild his career. He sang Das Lied von der Erde in
a performance conducted by Willem Mengelberg and he was soon engaged for 20
guest appearances per annum at Leipzig. Next he was asked to appear on the
concert platform at Copenhagen, Gothenborg and Stockholm. These appearances
led to guest performances as Canio and Lohengrin which he sang in Dutch and
German respectively. After the Armistice he sang at the Volksoper, Berlin until
inflation took hold. In 1921 Mengelberg mounted a major Mahler Festival in
Amsterdam. Urlus was engaged for Das klagende Lied, Lieder eines fahrenden
Gesellen and the eighth symphony.
He returned to the United States in 1923 as a member the German company
at the Manhattan Opera House. The takings at the box office were such that at the
end of the originally booked three weeks the company moved to the Lexington
Theatre for further four weeks. On his return to Europe Urlus sang at Zoppot and
the following year he was at Covent Garden for the first post-war Grand Opera
season in which he shared Siegmund and Tristan with Melchior and Soot.
At the start of 1926 Urlus was heard by wireless from Berlin and in the
1926/1927 season he appeared at the Berlin State Opera some 24 times;
at the age of 63 he was still singing Florestan, Parsifal, Siegfried and Tristan. After an
appearance as Walther von Stolzing in 1932 there were a few concerts, the last
including Das Lied von der Erde. He was to have sung in Munich in the summer
of 1933, but on arrival there was a brush with officials over the position of his
name on posters. Apparently the Führer and Minister for Culture were to attend
and would expect the names of German artists to take precedence. Urlus got back
into his car and drove home.
Urlus underwent an operation in 1934 and he died suddenly in 1935. A
square in the town of Leiden is named after him.
Frequent appearances in Wagnerian roles led to Urlus being thought a
Heldentenor, but he was equally at home as Tamino, Faust and George Brown (La
Dame Blanche) and records from Euryanthe and Les Huguenots suggest, he was
perhaps nearer to Slezak or Knote then to Melchior. Be that as it may, in the big
Wagnerian roles he and Lauritz Melchior are generally considered the supreme
artists of the twentieth century. If Melchior is now the best remembered it is on
account of his making many more records than Urlus and, moreover, mainly by the
electric process. Both of them sing; there is not the smallest hint of Bayreuth-bark.
(Jean de Reszke and Hermann Winkelmann were essentially 19th-century artists
and in any case their recordings are so limited in number and are so unsatisfactory
technically that legitimate comparisons are not possible.)
