Albert Goldberg (8 June 1847 – 7 November 1905)
was a German operatic
baritone
A baritone is a type of classical male singing voice whose vocal range lies between the bass and the tenor voice-types. The term originates from the Greek (), meaning "heavy sounding". Composers typically write music for this voice in the r ...
,
opera director
Crossbreed is an American industrial metal band from Clearwater, Florida, United States, formed in 1996. They were signed with Artemis Records before being dropped from the label in 2003. The band released two EPs and three full-length albums b ...
and theatre manager.
Life
Goldberg was born in
Braunschweig
Braunschweig () or Brunswick ( , from Low German ''Brunswiek'' , Braunschweig dialect: ''Bronswiek'') is a city in Lower Saxony, Germany, north of the Harz Mountains at the farthest navigable point of the river Oker, which connects it to the Nor ...
.
His parents were Hirsch Goldberg (12 July 1807 in
Wolsztyn
Wolsztyn (german: Wollstein) is a town in western Poland, on the western edge of Greater Poland Voivodeship. It is the seat of Wolsztyn County, and of the smaller administrative district of Gmina Wolsztyn.
Geography
The town is situated within ...
– 10 June 1893 in Braunschweig),
hazzan
A ''hazzan'' (; , lit. Hazan) or ''chazzan'' ( he, חַזָּן , plural ; Yiddish ''khazn''; Ladino ''Hasan'') is a Jewish musician or precentor trained in the vocal arts who helps lead the congregation in songful prayer.
In English, this pr ...
of the
Jewish Community of Braunschweig and his wife Marianne (Golda Miriam), ''née'' Rothgießer (31 August 1818 in
Wschowa
Wschowa (pronounced , german: Fraustadt) is a town in the Lubusz Voivodeship in western Poland with 13,875 inhabitants (2019). It is the capital of Wschowa County and a significant tourist site containing many important historical monuments.
His ...
– 5 January 1894 in
Leipzig
Leipzig ( , ; Upper Saxon: ) is the most populous city in the German state of Saxony. Leipzig's population of 605,407 inhabitants (1.1 million in the larger urban zone) as of 2021 places the city as Germany's eighth most populous, as wel ...
).
[Reinhard Bein: ''They lived in Braunschweig. Biographical notes on the Jews buried in Brunswick (1797 to 1983).'' .] He had three siblings:
Jacques Goldberg (born 16 January 1861 in Braunschweig – 26 September 1934 Berlin), musician, actor, director and theatre manager, Golde Georgine (born 28 May 1850) and Joseph Julius (born 18 April 1856).
The theatre director and screenwriter
Heinz Goldberg
Heinz Goldberg (1891–1969) was a German screenwriter. He also directed two silent films.Mitchell p.170 Following the Nazi Party's rise to power in 1933, the Jewish Goldberg went into exile in several countries including Austria and the Soviet U ...
was his nephew.
He wanted to become a musician from his youth, but at the request of his parents he had to devote himself to the merchant's trade. After his apprenticeship in a Schwerin manufacturing business was over and his musical talents became more and more evident, he entered the
University of Music and Theatre Leipzig
The University of Music and Theatre "Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy" Leipzig (german: Hochschule für Musik und Theater "Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy" Leipzig) is a public university in Leipzig (Saxony, Germany). Founded in 1843 by Felix Mendelssohn ...
in 1865 to become a bandmaster.
However, especially as his voice developed accordingly during this time, he decided to become an opera singer. He made his first attempt on 2 May 1869 at the Court Theatre in Munich as Oberbrahmine in ''
L'Africaine
''L'Africaine'' (''The African Woman'') is an 1865 French ''grand opéra'' in five acts with music by Giacomo Meyerbeer and a libretto by Eugène Scribe. Meyerbeer and Scribe began working on the opera in 1837, using the title ''L'Africaine'', bu ...
''.
From there he found his way to the Stadttheater Main in 1870, to Bremen in 1871, Neustrelitz from 1871 to 1873, Strasbourg in 1874, Augsburg from 1875 to 1876 (in summer Berlin, Krolltheater) from where he was won by director
Max Staegemann to the Königsberg Stadttheater.
There he worked not only as the first baritone, but also as a director until 1 June 1880 and during this time gained such rich sympathies that he was even given the directorship of the city theatre, which he led for three years to the greatest satisfaction.
On 1 June 1883, he again followed a call from Staegemann, who had in the meantime taken over the Leipzig City Theatre, and accepted the position offered to him as head director of the opera. From this time until his death in Leipzig at the age of 58, he worked at this stage.
Goldberg's pupils included
Poldi Gersa and
Ernst Wachter.
Further reading
*
Ludwig Eisenberg: ''Großes biographisches Lexikon der Deutschen Bühne im XIX. Jahrhundert.'' List, Leipzig 1903, S. XXX
Numerized.
*
Herrmann A. L. Degener: '' Zeitgenossenlexikon.'' IVth edition. Degener, Leipzig 1909, .
*
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Goldberg, Albert
German operatic baritones
German opera directors
1847 births
1905 deaths
Musicians from Braunschweig
19th-century German male musicians