Eduard Haken (22 March 1910 – 12 January 1996,
Prague
Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate ...
) was a Czech
opera
Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a librett ...
tic
bass
Bass or Basses may refer to:
Fish
* Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species
Music
* Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in the bass range:
** Bass (instrument), including:
** Acoustic bass gui ...
who had a lengthy career at the
National Theatre in
Prague
Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate ...
during the 20th century. Although he mostly performed within his own nation, Haken did appear at a number of important international music festivals and
opera house
An opera house is a theatre building used for performances of opera. It usually includes a stage, an orchestra pit, audience seating, and backstage facilities for costumes and building sets.
While some venues are constructed specifically for o ...
s in
Europe
Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...
while traveling with the National Theatre. He was also active as a concert soloist and
recital
A concert is a live music performance in front of an audience. The performance may be by a single musician, sometimes then called a recital, or by a musical ensemble, such as an orchestra, choir, or band. Concerts are held in a wide variety an ...
ist.
Haken possessed a dark and glossy voice that was agile and powerful enough to assail a wide array of parts from the dexterous
bel canto
Bel canto (Italian for "beautiful singing" or "beautiful song", )—with several similar constructions (''bellezze del canto'', ''bell'arte del canto'')—is a term with several meanings that relate to Italian singing.
The phrase was not associat ...
repertoire to heavier dramatic roles. A fine actor with a good sense of comic timing, he also excelled in the
basso buffo
A bass is a type of Classical music, classical male singing Human voice, voice and has the lowest vocal range of all voice types. According to ''The New Grove Dictionary of Opera'', a bass is typically classified as having a vocal range extendi ...
repertoire. His voice is preserved on numerous opera recordings made with the
Supraphon
Supraphon Music Publishing is a Czech record label, oriented mainly towards publishing classical music and popular music, with an emphasis on Czech and Slovak composers.
History
The Supraphon name was first registered as a trademark in 1932. T ...
record label.
Biography
Born in Šklin, Ukraine to parents of Czech descent, Haken initially pursued a career as a doctor and
in fact passed his medical examinations in 1932. While a student he took singing lessons with D. Levytsky in Prague. Eventually his love of music won over and he decided to abandon his medical career for a singing career.
Haken made his professional opera debut in a small role at the
National Theatre in
Prague
Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate ...
in 1936, singing minor parts there for the next two years. In 1938 he became a principal singer at the Oldřich Stibor Theatre in Olomouc where he remained for three years. He returned to the National Theatre in 1941 where he remained for over the next five decades.
After his return to the National Theatre in 1941, Haken quickly became one of the most popular artists in the city. In his early years he developed a strong artistic partnership with conductor
Vaclav Talich who greatly admired the young the bass. He was a much loved Kecal in ''
The Bartered Bride
''The Bartered Bride'' ( cz, Prodaná nevěsta, links=no, ''The Sold Bride'') is a comic opera in three acts by the Czech composer Bedřich Smetana, to a libretto by Karel Sabina. The work is generally regarded as a major contribution towards the ...
''. Among his chief roles at the theatre were Basilio in ''
The Barber of Seville
''The Barber of Seville, or The Useless Precaution'' ( it, Il barbiere di Siviglia, ossia L'inutile precauzione ) is an ''opera buffa'' in two acts composed by Gioachino Rossini with an Italian libretto by Cesare Sterbini. The libretto was base ...
'', Beneš in ''
Dalibor'', Daland in ''
The Flying Dutchman
The ''Flying Dutchman'' ( nl, De Vliegende Hollander) is a legendary ghost ship, allegedly never able to make port, but doomed to sail the seven seas forever. The myth is likely to have originated from the 17th-century Golden Age of the Dut ...
'', Mephistopheles in ''
Faust
Faust is the protagonist of a classic German legend based on the historical Johann Georg Faust ( 1480–1540).
The erudite Faust is highly successful yet dissatisfied with his life, which leads him to make a pact with the Devil at a crossroads ...
'', Mumlal in ''
The Two Widows
''The Two Widows'' ( cz, Dvĕ vdovy) is a two-act Czech opera by Bedřich Smetana based on the libretto of Emanuel Züngel. The libretto is based on Jean Pierre Felicien Mallefille's one-act play ''Les deux veuves''. The opera was composed betwe ...
'', Paloucký in ''
The Kiss'', Prince Gremin in ''
Eugene Onegin
''Eugene Onegin, A Novel in Verse'' ( pre-reform Russian: ; post-reform rus, Евгений Оне́гин, ромáн в стихáх, p=jɪvˈɡʲenʲɪj ɐˈnʲeɡʲɪn, r=Yevgeniy Onegin, roman v stikhakh) is a novel in verse written by Ale ...
'', Ramfis in ''
Aida
''Aida'' (or ''Aïda'', ) is an opera in four acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Antonio Ghislanzoni. Set in the Old Kingdom of Egypt, it was commissioned by Cairo's Khedivial Opera House and had its première there on 24 December ...
'', Rocco in ''
Fidelio
''Fidelio'' (; ), originally titled ' (''Leonore, or The Triumph of Marital Love''), Op. 72, is Ludwig van Beethoven's only opera. The German libretto was originally prepared by Joseph Sonnleithner from the French of Jean-Nicolas Bouilly, with ...
'', Van Bett in ''
Zar und Zimmermann
''Zar und Zimmermann'' (''Tsar and Carpenter'') is a comic opera in three acts, music by Albert Lortzing, libretto by the composer after Georg Christian Römer's ''Der Bürgermeister von Saardam, oder Die zwei Peter'', itself based on the French pl ...
'', Vodník in ''
Rusalka
In Slavic folklore, the rusalka (plural: rusalky/rusalki; ; pl, rusałka}) is a typically feminine entity, often malicious toward mankind and frequently associated with water, with counterparts in other parts of Europe, such as the French Melus ...
'', Volfram Olbramovič in ''
The Brandenburgers in Bohemia
''The Brandenburgers in Bohemia'' ( cz, Braniboři v Čechách) is a three-act opera, the first by Bedřich Smetana. The Czech libretto was written by Karel Sabina, and is based on events from Czech history. The work was composed in the years 1862 ...
'', Zechariah in ''
Nabucco
''Nabucco'' (, short for Nabucodonosor ; en, " Nebuchadnezzar") is an Italian-language opera in four acts composed in 1841 by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Temistocle Solera. The libretto is based on the biblical books of 2 Kings, ...
'', and the title role in ''
A Life for the Tsar
''A Life for the Tsar'' ( rus, "Жизнь за царя", italic=yes, Zhizn za tsarya ) is a "patriotic-heroic tragic opera" in four acts with an epilogue by Mikhail Glinka. During the Soviet era the opera was known under the name ''Ivan Susanin' ...
''. One of his last appearances at the house was in 1992 in a production of
František Škroup
František Jan Škroup (; 3 June 1801 in Osice near Hradec Králové – 7 February 1862 in Rotterdam) was a Czech composer and conductor. His brother Jan Nepomuk Škroup was also a successful composer and his father, Dominik Škroup, and other ...
's ''Columbus''.
During his career Haken toured often with the National Theatre, making appearances throughout Europe. A highlight of these travels included performances of ''Rusalka'' at both the 1963
Holland Festival
The Holland Festival () is the oldest and largest performing arts festival in the Netherlands. It takes place every June in Amsterdam. It comprises theatre, music, opera and modern dance. In recent years, multimedia, visual arts, film and archite ...
and the 1964
Edinburgh Festival
__NOTOC__
This is a list of arts and cultural festivals regularly taking place in Edinburgh, Scotland.
The city has become known for its festivals since the establishment in 1947 of the Edinburgh International Festival and the Edinburgh Fe ...
. In 1971 he was the bass soloist in
Leoš Janáček's ''
Glagolitic Mass
The ''Glagolitic Mass'' (, '' cu, script=latn, Mša glagolskaja''; also called ''Missa Glagolitica'' or ''Slavonic Mass'') is a composition for soloists (soprano, contralto, tenor, bass), double chorus, organ and orchestra by Leoš Janáček. The ...
'' at the
Salzburg Festival
The Salzburg Festival (german: Salzburger Festspiele) is a prominent festival of music and drama established in 1920. It is held each summer (for five weeks starting in late July) in the Austrian town of Salzburg, the birthplace of Wolfgang Amad ...
,
reprising a role he had filled in the 1964 Ančerl/CzechPO recording of this Mass.
In 1953 Haken was awarded the
Stalin Prize for his contribution to music and was named a National Artist.
For many years he was married to actress
Marie Glázrová
Marie may refer to:
People Name
* Marie (given name)
* Marie (Japanese given name)
* Marie (murder victim), girl who was killed in Florida after being pushed in front of a moving vehicle in 1973
* Marie (died 1759), an enslaved Cree person in T ...
. He died in Prague in 1996 at the age of 85. He was posthumously awarded a
Thalia Award
The Czech ''Actors' Association'' has presented its annual Thalia Awards (Czech: Ceny Thálie) since 1993. The award is named after Thalia, the muse of comedy. The 2016 ceremony was broadcast by Česká televize and radio station .
Thalia Awards a ...
shortly after his death. He is buried at the
Vyšehrad cemetery.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Haken, Eduard
1910 births
1996 deaths
Czech expatriates in Ukraine
Czechoslovak male opera singers
Operatic basses
Recipients of the USSR State Prize
Burials at Vyšehrad Cemetery
Recipients of the Thalia Award