Felix Decken (12 February 1864 – 10 February 1928)Paul S. Ulrich, ''Biographisches Verzeichnis für Theater, Tanz und Musik.'' Fundstellennachweis aus deutschsprachigen Nachschlagewerken und Jahrbüchern, 2 Bde., Berlin 1997, vol. 1, p. 360) was a German operatic buffo tenor, actor and stage director.

Career

Born in

Wesel Wesel () is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is the capital of the Wesel district. Geography Wesel is situated at the confluence of the Lippe River and the Rhine. Division of the city Suburbs of Wesel include Lackhausen, Obrighove ...

, Decken began his stage career in

Rostock Rostock (), officially the Hanseatic and University City of Rostock (german: link=no, Hanse- und Universitätsstadt Rostock), is the largest city in the German state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and lies in the Mecklenburgian part of the state, c ...

in 1892. He was a member of the opera in Elberfeld (now

Wuppertal Wuppertal (; "''Wupper Dale''") is, with a population of approximately 355,000, the seventh-largest city in North Rhine-Westphalia as well as the 17th-largest city of Germany. It was founded in 1929 by the merger of the cities and to ...

) from 1893 to 1896, then moved Hofbühne in

Stuttgart Stuttgart (; Swabian: ; ) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Baden-Württemberg. It is located on the Neckar river in a fertile valley known as the ''Stuttgarter Kessel'' (Stuttgart Cauldron) and lies an hour from the ...

er , where he made his debut as Beppo in Auber's ''

Fra Diavolo Fra Diavolo (lit. Brother Devil; 7 April 1771–11 November 1806), is the popular name given to Michele Pezza, a famous guerrilla leader who resisted the French occupation of Naples, proving an "inspirational practitioner of popular insurrect ...

''. He was known for buffo parts, both for his singing as for acting with humour. His parts included Gomez in Kreutzer's ''

Das Nachtlager in Granada ''Das Nachtlager in Granada'' (''The Night Camp in Granada'') is a romantic opera in two acts by Conradin Kreutzer. The libretto is by based on Johann Friedrich Kind's 1818 drama of the same name. Performance history The premiere of a first vers ...

'', Georg in Lortzing's ''

Der Waffenschmied ''Der Waffenschmied'' (The Blacksmith, Armourer) is an opera (Singspiel) in three acts by Albert Lortzing. The German-language libretto was by the composer after Friedrich Wilheim von Ziegler's ''Liebhaber und Nebenbuhler in einer Person'' (Lover ...

'' and other parts in Lortzing operas, David in Wagner's ''

Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg (; "The Master-Singers of Nuremberg"), WWV 96, is a music drama, or opera, in three acts, by Richard Wagner. It is the longest opera commonly performed, taking nearly four and a half hours, not counting two breaks between acts, and is traditio ...

'', Mime in his '' Der Ring des Nibelungen'', and Eisenstein in '' Fledermaus'' by Johann Strauss. In 1907 he was awarded the title of a royal

Kammersänger Kammersänger (male) or Kammersängerin (female), abbreviated Ks. or KS, is a German honorific title for distinguished singers of opera and classical music. It literally means "chamber singer". Historically, the title was bestowed by princes or ...

. In 1912 he received the Gold Medal for Art and Science. He remained in Stuttgart, working after

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

also as ''Spielleiter'' (

stage director A theatre director or stage director is a professional in the theatre field who oversees and orchestrates the mounting of a theatre production such as a play, opera, dance, drama, musical theatre performance, etc. by unifying various endeavors a ...

) until his death.

Literature

* Ludwig Eisenberg
Felix Decken
in ''Großes biographisches Lexikon der Deutschen Bühne im XIX. Jahrhundert''.

Paul List Pawel M. List ( he, פאול ליסט, russian: Павел Лист; Odessa, 9 September 1887 – London? 1954) was a Russian Jewish chess player, who emigrated to Britain in 1937 but never took British citizenship. He was born in Odessa, Ukr ...

, Leipzig 1903, p. 179 * Genossenschaft Deutscher Bühnen-Angehöriger (ed.), ''Deutsches Bühnen-Jahrbuch 1929'', Berlin, 1929, p 99

References

External links

Felix Decken
(in German) Operissimo {{DEFAULTSORT:Decken, Felix German operatic tenors German musical theatre directors 1864 births 1928 deaths People from Wesel