Heinrich Kreuzer (sometimes written as Kreutzer) (16 February 1819 – 26 October 1900) was a well-known Austrian Jewish opera singer.

Life

Kreuzer was born in Vienna and received his singing education at the Vienna Conservatory as well as from Giuseppe Ciccimarra. In 1835, he performed at the

Theater am Kärntnertor or (Carinthian Gate Theatre) was a prestigious theatre in Vienna during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Its official title was (Imperial and Royal Court Theatre of Vienna). History The theatre was built in 1709 to designs by Anto ...

in Vienna, 1836 in

Laibach Laibach () is a Slovenian avant-garde music group associated with the industrial, martial, and neo-classical genres. Formed in the mining town of Trbovlje (at the time in Yugoslavia) in 1980, Laibach represents the musical wing of the Neue ...

and further in

Brünn Brno ( , ; german: Brünn ) is a city in the South Moravian Region of the Czech Republic. Located at the confluence of the Svitava and Svratka rivers, Brno has about 380,000 inhabitants, making it the second-largest city in the Czech Republic ...

Frankfurt Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , " Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on it ...

Cologne Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 million inhabitants in the city proper and 3.6 millio ...

and

Mannheim Mannheim (; Palatine German: or ), officially the University City of Mannheim (german: Universitätsstadt Mannheim), is the second-largest city in the German state of Baden-Württemberg after the state capital of Stuttgart, and Germany's ...

. After two guest appearances in 1844 and 1847, he was engaged by the

Vienna Court Opera The Vienna State Opera (, ) is an opera house and opera company based in Vienna, Austria. The 1,709-seat Renaissance Revival venue was the first major building on the Vienna Ring Road. It was built from 1861 to 1869 following plans by August Si ...

as Principal Tenor on 19 May 1849 . He temporarily retired from singing on 31 March 1856 due to a

vocal cord In humans, vocal cords, also known as vocal folds or voice reeds, are folds of throat tissues that are key in creating sounds through vocalization. The size of vocal cords affects the pitch of voice. Open when breathing and vibrating for speec ...

ailment, but returned to perform there from 1 April 1861 to 31 October 1866. In 1867, he took over the directorship of the Court Theatre in

Coburg Coburg () is a town located on the Itz river in the Upper Franconia region of Bavaria, Germany. Long part of one of the Thuringian states of the Wettin line, it joined Bavaria by popular vote only in 1920. Until the revolution of 1918, it ...

and in 1870 that of the municipal theatre in

Koblenz Koblenz (; Moselle Franconian language, Moselle Franconian: ''Kowelenz''), spelled Coblenz before 1926, is a German city on the banks of the Rhine and the Moselle, a multi-nation tributary. Koblenz was established as a Roman Empire, Roman mili ...

. Kreuzer died on 26 October 1900 in

Baden bei Wien Baden (German for " Baths"; Central Bavarian: ''Bodn''), unofficially distinguished from other Badens as Baden bei Wien (Baden near Vienna), is a spa town in Austria. It serves as the capital of Baden District in the state of Lower Austria. Loc ...

His daughters, Elisabeth ("Elise") and Marie were also opera singers. Elise's relationship with

Prince Paul of Thurn and Taxis , caption = Created Herr von Fels by King Ludwig II on 19 June 1868 , image = Paul von Thurn und Taxis 24 Jan 1864.jpg , spouse = , issue = Heinrich von Fels (1867–1955) , house =Thurn and Taxis , father ...

, which started in October 1866, caused a major scandal. Their eventual

morganatic marriage Morganatic marriage, sometimes called a left-handed marriage, is a marriage between people of unequal social rank, which in the context of royalty or other inherited title prevents the principal's position or privileges being passed to the spous ...

resulted in her husband having to give up his title and rank and change his name to "Paul von Fels". His younger daughter, Marie (born on 11 March 1839 in

Salzburg Salzburg (, ; literally "Salt-Castle"; bar, Soizbuag, label=Bavarian language, Austro-Bavarian) is the List of cities and towns in Austria, fourth-largest city in Austria. In 2020, it had a population of 156,872. The town is on the site of the ...

, died on 7 January 1904 in

Ulm Ulm () is a city in the German state of Baden-Württemberg, situated on the river Danube on the border with Bavaria. The city, which has an estimated population of more than 126,000 (2018), forms an urban district of its own (german: link=no, ...

Wilhelm Kosch Wilhelm Franz Josef Kosch (2 October 1879 – 20 December 1960) was an Austrian historian of literature and theatre and lexicographer. The lexicon that he conceived and later revised several times, the ' is a references in the field of German lit ...

Deutsches Theater-Lexikon The ''Deutsche Theater-Lexikon'' is, according to its subtitle, a "biography and bibliography manual". The encyclopedia lists stage actors from the German-speaking area. The Deutsche Nationalbibliothek leads the ''Deutsche Theater-Lexikon'' un ...

''. married the actor Ludwig Barnay in 1864. The couple divorced in 1880.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kreuzer, Heinrich Austrian operatic tenors 19th-century Austrian Jews Musicians from Vienna 1819 births 1900 deaths Jewish opera singers 19th-century Austrian male opera singers