Helge Nissen (5 September 1871 in Rydhave ved Holstebro – 5 October 1926 in Copenhagen) was a Danish operatic

bass-baritone A bass-baritone is a high-lying bass or low-lying "classical" baritone voice type which shares certain qualities with the true baritone voice. The term arose in the late 19th century to describe the particular type of voice required to sing thr ...

conductor Conductor or conduction may refer to: Music * Conductor (music), a person who leads a musical ensemble, such as an orchestra. * ''Conductor'' (album), an album by indie rock band The Comas * Conduction, a type of structured free improvisation ...

, voice teacher, and film actor who was associated with the Royal Danish Theatre from 1897 until his death in 1926. He notably created roles in the world premieres of two operas by composer Carl Nielsen: Abner in '' Saul og David'' (1902) and Henrik in ''

Maskarade ''Maskarade'' (''Masquerade'') is an opera in three acts by Carl Nielsen to a Danish libretto by Vilhelm Andersen, based on the comedy by Ludvig Holberg. It was first performed on 11 November 1906 at Royal Danish Theatre, Copenhagen. ''Maskarade' ...

'' (1906). His voice is preserved on a total of 70 recordings made with the

Pathé Pathé or Pathé Frères (, styled as PATHÉ!) is the name of various French people, French businesses that were founded and originally run by the Pathé Brothers of France starting in 1896. In the early 1900s, Pathé became the world's largest ...

, HMV and Deutsche Grammophon record companies from 1908 to 1914.

Life and career

Born in Rydhave near Holstebro, Nissen's brother was the opera singer Niels Frederik Nissen. He studied singing in Copenhagen with composer

Leopold Rosenfeld Leopold Rosenfeld (21 July 1849 – 19 July 1909) was a Danish composer and singing teacher. He was also a music critic at the newspapers ''Danneborg'', ''Musikbladet'' and ''Tidsskrift for Musik og Teater''. In 1889, he was titled professor. On ...

. He made his professional debut in 1897 at the Royal Danish Theatre (RDT) as Mephistopheles in Charles Gounod's '' Faust''. He continued to sing leading roles at the RDT until 1912 when he shifted his career away from singing towards work as a voice teacher, conductor and director at the RDT. Among the many roles he performed on the stage were several parts in operas by

Richard Wagner Wilhelm Richard Wagner ( ; ; 22 May 181313 February 1883) was a German composer, theatre director, polemicist, and conductor who is chiefly known for his operas (or, as some of his mature works were later known, "music dramas"). Unlike most op ...

, including Hans Sachs in ''

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 ...

'', Kaspar in '' Der Freischütz'', and Wotan in ''

The Ring Cycle (''The Ring of the Nibelung''), WWV 86, is a cycle of four German-language epic music dramas composed by Richard Wagner. The works are based loosely on characters from Germanic heroic legend, namely Norse legendary sagas and the ''Nibelung ...

''. Outside of the RDT, Nissen made guest appearances at several Scandinavian opera houses. He made his debut at the

Royal Swedish Opera Royal Swedish Opera ( sv, Kungliga Operan) is an opera and ballet company based in Stockholm, Sweden. Location and environment The building is located in the center of Sweden's capital Stockholm in the borough of Norrmalm, on the eastern side ...

in 1905. In 1909 he was committed to the

Royal Opera, London The Royal Opera is a British opera company based in central London, resident at the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden. Along with the English National Opera, it is one of the two principal opera companies in London. Founded in 1946 as the Cove ...

. In 1911 he toured North America along with the University of Copenhagen Chorus. Nissen was the third husband of Danish actress

Gudrun Houlberg Gudrun Houlberg (21 February 1889 – 14 January 1940) was a Danish actress who appeared in over 40 films from 1910 to 1934. She is remembered in particular for her roles in ''Klovnen'' (1917) and ''Grevindens ære'' (1919). Biography Born on 21 ...

. In 1921 he portrayed the title role in the film ''

Leaves from Satan's Book ''Leaves from Satan's Book'', also known as ''Leaves Out of the Book of Satan'' ( da, Blade af Satans bog), is a 1920 Danish fantasy film directed by Carl Theodor Dreyer and starring Helge Nissen as Satan. This was only the third film directed b ...

''. It was his only film appearance. In 1907 he was named a

Kongelige Kammersangere Kongelige Kammersangere or The Royal Chamber Singer is a prestigious award given to Danish Opera singers by the monarch. Only about 50 people have received the award since it was started in 1700. The first non-native Danish person who was appointed ...

. He committed suicide in 1926. He is buried in Holmens Cemetery in Copenhagen.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Nissen, Helge 1871 births 1926 deaths 19th-century Danish male opera singers Operatic bass-baritones People from Holstebro Municipality Burials at Holmen Cemetery 1926 suicides 20th-century Danish male opera singers Suicides in Denmark