Paul Bulß (19 December 1847 – 19 March 1902) was a German

baritone A baritone is a type of classical music, classical male singing human voice, voice whose vocal range lies between the bass (voice type), bass and the tenor voice type, voice-types. It is the most common male voice. The term originates from the ...

, mostly in opera but also in concert and recital, who appeared at leading court opera houses including Dresden, Berlin and Vienna. He appeared in title roles such as Mozart's

Don Giovanni ''Don Giovanni'' (; K. 527; full title: , literally ''The Rake Punished, or Don Giovanni'') is an opera in two acts with music by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart to an Italian libretto by Lorenzo Da Ponte. Its subject is a centuries-old Spanish legen ...

, Marschner's Hans Heiling, Rossini's

Barber A barber is a person whose occupation is mainly to cut, dress, groom, style and shave hair or beards. A barber's place of work is known as a barbershop or the barber's. Barbershops have been noted places of social interaction and public discourse ...

and Wagner's Holländer. He created roles in several world premieres, such as in Kienzl's '' Der Evangelimann'' and ''

Don Quixote , the full title being ''The Ingenious Gentleman Don Quixote of La Mancha'', is a Spanish novel by Miguel de Cervantes. Originally published in two parts in 1605 and 1615, the novel is considered a founding work of Western literature and is of ...

''.

Life

Born in the Birkholz estate,

Prignitz Prignitz () is a ''Kreis'' (district) in northwestern Brandenburg, in northeastern Germany. Neighboring districts, clockwise from the north, are Ludwigslust-Parchim (in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania), Ostprignitz-Ruppin (Brandenburg), Stendal (dist ...

district in

Brandenburg Brandenburg, officially the State of Brandenburg, is a States of Germany, state in northeastern Germany. Brandenburg borders Poland and the states of Berlin, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Lower Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, and Saxony. It is the List of Ger ...

,"Paul Bulß"
''

Meyers Konversations-Lexikon or was a major encyclopedia in the German language that existed in various editions, and by several titles, from 1839 to 1984, when it merged with the . Joseph Meyer (publisher), Joseph Meyer (1796–1856), who had founded the publishing hous ...

'', 1892 Bulß, son of the manor's owner, was discovered by his singing teacher Ferdinand Möhring at the

Neuruppin Neuruppin (, , in contrast to ":de:Alt Ruppin, Old Ruppin"; ; North Brandenburgisch dialect, Brandenburgisch: ''Reppin'') is a town in Brandenburg, Germany, the administrative seat of Ostprignitz-Ruppin district. It is the birthplace of the noveli ...

grammar school. He studied voice with Eduard Mantius in Vienna, Gustav Engel in Berlin and

Emil Goetze Emil Karl Goetze, also Emil Götze (19 July 1856 – 28 September 1901), was a German operatic tenor. Life Born in Leipzig, Göetze, student of the Dresden conservatory with Gustav Scharfe, where he first appeared on stage in October 1878, wa ...

in Leipzig. He made his debut as the Tsar in Lortzing's ''

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 p ...

'' at the municipal theatre in Lübeck in 1868. He worked at the

Cologne Opera The Cologne Opera (German language, German: Oper der Stadt Köln or Oper Köln) refers to both the main opera house in Cologne, Germany and its resident opera company. History of the company From the mid 18th century, opera was performed in the ...

from 1869, and at the Court Theatre in Kassel from 1870, where he remained until 1876. From Kassel, he made his first concert debut at the Leipzig

Gewandhaus Gewandhaus () is a concert hall in Leipzig, the home of the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra. Today's hall is the third to bear this name; like the second, it is noted for its fine acoustics. History The first Gewandhaus (''Altes Gewandhaus'') The ...

, and it was so successful that he became a member of the ensemble in 1876. He appeared there on 1 August 1876 in the title role of Wagner's ''

Der fliegende Holländer ' (''The Flying Dutchman''), Wagner-Werk-Verzeichnis, WWV 63, is a German-language opera, with libretto and music by Richard Wagner. The central theme is redemption through love. Wagner Conducting, conducted the premiere at the Königliches Hofthe ...

''. He won the favour of the audience, and the recognition of King

Albert of Saxony Albert of Saxony may refer to: * Albert, King of Saxony (1828–1902) * Albert I, Duke of Saxony (ca. 1175–1260) * Albert II, Duke of Saxony (ca. 1250–1298) * Albert III, Duke of Saxony (1443–1500) * Prince Albert of Saxony, Duke of Teschen ...

, who appointed him Royal

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

after only three years of service. Bulß was a member of the court theatre in Berlin from 1889 until his retirement in 1901. He appeared there as Tonio in the first production at the house of Leoncavallo's '' Der Bajazzo'' in 1882. He created the role of Johannes Freudhofer in Wilhelm Kienzl's '' Der Evangelimann'' in 1895, and the title of Kienzl's ''

'' in 1898. At the

Vienna State Opera The Vienna State Opera (, ) is a historic 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 ...

, he appeared as Escamillo in Bizet's ''

Carmen ''Carmen'' () is an opera in four acts by the French composer Georges Bizet. The libretto was written by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy, based on the novella of the same title by Prosper Mérimée. The opera was first performed by the O ...

'', Wolfram in ''

Tannhäuser Tannhäuser (; ), often stylized "The Tannhäuser", was a German Minnesinger and traveling poet. Historically, his biography, including the dates he lived, is obscure beyond the poetry, which suggests he lived between 1245 and 1265. His name ...

'', Luna in Verdi's '' Il trovatore'', and in the title roles of ''Zar und Zimmermann'' and Wagner's ''Der fliegende Holländer''. Bulß performed title roles such as Mozart's ''

'', Marschner's '' Hans Heiling'', Rossini's ''

The Barber of Seville ''The Barber of Seville, or The Useless Precaution'' ( ) is an ''opera buffa'' (comic opera) in two acts composed by Gioachino Rossini with an Italian libretto by Cesare Sterbini. The libretto was based on Pierre Beaumarchais's French comedy ' ...

'', and roles such as Wolfram in Wagner's ''

'', the Prince in '' Das Nachtlager in Granada'' and Renato in Verdi's '' Un ballo in maschera''. Bulß was also a concert singer and especially

lied In the Western classical music tradition, ( , ; , ; ) is a term for setting poetry to classical music. The term is used for any kind of song in contemporary German and Dutch, but among English and French speakers, is often used interchangea ...

er recitalist. He took part in the 1893 world premiere of Mahler's '' Des Knaben Wunderhorn'' in Hamburg. Guest performances took him to Austria, Holland, Switzerland, Russia, Denmark, Sweden and Norway. On a concert tour through Hungary, he died in Temesvar of the consequences of pneumonia, which he had contracted during the journey due to a cold.

Family

Bulß was married to Olga Eva Dirut (1852–1906). The educator and social politician (1876–1967) was their daughter."Bulß, Paul"

German National Library The German National Library (DNB; ) is the central archival library and national bibliographic centre for the Federal Republic of Germany. It is one of the largest libraries in the world. Its task is to collect, permanently archive, comprehens ...

Life

Family

References

Further reading