Peter Cornelius - 1895 - Peter Elfelt - Royal Danish Library

Peter Cornelius (4 January 1865 in Asminderød – 30 December 1934 in Snekkersten) was a Danish

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 libr ...

singer.

Biography

Born in 1865, Cornelius made his professional opera debut at the

Royal Danish Theatre The Royal Danish Theatre (RDT, Danish: ') is both the national Danish performing arts institution and a name used to refer to its old purpose-built venue from 1874 located on Kongens Nytorv in Copenhagen. The theatre was founded in 1748, first s ...

in 1892 as baritone in the role of Escamillo in Georges Bizet's '' Carmen''. He was a member of that theatre until his retirement from the stage in 1922. In 1899, he began performing tenor roles while still performing many roles from the baritone repertoire. After 1902 he was heard frequently in the leading Wagnerian

heldentenor A heldentenor (; English: ''heroic tenor''), earlier called tenorbariton, is an operatic tenor voice, most often associated with Wagnerian repertoire. It is distinct from other tenor '' fächer'' by its endurance, volume, and dark timbre, which ...

parts such as Lohengrin, Parsifal, Siegfried, Siegmund, Walther, Tannhäuser and Tristan. He appeared as a guest artist with major

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 fo ...

s throughout Europe.

References

1865 births 1934 deaths Danish operatic tenors Operatic baritones 19th-century Danish male opera singers People from Fredensborg Municipality {{Denmark-opera-singer-stub