Robert Leonhardt (December 27, 1872 – February 2, 1923) was an Austrian operatic
baritone
A baritone is a type of classical male singing voice whose vocal range lies between the bass and the tenor voice-types. The term originates from the Greek (), meaning "heavy sounding". Composers typically write music for this voice in the r ...
who sang several notable roles with the
New York Metropolitan Opera
The Metropolitan Opera (commonly known as the Met) is an American opera company based in New York City, resident at the Metropolitan Opera House at Lincoln Center, currently situated on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. The company is operat ...
between 1913 and 1922. He made numerous recordings for major record labels, both in Europe and in the United States.
Biography
Leonhardt was born in 1872 in
Linz
Linz ( , ; cs, Linec) is the capital of Upper Austria and third-largest city in Austria. In the north of the country, it is on the Danube south of the Czech border. In 2018, the population was 204,846.
In 2009, it was a European Capital of ...
. His operatic debut was in 1898, in
Linz
Linz ( , ; cs, Linec) is the capital of Upper Austria and third-largest city in Austria. In the north of the country, it is on the Danube south of the Czech border. In 2018, the population was 204,846.
In 2009, it was a European Capital of ...
.
For four years he found permanent employment at the
German Theatre in
Prague
Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate ...
starting in 1905.
Specializing in
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 ...
ian roles,
he sang in
Brno
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 ...
from 1909 to 1911, and from 1911 until 1913 with the
Vienna Volksoper
The Vienna Volksoper (''Volksoper'' or ''Vienna People's Opera'') is an opera house in Vienna, Austria. It produces three hundred performances of twenty-five German language productions of opera, operetta, musicals, and ballet, during an annual s ...
while also guesting with the
Vienna Imperial Opera in 1909 and the Berlin
Gura Summer Opera in 1910.
In October 1913 it was announced that Leonhardt had joined the New York Metropolitan opera. Sailing from
Bremen
Bremen (Low German also: ''Breem'' or ''Bräm''), officially the City Municipality of Bremen (german: Stadtgemeinde Bremen, ), is the capital of the German state Free Hanseatic City of Bremen (''Freie Hansestadt Bremen''), a two-city-state consis ...
, he endured a difficult voyage before arriving in the U.S. on November 6. He first appeared on stage for his new employer in December in the role of Peter in
Engelbert Humperdinck's opera ''
Hänsel und Gretel''.
Receiving critical acclaim for his work in this role, he would appear in Met productions over the course of the next nine years. He was expected to appear in an expanded role at the met, but world circumstances would prevent this. Beginning in December 1917 he billed himself as "Robert Leonard" to distance himself from his Germanic heritage.
Nevertheless, Leonhardt, a citizen of
Austria
Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...
, was dropped by the New York Met in April 1918 because of his status as an
enemy alien
In customary international law, an enemy alien is any native, citizen, denizen or subject of any foreign nation or government with which a domestic nation or government is in conflict and who is liable to be apprehended, restrained, secured and ...
despite continued critical praise.
The opera's manager, Mr. Gatti, expressed his regret at having to make such a move. Leonhardt's wife and children resided in Vienna for the duration of the
war
War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militias. It is generally characterized by extreme violence, destruction, and mortality, using regular o ...
.
After the war his employment recommenced with the Met and he was performing on stage again as of November 1920.
Here he continued to perform until shortly before his death.
He developed an illness that lasted for some time, and never recovered. Robert Leonhardt died at St. Mark's Hospital in New York City on February 2, 1923.
Performance style
Reviews of Leonhardt's performances are wide-ranging. He has been noted for a "dark, steely, throaty bass" with mundane performance, although this is perhaps due to Leonhardt being out of his voice's comfort zone regarding range. Conversely, he was noted for having a "luscious and lovely Italian voice" with a splendid, spontaneous sense of humor.
Operatic roles
United States
Recordings
Leonhardt's career are a recording artist may be more important than his performing career. He recorded many popular songs, as well as operatic arias.
His recording career began in 1900 for the
Gramophone Company
The Gramophone Company Limited (The Gramophone Co. Ltd.), based in the United Kingdom and founded by Emil Berliner, was one of the early recording companies, the parent organisation for the ''His Master's Voice (HMV)'' label, and the European ...
, recording prolifically for them through 1905. Many of these recordings were issued in the Standard German Catalogue. Several European recordings also appeared on the International Zonophone and Homokord labels. From 1903 to 1905 he also made records for the European Columbia branch.
He recorded
cylinders for the Edison company before coming to the United States, and these were marketed in the U.S. to the German-speaking population. After changing his residency to the United States, he continued his recording career with Columbia Records from 1915 through 1920. Although promoted as from the "Metropolitan Opeara Co.", not all of his recordings were operatic and like the Edison cylinders, his records were marketed to German-speaking Americans, in their E-prefix ethnic catalog, and not to the general public. An exception is Record #A2053, to which the prestigious tri-color banner label was applied. This record was released in 1916, and an announcement was made in the English-speaking trade press,
but no other records by Leonhardt appeared in this series. His final recordings were made for Victor in 1921 and 1922, also released in their ethnic series. Collectors of operatic recordings were instructed to seek out these ethnic selections of Leonhardt's.
Discography
(incomplete)
Note: All Columbia listings are U.S. releases.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Leonhardt, Robert
1877 births
1923 deaths
Columbia Records artists
Edison Records artists
Victor Records artists
Musicians from Linz
Austrian operatic baritones
19th-century Austrian male opera singers
20th-century Austrian male opera singers
Emigrants from Austria-Hungary to the United States