Sebastian Binder (1792 – 15 January 1845) was an Austrian operatic tenor.

Life

Binder was born 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 ...

in 1792. His career began in Vienna, in the chorus at the

Theater an der Wien The is a historic theatre in Vienna located on the Left Wienzeile in the Mariahilf district. Completed in 1801, the theatre has hosted the premieres of many celebrated works of theatre, opera, and symphonic music. Since 2006, it has served prima ...

and 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 Ant ...

. He was subsequently a soloist 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 ...

and

Graz Graz (; sl, Gradec) is the capital city of the Austrian state of Styria and second-largest city in Austria after Vienna. As of 1 January 2021, it had a population of 331,562 (294,236 of whom had principal-residence status). In 2018, the popul ...

, and from 1815 to 1818 appeared at 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 ...

."Binder, Sebastian"
''Oesterreichisches Musiklexikon online''. Retrieved 9 May 2021. From 1822 to 1829 he was engaged at the

Estates Theatre The Estates Theatre or Stavovské divadlo is a historic theater in Prague, Czech Republic. The Estates Theatre was annexed to the National Theatre in 1948 and currently draws on three artistic ensembles, opera, ballet, and drama, which perform a ...

in Prague. During this period he made guest appearances in

Leipzig Leipzig ( , ; Upper Saxon: ) is the most populous city in the German state of Saxony. Leipzig's population of 605,407 inhabitants (1.1 million in the larger urban zone) as of 2021 places the city as Germany's eighth most populous, as wel ...

Budapest Budapest (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Hungary. It is the ninth-largest city in the European Union by population within city limits and the second-largest city on the Danube river; the city has an estimated population ...

and

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

. In 1825 he married the actress Margarethe von der Klogen; they were divorced in 1836."Binder, Sebastian"
'

Carl-Maria-von-Weber-Gesamtausgabe The ''Carl-Maria-von-Weber-Gesamtausgabe'' (short ''WeGA'') is a scientific-critical edition of all works of the composer Carl Maria von Weber, published by the Schott Music publishing house in Mainz. Content The edition, which is sponsored ...

''. Retrieved 9 May 2021. After his time in Prague he was engaged at the Court Opera in

Dresden Dresden (, ; Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; wen, label=Upper Sorbian, Drježdźany) is the capital city of the German state of Saxony and its second most populous city, after Leipzig. It is the 12th most populous city of Germany, the fourth larg ...

and at the Court Opera in Vienna; he made guest appearances in other cities. In Vienna he became very successful, and was regarded as a rival to the celebrated opera singer Franz Wild. His success was due to the quality of his voice rather than his appearance, since his figure was not effective in heroic roles. Excessive drinking affected the sonority of his voice, and ended his operatic career. ''Großes biographisches Lexikon der deutschen Bühne im XIX. Jahrhundert''. Leipzig 1903. Pages 97–98
/ref> From 1842 he was a singing teacher in Budapest; he died there in 1845.

Roles

Roles played included Adolar in Weber's opera ''

Euryanthe ''Euryanthe'' ( J. 291, Op. 81) is a German grand heroic-romantic opera by Carl Maria von Weber, first performed at the Theater am Kärntnertor in Vienna on 25 October 1823.Brown, p. 88 Though acknowledged as one of Weber's most important operas, ...

'' and Huon in Weber's ''

Oberon Oberon () is a king of the fairies in medieval and Renaissance literature. He is best known as a character in William Shakespeare's play ''A Midsummer Night's Dream'', in which he is King of the Fairies and spouse of Titania, Queen of the Fair ...

'' (both premieres in Prague of the operas); also Don Ottavio in Mozart's ''

Don Giovanni ''Don Giovanni'' (; K. 527; Vienna (1788) 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 Spanis ...

'' and Tamino in Mozart's ''

The Magic Flute ''The Magic Flute'' (German: , ), K. 620, is an opera in two acts by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart to a German libretto by Emanuel Schikaneder. The work is in the form of a ''Singspiel'', a popular form during the time it was written that inclu ...

''.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Binder, Sebastian 1792 births 1845 deaths Austrian operatic tenors 19th-century Austrian male opera singers Male singers from the Austrian Empire