Viktor Madin, originally ''Viktor Madincea'', (20 December 1876 – 19 March 1968) was an Austrian opera singer (
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 ...
) of Romanian descent. He was a member of the ensemble of the
Vienna State 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 S ...
for more than fifty years.
Biography
Madin was born in
Lugoj
Lugoj (; hu, Lugos; german: Lugosch; sr, Лугош, Lugoš; bg, Лугож; tr, Logoş) is a list of cities and towns in Romania, city in Timiș County, Romania. The Timiș River divides the city into two halves, the so-called "Romanian Lugoj" ...
, a city in
TimiÈ™ County
Timiș () is a county ('' județ'') of western Romania on the border with Hungary and Serbia, in the historical region of Banat, with the county seat at Timișoara. It is the westernmost and the largest county in Romania in terms of land area. T ...
,
Banat
Banat (, ; hu, Bánság; sr, Банат, Banat) is a geographical and historical region that straddles Central and Eastern Europe and which is currently divided among three countries: the eastern part lies in western Romania (the counties of T ...
, belonging today to
Romania
Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...
.
He was one of the longest serving singers of the
Vienna State 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 S ...
. In the years 1908 to 1959 he sang more than 250 roles in more than 7,000 performances, mainly in smaller and medium parts. He is regarded as the singer with the highest number of performances ever in any opera house. He was named
Kammersänger
Kammersänger (male) or Kammersängerin (female), abbreviated Ks. or KS, is a German honorific title for distinguished singers of opera and classical music. It literally means "chamber singer". Historically, the title was bestowed by princes or ...
, an honour awarded to distinguished State Opera singers. He was especially successful in the Da Ponte/Mozart roles of Masetto in ''
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 Antonio in ''
Le nozze di Figaro
''The Marriage of Figaro'' ( it, Le nozze di Figaro, links=no, ), K. 492, is a ''commedia per musica'' (opera buffa) in four acts composed in 1786 by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, with an Italian libretto written by Lorenzo Da Ponte. It premie ...
'' as well as Faninal in ''
Der Rosenkavalier
(''The Knight of the Rose'' or ''The Rose-Bearer''), Op. 59, is a comic opera in three acts by Richard Strauss to an original German libretto by Hugo von Hofmannsthal. It is loosely adapted from the novel ''Les amours du chevalier de Faublas'' ...
'' by Hofmannsthal and Strauss. Sometimes he also sang major parts such as Klingsor in ''
Parsifal
''Parsifal'' ( WWV 111) is an opera or a music drama in three acts by the German composer Richard Wagner and his last composition. Wagner's own libretto for the work is loosely based on the 13th-century Middle High German epic poem ''Parzival'' ...
'', Alberich in ''
Der Ring des Nibelungen
(''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 '' Nibe ...
'' and Don Alfonso in ''
Così fan tutte
(''All Women Do It, or The School for Lovers''), K. 588, is an opera buffa in two acts by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. It was first performed on 26 January 1790 at the Burgtheater in Vienna, Austria. The libretto was written by Lorenzo Da Ponte w ...
''. In ''
Der Rosenkavalier
(''The Knight of the Rose'' or ''The Rose-Bearer''), Op. 59, is a comic opera in three acts by Richard Strauss to an original German libretto by Hugo von Hofmannsthal. It is loosely adapted from the novel ''Les amours du chevalier de Faublas'' ...
'' over a period of forty-five years (1911-1956) he switched between five roles - 89 times Lakai der Marschallin, once the Notario, 265 times Haushofmeister bei der Feldmarschallin, 201 times Polizeikommissär and 52 times Faninal. In 1955 he was awarded the
Decoration of Honour for Services to the Republic of Austria
The Decoration of Honour for Services to the Republic of Austria (german: Ehrenzeichen für Verdienste um die Republik Österreich) is a state decoration of the Republic of Austria. It is divided into 15 classes and is the highest award in the A ...
, and in 1966 he was appointed Honorary Member of the Vienna State Opera.
From 1922 to 1946 he was a regular guest at the
Salzburg Festival
The Salzburg Festival (german: Salzburger Festspiele) is a prominent festival of music and drama established in 1920. It is held each summer (for five weeks starting in late July) in the Austrian town of Salzburg, the birthplace of Wolfgang Amad ...
. In the first opera performance of the Festival – ''Don Giovanni'', conducted by
Richard Strauss
Richard Georg Strauss (; 11 June 1864 – 8 September 1949) was a German composer, conductor, pianist, and violinist. Considered a leading composer of the late Romantic and early modern eras, he has been described as a successor of Richard Wag ...
on August 14, 1922 – he sang Masetto. Through all the political changes – from
First Republic,
Ständestaat
The Federal State of Austria ( de-AT, Bundesstaat Österreich; colloquially known as the , "Corporate State") was a continuation of the First Austrian Republic between 1934 and 1938 when it was a one-party state led by the clerical fascist Fat ...
,
Third Reich
Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...
and
Second Republic – he sang the role of the gardener Antonio in all the Salzburg productions of ''Le nozze di Figaro'' from 1922 to 1946.
Madin died in Vienna.
Literature
* ''Madin, Viktor'' in Kutsch/Riemens: ''
Großes Sängerlexikon
''Großes Sängerlexikon'' (''Biographical Dictionary of Singers'', literally: Large singers' lexicon) is a single-field dictionary of singers in classical music, edited by Karl-Josef Kutsch and Leo Riemens and first published in 1987. The first ...
'', S. 15041 f (vgl. ''Sängerlexikon'' Vol. 3, p. 2160), Verlag K.G. Saur, elektronische Ausgabe der dritten, erweiterten Auflage,
Digitale Bibliothek Vol. 33.
* Isabella Ackerl / Friedrich Weissensteiner: Österreichisches Personenlexikon der Ersten und Zweiten Republik, Wien: Ueberreuter 1992
* Franz Hadamowsky / Alexander Witeschnik: Hundert Jahre Wiener Oper am Ring
ubiläumsausstellung Wien: Aktionskomitee 100 Jahr-Feier der Wiener Staatsoper 1969, p. 106
External links
Vienna State Opera list of performances of Victor Madin
Wien Geschichte Wiki short biography of the singer
Recordings with Viktor Madinat the Salzburg Festival 1937 in the Online Archive of the
Österreichischen Mediathek
{{DEFAULTSORT:Madin, Viktor
1876 births
1968 deaths
Singers from Vienna
20th-century Austrian male opera singers
Singers from Austria-Hungary
Austrian people of Romanian descent
Österreichischer Kammersänger