Michael Raucheisen (10 February 1889,

Rain, Swabia Rain (also: ''Rain (Lech)'') is a Town#Germany, town in the Donau-Ries district, in Bavaria, Germany. It is situated on the river Lech (river), Lech, close to its confluence with the Danube, 11 km east of Donauwörth. Rain is on the B16 road ...

- 27 May 1984,

Beatenberg Beatenberg is a municipality in the Interlaken district of the canton of Bern in Switzerland. History Beatenberg is first mentioned in 1275 as ''super rupes''. In 1281 it was mentioned as ''ob den fluen'' and in 1357 as ''Sant Beaten berge ...

) was a German

pianist A pianist ( , ) is an individual musician who plays the piano. Since most forms of Western music can make use of the piano, pianists have a wide repertoire and a wide variety of styles to choose from, among them traditional classical music, ja ...

and song

accompanist Accompaniment is the part (music), musical part which provides the rhythmic and/or harmony (music), harmonic support for the melody or main themes of a song or instrumental piece. There are many different styles and types of accompaniment in ...

Life and career

Music was inherited, for the young Michael. His father, by vocation a master-glazier, was organist, church choir leader and musical pedagogue. The musical development of his only son was so important to the family that they left the small town in which they lived. From 1902 Raucheisen lived in Munich, and from 1920 until the end of his pianistic activity in 1958, in Berlin. He studied at the Munich High School for Music. Around 1906 he played first violin at the Prinzregententheater and was organist in St. Michael. In 1912 he founded the musical Matinees which have become famous. From the beginning of the 1920s until the end of the Second World War he was song accompanist for many singers, including

Frida Leider Frida Leider (18 April 1888 – 4 June 1975) was a German operatic soprano. Leider was a dramatic soprano. Her most famous roles were Wagner's Isolde and Brünnhilde, Beethoven's Fidelio, Mozart's Donna Anna, and Verdi's Aida and Leonora. She ...

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Elisabeth Schwarzkopf Dame Olga Maria Elisabeth Friederike Schwarzkopf, (9 December 19153 August 2006) was a German-born Austro-British soprano. She was among the foremost singers of lieder, and is renowned for her performances of Viennese operetta, as well as the op ...

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Karl Erb Karl Erb (13 July 1877 – 13 July 1958) was a German tenor who made his career first in opera and then in oratorio and lieder recital. He excelled in all these genres, and before 1920 gave classic performances of key roles in modern works, and c ...

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and

Helge Rosvaenge Helge Rosvaenge (born Helge Anton Rosenvinge Hansen, August 29, 1897June 17, 1972) was a Danish-born operatic tenor whose career was centred on Germany and Austria, before, during and after World War II. His last name is sometimes spelled Roswaen ...

, to mention only a few of the most prominent figures. As an innovation he played his accompaniments with the piano lid open, in order to obtain a better tonal balance between the voice and the instrument. In 1933 he married the soprano

Maria Ivogün Maria Ivogün (18 November 1891 in Budapest – 3 October 1987 in Beatenberg, Switzerland) was a distinguished soprano singer of Hungarian origin. She was an especially outstanding interpreter of the works of Mozart: her recording of the aria ...

, following her divorce from Erb. From 1933 he strove to create a complete catalogue of German language songs on gramophone recordings, for which, from 1940, he became head of the department of Song and Chamber-music at the

Berlin Rundfunk Berlin ( , ) is the capital and List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European Union by population within ci ...

, for the organization of the studios there. After the War he was banned from his work for some years on account of his collaboration with the

Nazi Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in ...

regime, and afterwards he appeared only occasionally in public.Michael Wersin: Rezension zur Raucheisen-Edition. In: Rondomagazin (3.12.2005) und Dieter Kranz: König der Liedbegleiter (King of the accompanists) - Michael Raucheisen (Rezension zur selben Edition). NDR-Kultur (25.11.2005). In 1958 after a very successful tour with Schwarzkopf, he returned to private life and moved with Ivogün to Switzerland. On the occasion of his 95th birthday he was granted the Free Citizenship of the town of Rain. He and his wife (who survived him by three years) are buried in the municipal cemetery of Rain.

Notes

Literature

* Harald Mann: ''Biografie Michael Raucheisen''. In: Sieh auf: Beiträge zu Geschichte und Kultur der Stadt Rain und ihrer Umgebung. Nr. 7 (April 1984) {{DEFAULTSORT:Rauchaeisen, Michael 1889 births 1984 deaths Classical accompanists People from Rain, Swabia People from the Kingdom of Bavaria German pianists University of Music and Performing Arts Munich alumni 20th-century pianists