Rudolf Johann Schock (4 September 1915 – 13 November 1986) was a German

tenor A tenor is a type of classical male singing voice whose vocal range lies between the countertenor and baritone voice types. It is the highest male chest voice type. The tenor's vocal range extends up to C5. The low extreme for tenors is wide ...

. Rudolf Schock was born in

Duisburg Duisburg () is a city in the Ruhr metropolitan area of the western German state of North Rhine-Westphalia. Lying on the confluence of the Rhine and the Ruhr rivers in the center of the Rhine-Ruhr Region, Duisburg is the 5th largest city in ...

, in the

Prussian Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was ''de facto'' dissolved by an e ...

Rhine Province The Rhine Province (german: Rheinprovinz), also known as Rhenish Prussia () or synonymous with the Rhineland (), was the westernmost province of the Kingdom of Prussia and the Free State of Prussia, within the German Reich, from 1822 to 1946. ...

. He sang a wide repertoire from

operetta Operetta is a form of theatre and a genre of light opera. It includes spoken dialogue, songs, and dances. It is lighter than opera in terms of its music, orchestral size, length of the work, and at face value, subject matter. Apart from its ...

to ''

Lohengrin Lohengrin () is a character in German Arthurian literature. The son of Parzival (Percival), he is a knight of the Holy Grail sent in a boat pulled by swans to rescue a maiden who can never ask his identity. His story, which first appears in Wolf ...

'', recording among others

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 ...

and

lied In Western classical music tradition, (, plural ; , plural , ) is a term for setting poetry to classical music to create a piece of polyphonic music. The term is used for any kind of song in contemporary German, but among English and French s ...

er, doing television, radio and film work.

Noël Goodwin Trevor Noël Goodwin (25 December 1927 – 27 March 2013) was an English music critic, dance critic and author who specialized in classical music and ballet. Described as having a "rare ability to write about music and dance with equal distincti ...

, "Schock, Rudolf (Johann)", ''Grove Music Online'', version 15 May 2009. Retrieved 21 December 2009. Slim and handsome, he made many films. His voice fell almost into the

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 ...

fach The German system (; literally "compartment" or "subject of study", here in the sense of "vocal specialization") is a method of classifying singers, primarily opera singers, according to the range, weight, and color of their voices. It is used ...

but was smaller and more ardent than many voices in that category. Colored distinctly with a rich baritonal quality, Schock is described by '' Grove'' as a "

lyric tenor A tenor is a type of classical male singing voice whose vocal range lies between the countertenor and baritone voice types. It is the highest male chest voice type. The tenor's vocal range extends up to C5. The low extreme for tenors is widel ...

" with a warm flexible voice, and a "strong top voice" which suited him to "heroic roles". However the same source feels that his acting left something to be desired. When he was 18 and still continuing his musical studies that took him to

Cologne Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 million inhabitants in the city proper and 3.6 millio ...

Hanover Hanover (; german: Hannover ; nds, Hannober) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Lower Saxony. Its 535,932 (2021) inhabitants make it the 13th-largest city in Germany as well as the fourth-largest city in Northern Germany ...

and Berlin, Schock joined the opera chorus at Theater Duisburg in the city of his birth. The

Staatstheater Braunschweig The Staatstheater Braunschweig is a theatre company and opera house in Braunschweig, Germany, presenting and producing music theatre (opera, operetta, musical), Tanztheater, theatre, Theatre for Young Audiences and concerts. The ''Staatstheater ...

cast Schock in solo roles in 1937, but his career was interrupted by his being enlisted into the army in 1940."Rudolf Schock"
Profile at the

Bayreuth Festival The Bayreuth Festival (german: link=no, Bayreuther Festspiele) is a music festival held annually in Bayreuth, Germany, at which performances of operas by the 19th-century German composer Richard Wagner are presented. Wagner himself conceived ...

site (in German). Retrieved 21 December 2009. It resumed after the war in 1945 in Hanover. In 1946, he appeared with two of the Berlin-based opera companies and in 1947 he joined the

Hamburg State Opera The Hamburg State Opera (in German: Staatsoper Hamburg) is a German opera company based in Hamburg. Its theatre is near the square of Gänsemarkt. Since 2015, the current ''Intendant'' of the company is Georges Delnon, and the current ''Gener ...

where he was a member until 1956. He was one of the first Germans to sing at

Covent Garden Covent Garden is a district in London, on the eastern fringes of the West End, between St Martin's Lane and Drury Lane. It is associated with the former fruit-and-vegetable market in the central square, now a popular shopping and tourist si ...

in 1949. Appearing as Rodolfo,

Alfredo Alfredo (, ) is a cognate of the Anglo-Saxon name Alfred and a common Italian, Galician, Portuguese and Spanish language personal name. People with the given name include: * Alfredo (born 1946), Brazilian footballer born as Alfredo Mostarda Fi ...

, Pinkerton and Tamino in his first season. He sang the title role at ''

Idomeneo ' (Italian for '' Idomeneus, King of Crete, or, Ilia and Idamante''; usually referred to simply as ''Idomeneo'', K. 366) is an Italian language opera seria by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. The libretto was adapted by Giambattista Varesco from a Frenc ...

'' 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 Ama ...

and took part in the premiere there of

Rolf Liebermann Rolf Liebermann (14 September 1910 – 2 January 1999), was a Swiss composer and music administrator. He served as the Artistic Director of the Hamburg State Opera from 1959 to 1973 and again from 1985 to 1988. He was also Artistic Director of ...

's, ''Penelope'' and 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 first staging of ''

Lulu Lulu may refer to: Companies * LuLu, an early automobile manufacturer * Lulu.com, an online e-books and print self-publishing platform, distributor, and retailer * Lulu Hypermarket, a retail chain in Asia * Lululemon Athletica or simply Lulu, ...

''. Schock made repeat visits to the

Edinburgh International Festival The Edinburgh International Festival is an annual arts festival in Edinburgh, Scotland, spread over the final three weeks in August. Notable figures from the international world of music (especially european classical music, classical music) and ...

and sang

Walther Walther is a masculine given name and a surname. It is a German form of Walter, which is derived from the Old High German ''Walthari'', containing the elements ''wald'' -"power", "brightness" or "forest" and ''hari'' -"warrior". The name was fi ...

at Bayreuth in 1959. In 1953 he played and sang the role of

Richard Tauber Richard Tauber (16 May 1891 – 8 January 1948) was an Austrian tenor and film actor. Early life Richard Tauber was born in Linz, Austria, to Elisabeth Seifferth (née Denemy), a widow and an actress who played soubrette roles at the local theat ...

in the film ' (released in English-speaking countries as either ''You Are the World for Me'' or ''The Richard Tauber Story''). He was often compared to the older tenor and was spoken of as his successor. He was also considered the most successful German film singer of his generation. He sold over three million records and his German films made him almost a superstar of his day. Schock's most impressive performances include the roles of Paul in ''

Die Tote Stadt ' (German for ''The Dead City''), Op. 12, is an opera in three acts by Erich Wolfgang Korngold set to a libretto by Paul Schott, a collective pseudonym for the composer and his father, Julius Korngold. It is based on the 1892 novel '' Bruges-la-Mo ...

'' ( Korngold), and multiple Puccini principals. Schock was also interested in the development of younger singers by judging vocal competitions. After discovering

Karl Ridderbusch Karl Ridderbusch (29 May 1932 – 21 June 1997) was a German operatic bass, associated in particular with the music of Wagner. He was recognised as a notable exponent of the role of Hans Sachs. Barry Millington "Meistersinger von Nürnberg, Die", ...

at one of these, Schock part-funded the bass's musical training. Elizabeth Forbesbr>Obituary:Karl Ridderbusch
''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers '' The Observer'' and '' The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the ...

'', Tuesday, 8 July 1997. Rudolf Schock continued making concert appearances into his sixties. Aged 71, he died suddenly of a heart attack in Gürzenich a district of the town of

Düren Düren (; ripuarian: Düre) is a town in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, between Aachen and Cologne on the river Rur. History Roman era The area of Düren was part of Gallia Belgica, more specifically the territory of the Eburones, a peopl ...

where he had made his home.

Selected filmography

* ', as

* ''

The Happy Wanderer "The Happy Wanderer" ("''Der fröhliche Wanderer''" or "''Mein Vater war ein Wandersmann''") is a popular song. The original text was written by Florenz Friedrich Sigismund (1791–1877).Ten on Every Finger ''Ten on Every Finger'' (German: ''An jedem Finger zehn'') is a 1954 West German musical comedy film directed by Erik Ode and starring Germaine Damar, Erich Auer and Loni Heuser.Bock & Bergfelder p.136 It was shot at the Spandau Studios in West Be ...

'' (1954) as Himself * ''

The Csardas King ''The Csardas King'' (German: ''Der Czardas-König'') is a 1958 West German musical film directed by Harald Philipp and starring Gerhard Riedmann, Rudolf Schock and Elma Karlowa.Bock & Bergfelder p.61 It is a biopic of the life of the Hungarian o ...

'' (1958), as Janos * ''

Gräfin Mariza ''Gräfin Mariza'' (''Countess Maritza'') is an operetta in three acts composed by Hungarian composer Emmerich Kálmán, with a German libretto by Julius Brammer and Alfred Grünwald. It premiered in Vienna on 28 February 1924 at the Theater an ...

'' (1958), as Michael * '' The House of Three Girls'' (1958), as

Franz von Schober Franz Adolf Friedrich Schober, since 1801 von Schober (born 17 May 1796, Torup Castle at Malmö, Sweden; died 13 September 1882 in Dresden), was an Austrian poet, librettist, lithographer, actor in Breslau and ''Legationsrat'' in Weimar. Schob ...

As himself *'' Not Without Gisela'' (1951) *''

Big Request Concert ''Big Request Concert'' (german: Das große Wunschkonzert) is a 1960 Austrian family film directed by Arthur Maria Rabenalt. It was entered into the 2nd Moscow International Film Festival The 2nd Moscow International Film Festival was held f ...

'' (1960)

References

External links

Rudolf Schock Website

History of the Tenor / Rudolf Schock / Sound Clips and Narration
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Schock, Rudolf 1915 births 1986 deaths People from Duisburg People from the Rhine Province German operatic tenors Österreichischer Kammersänger 20th-century German male opera singers German Army personnel of World War II Commanders Crosses of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany Recipients of the National Prize of East Germany