Gustav Hölzel (2 September 1813 – 3 December 1883) was an

Austro-Hungarian Austria-Hungary, also referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Dual Monarchy or the Habsburg Monarchy, was a multi-national constitutional monarchy in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. A military and diplomatic alliance, it consist ...

bass-baritone A bass-baritone is a high-lying bass or low-lying "classical" baritone voice type which shares certain qualities with the true baritone voice. The term arose in the late 19th century to describe the particular type of voice required to sing three ...

and composer who sang in the opera-houses of Austria, Germany and elsewhere for nearly fifty years. He is principally remembered as the first Beckmesser in

Richard Wagner Wilhelm Richard Wagner ( ; ; 22 May 181313 February 1883) was a German composer, theatre director, essayist, and conductor who is chiefly known for his operas (or, as some of his mature works were later known, "music dramas"). Unlike most o ...

's ''

Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg (; "The Master-Singers of Nuremberg"), WWV 96, is a music drama, or opera, in three acts, by Richard Wagner. It is the longest opera commonly performed, taking nearly four and a half hours, not counting two breaks between acts, and is traditio ...

''.

Early life

He was born in

Pest, Hungary Pest () is the part of Budapest, the capital city of Hungary, that lies on the eastern bank of the Danube. Pest was administratively unified with Buda and Óbuda in 1873; prior to this, it was an independent city. In colloquial Hungarian langua ...

, the son of the actor, singer and theatre director Nikolaus Alois Hölzel (1785–1848) who managed the Landestheater in

Linz Linz (Pronunciation: , ; ) is the capital of Upper Austria and List of cities and towns in Austria, third-largest city in Austria. Located on the river Danube, the city is in the far north of Austria, south of the border with the Czech Repub ...

from 1819 until 1924. His mother Elisabeth Hölzel (née Umlauf) was an operatic

contralto A contralto () is a classical music, classical female singing human voice, voice whose vocal range is the lowest of their voice type, voice types. The contralto's vocal range is fairly rare, similar to the mezzo-soprano, and almost identical to ...

, daughter of composer

Ignaz Umlauf Ignaz Umlauf (1746-1796) was an Austrian composer. He was Kapellmeister of the new German National Singspiel of Emperor Joseph II beginning from 1778 to his death. His son Michael Umlauf (1781-1842) was also a notable composer, and his daughter Eli ...

, and sister of composer

Michael Umlauf Michael Umlauf (August 9, 1781 – June 20, 1842), was an Austrian composer, conductor, and violinist. His father, Ignaz Umlauf, was also a notable composer. His sister, Elisabeth Hölzel (née Umlauf), had a career as a contralto and her son ...

.Gustav Hölzel biography
at operissimo.com (in German) At the age of sixteen, Gustav made his operatic debut in

Sopron Sopron (; , ) is a city in Hungary on the Austrian border, near Lake Neusiedl/Lake Fertő. History Ancient times-13th century In the Iron Age a hilltop settlement with a burial ground existed in the neighbourhood of Sopron-Várhely. When ...

, and his career continued in

Graz Graz () is the capital of the Austrian Federal states of Austria, federal state of Styria and the List of cities and towns in Austria, second-largest city in Austria, after Vienna. On 1 January 2025, Graz had a population of 306,068 (343,461 inc ...

(1830–1832), the

Theater in der Josefstadt The Theater in der Josefstadt is a theater in Vienna in the eighth district of Josefstadt. It was founded in 1788 and is the oldest still performing theater in Vienna. It is often referred to colloquially as simply ''Die Josefstadt''. Following ...

in Vienna (1833–1837), and the

Königsstädtisches Theater Königsstädtisches Theater was the name of different theater buildings in Berlin in the 19th and 20th century. The first Königsstädtisches Theater was built by Carl Theodor Ottmer in , a former settlement neighboring Berlin that is today par ...

in Berlin (1837–1838). He pursued further training in Paris in 1838 before joining the Stadttheater Zürich where he was engaged from 1838 until 1840. In 1840, he joined the Court Opera at the

Theater am Kärntnertor or (Duchy of Carinthia, 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 170 ...

in Vienna.

Later career in Austria and Germany

Hölzel sang at the Hofoper for twenty-three years, during which he created the small role of De Fiesque in

Gaetano Donizetti Domenico Gaetano Maria Donizetti (29 November 1797 – 8 April 1848) was an Italian Romantic music, Romantic composer, best known for his almost 70 operas. Along with Gioachino Rossini and Vincenzo Bellini, he was a leading composer of the ''be ...

penultimate ''Penult'' is a linguistics term for the second-to-last syllable of a word. It is an abbreviation of ''penultimate'', which describes the next-to-last item in a series. The penult follows the antepenult and precedes the ultima. For example, the m ...

opera '' Maria di Rohan'' in 1843. But in 1863, while playing the role of

Friar Tuck Friar Tuck is one of the Merry Men, the band of heroic outlaws in the folklore of Robin Hood. History The figure of the jovial friar was common in the May Games festivals of England and Scotland during the 15th to 17th centuries. He appears ...

Heinrich Marschner Heinrich August Marschner (16 August 1795 – 14 December 1861) was a German composer best known for his operas. He is considered to be the most important composer of German opera between Weber and Wagner.Der Templer und die Jüdin'', Hölzel altered the words of the Friar's song and was dismissed from the company. He nevertheless found operatic work 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 prim ...

, and also appeared in

Darmstadt Darmstadt () is a city in the States of Germany, state of Hesse in Germany, located in the southern part of the Frankfurt Rhine Main Area, Rhine-Main-Area (Frankfurt Metropolitan Region). Darmstadt has around 160,000 inhabitants, making it the ...

Nuremberg Nuremberg (, ; ; in the local East Franconian dialect: ''Nämberch'' ) is the Franconia#Towns and cities, largest city in Franconia, the List of cities in Bavaria by population, second-largest city in the States of Germany, German state of Bav ...

and

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

. At the Nationaltheater in the latter city, in 1868, he created the role of Beckmesser in ''

'' His final engagements were at the

Komische Oper Berlin The Komische Oper Berlin is a German opera company based in Berlin. The company produces operas, operettas and musicals. The opera house is located on Behrenstraße, near Unter den Linden. Since 2004, the Komische Oper Berlin, along with the Be ...

,Flüggen, Ottmar G.: ''Biographisches Bühnen-Lexikon der Deutschen Theater: von Beginn der deutschen Schauspielkunst bis zur Gegenwart'', München: Bruckmann, 1892. and his last stage appearance was in 1877 in the role of Baculus in

Albert Lortzing Gustav Albert Lortzing (23 October 1801 – 21 January 1851) was a German composer, librettist, actor and singer. He is considered to be the main representative of the German ''Spieloper'', a form similar to the French ''opéra comique'', which ...

's ''

Der Wildschütz ''Der Wildschütz oder Die Stimme der Natur'' (''The Poacher, or The Voice of Nature'') is a German ''Komische Oper'', or comic opera, in three acts by Albert Lortzing from a libretto by the composer adapted from the comedy ''Der Rehbock, oder Die ...

''. Gustav Hölzel died in Vienna.

International career and roles

He made guest appearances in opera houses in London (1840 and 1843),

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...

and

Stockholm Stockholm (; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...

in 1860, and in the American premiere of Mozart's ''

Der Schauspieldirektor ' (''The Impresario''), Köchel catalogue, K. 486, is a comic ''singspiel'' by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, set to a German libretto by Gottlieb Stephanie, an Austrian ''Schauspieldirektor''. Originally, it was written because of "the imperial command ...

'' at the

Stadt Theatre The Bowery Amphitheatre was a building in the Bowery neighborhood of New York City. It was located at 37 and 39 Bowery, across the street from the Bowery Theatre. Under a number of different names and managers, the structure served as a circus, zo ...

in New York in 1870. At the

Opéra Comique ''Opéra comique'' (; plural: ''opéras comiques'') is a genre of French opera that contains spoken dialogue and arias. It emerged from the popular ''opéras comiques en vaudevilles'' of the Théâtre de la foire, Fair Theatres of St Germain and S ...

in Paris in 1859, he appeared in the premiere of ''Yvonne'' by the Belgian composer Armand Limnander. Hölzel was noted for his comic roles, which included, as well as those mentioned above, Leporello in ''

Don Giovanni ''Don Giovanni'' (; K. 527; full 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 Spanish legen ...

'', Don Basilio in ''

The Barber of Seville ''The Barber of Seville, or The Useless Precaution'' ( ) is an ''opera buffa'' (comic opera) in two acts composed by Gioachino Rossini with an Italian libretto by Cesare Sterbini. The libretto was based on Pierre Beaumarchais's French comedy ' ...

'' and Van Bett in Lortzing's ''

Zar und Zimmermann ''Zar und Zimmermann'' (''Tsar and Carpenter'') is a comic opera in three acts, music by Albert Lortzing, libretto by the composer after Georg Christian Römer's ''Der Bürgermeister von Saardam, oder Die zwei Peter'', itself based on the French p ...

''.

Compositions

Gustav Hölzel was also a prolific composer of piano music and songs. Among the latter are a setting of

Ludwig Uhland Johann Ludwig Uhland (26 April 1787 – 13 November 1862) was a German poet, philologist, literary historian, lawyer and politician. Biography He was born in Tübingen, Württemberg, and studied jurisprudence at the university there, b ...

's "Sonntag", Op. 226, and three settings of poems by

Heinrich Heine Christian Johann Heinrich Heine (; ; born Harry Heine; 13 December 1797 – 17 February 1856) was an outstanding poet, writer, and literary criticism, literary critic of 19th-century German Romanticism. He is best known outside Germany for his ...

, "Die schönsten Augen", Op. 68, "Wasserfahrt", Op. 73, and "Meine Sehnsucht von H. Heine" ("Mädchen mit dem roten Mündchen"), Op. 32."Gustav Hölzel"
lieder.net

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Holzel, Gustav 1813 births 1883 deaths 19th-century Austrian classical composers 19th-century Austrian male opera singers Singers from Budapest Operatic bass-baritones Austrian male classical composers Musicians from the Austrian Empire Male singers from Austria-Hungary Composers from Austria-Hungary