Adolf Gröbke (Tenor) (Hildesheim, Germany 1872 - Epfach, Bayern 1949)

                                                  

First he was a railroad employee, then he studied singing at the conservatory of Sangerhausen in Thuringia under Schröder. In 1895 he made his debut at the Court Theater of Sangerhausen and  from 1896-1899 was a soloist of the Stadtteater in Essen. From 1899 to 1905 Gröbke appeared  at the opera house of Frankfurt a.M. Probably in 1901 he performed in the Bayreuther Festspielen singing the role of Parsifal. In 1902 he sang at the Berliner Hofper. Then from 1905 to 1910 he appeared at the Court Theater of Hannover, in the 1910-11 season at the Vienna Court Opera, from 1913 to 1918 at the Court Theater of Schwerin, from 1918 to 1922 at the Municipal Theater of Krefeld, in the 1922-1923 season at the Municipal Theater of Basel. Till 1929 he continued his career with guest performances; thus he still sang in Schwerin the role of Lohengrin. In 1898 he made guest appearance at the Berliner Theater des Westens, since 1900 several times sang at the Vienna Court Opera, in 1900 at the opera of  Frankfurt a. M.. In 1904 and 1908 Gröbke performed at the Court Opera in Berlin, in 1905 he guested at Covent Garden, London singing in  ‘’Tannhäuser’’. Gröbke also appeared at the Municipal Theater in Hamburg (1907), at the Court Opera in Dresden (1911), in the 1920-1921 at the Opera House of Cologne (as Siegfried), in 1926 at Dusseldorf. His stage roles included Tamino, Florestan, Max in the ‘’Freischütz’’, Lionel in ‘’Martha’’, Rienzi, Erik, Tristan, , Fra Diavolo of Auber, Eleazar in ‘’La Juive’’, José in ‘’Carmen’’, Manrico, Radames, Riccardo in ‘’Un ballo in maschera’’ of  Verdi, Canio, Otello of Verdi, Jean in the ‘’Prophet’’ of Meyerbeer etc. After his retirement he was from 1934 to 1944 pedagogue of the vocal class at the Deutschen Opernhaus in Berlin.

Chronology of some appearances

1895 Sangerhausen Court Theatre
1899-1905 Frankfurt a.M Opera House
1902 Berliner Hofper
1905-1910 Hannover Court Theatre
1910-1911 Vienna Court Opera
1913-1918 Schwerin Court Theatre
1918-1922  Krefeld Municipal Theatre
1922-1923 Basel Municipal Theatre

RECORDINGS FOR SALE

G&T, Köln 1903-10?

Meistersinger von Nürnberg (Wagner): Morgenlich leuchtend 042052 99Hp

Gramophone, 1909-06

Rienzi (Wagner): Erstehe, hohe Roma 4-42251  6412 r

Meistersinger von Nürnberg (Wagner): Fanget an 042207 381s
Götterdämmerung (Wagner): Brünnhilde, heilige Braut (Siegfrieds Tod) 042206 378½s

Odeon, Berlin 1909-11?

Fra Diavolo (Meyerbeer): Ich zahle Freunde  51650

Walkure (Wagner): Wintersturme wichen 51651