Franz Egénieff (Baritone) (Niederwalluf, Walluf, Hesse, Germany 1874 - Tegernsee, Bavaria, Germany 1949)

He was a son of the prince  Emil zu Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg. His mother was the baroness Camilla von Kleydorff (Camilla Stefánska). His real name was Franz Freiherr von Kleydorff. Till 1900 he was a Prussian officer in Merseburg, then he studied singing with Lilli Lehmann and Alfredo Cairati in Berlin as well as under Victor Maurel in Paris. He began his career under the name Franz Egenieff in the 1904-1906 seasons, as a member of the Savage Opera Company, during North American tour. He made guest appearances in Dresden (Hofoper),  Munich (Hofoper), Cologne, Leipzig and at the National Theater of Weinar (1926), also in Bucharest and Sofia. After the First World War he took part in vast tour through Japan, China, Korea and Balkans. He was married the niece of the American multimillionaire Adolphus Busch. In 1927 he sang at the Bayreuth Festival the part of Klingsor in ''Parsifal''. In the 1929-1931 seasons he travelled around North America with the German Opera Company, which he put together Johanna Gadski, and sang during this tour the parts of Klingsor, Gunther in ''Götterdämmerung'' and Kurwenal in ''Tristan und Isolde''.

Chronology of some appearances

1904-1906 North American tour

1907-1910 Berlin Komische Oper

1910-1911 Berlin Hofoper

1912-1913 Berlin Kurfürsten-Oper

1927 Bayreuth Festival

1929-1931 North American tour

RECORDINGS FOR SALE 

Odeon, Berlin 1909-10
Mignon (Thomas): Ihr Schwalben in den Lüften with Artôt de Padilla XX76050 xxB4706

Edison 4-min cylinders, Berlin 1910?
Tannhäuser (Wagner): O kehr' zurück BA 28154

Pathé, Berlin 1910/1911
Figaro's Hochzeit (Mozart): Duett with Minnie Nast 15780