KURT SOMMER (ALTENGOTTERN, THÜRINGEN, MARCH 3,
1868 – BERLIN, JUNE 27, 1921)
His full name was Kurt Christoph
Gottfried Sommer. He studied singing at the Dresden Conservatory under Gustav
Scharfe. He made his stage debut in 1889 at the Municipal Theatre of
Königsberg. During the 1890–1892 seasons, he sang at the Opera House in
Cologne, returning to Königsberg for the 1892–1893 season. In 1893, he became a
member of the Berlin Court Opera, where he remained until his death.
In the 1904–1906 seasons, he
appeared at the Court Theatre in Wiesbaden, where he took part in the world
premiere of Otto Neitzel’s opera Die
Barbarina on 15 November 1905. He then returned to Berlin. In 1902, he
had sung at the Berlin Court Opera in the premiere of Eugen d’Albert’s opera Der Improvisator.
In 1898, he made guest
appearances at the Imperial Court Opera in St. Petersburg, where he performed
in the local premieres of Die
Meistersinger von Nürnberg and Der
fliegende Holländer, singing the roles of Walther von Stolzing and Erik,
respectively.
He also appeared as a guest
artist in several other cities, including Dresden (from 1896), Karlsruhe
(1905), Weimar (1904), Frankfurt am Main (1900, 1904), Hamburg (1900, 1909), Bern
(1907), Riga (1901), Stockholm (1901), as well as in Holland and Belgium.
In addition to his roles in
Wagner’s operas, his repertoire included Masaniello in Auber’s La Muette de Portici, Arnoldo in
Rossini’s Guillaume Tell, the
title role in Gounod’s Faust,
Chapelou in Adam’s Le postillon de
Lonjumeau, Manrico in Verdi’s Il
trovatore, Canio in Leoncavallo’s Pagliacci,
Almaviva in Rossini’s Il barbiere di
Siviglia, and Alfred in Johann Strauss’s Die Fledermaus.
Chronology of some appearances
1889 Königsberg Municipal Theatre
1890 Cologne Opera House
1892 Königsberg Municipal Theatre
1893 Berlin Court Opera
1904 Wiesbaden Theatre
TRACKLIST
Postillon de Longjumeau (Adam): Postillonlied 40821
Columbia, Berlin 1906?
Meistersinger von Nürnberg (Wagner): Selig wie die
Sonne with Denera, Arndt-Ober, Jörn & Zador 044169 499s Gramophone, Berlin
1910-09-17
Rheingold (Wagner): Ihrem Ende eilen sie zu with von
Skilondz, Arndt-Ober, von Scheele-Müller & Körfer 044216 141al Gramophone,
Berlin 1912-08-31
Rheingold (Wagner): Schwüles Gedünst schwebt in der
Luft with Körfer 044217 142al Gramophone, Berlin 1912-08-31
Lohengrin (Wagner): Du kündest nun dein wahr' Gericht
(Königsgebet, pt 2) with van Endert, Arndt-Ober, Knüpfer, Habich & chorus
044230 299al Gramophone, Berlin 1912-11-06
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