Forgotten Opera Singers

Forgotten Opera Singers

Aug 27, 2025

GERMAN BARITONE FRANZ EGENIEFF (1874-1949) CDR

 



FRANZ EGENIEFF (BORN MARIAN EBERHARD FRANZ EMIL VON KLEYDORFF; NIEDERWALLUF, WALLUF, HESSE, GERMANY, 31 MAY, 1874 – TEGERNSEE, BAVARIA, GERMANY, 11 JUNE 1949)


 

 

He was the son of Prince Emil zu Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg. His mother was Baroness Camilla von Kleydorff (née Camilla Stefánska). His real name was Franz Freiherr von Kleydorff. Until 1900 he served as a Prussian officer in Merseburg, after which he studied singing with Lilli Lehmann and Alfredo Cairati in Berlin, as well as with 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 its North American tour. He made guest appearances at the Dresden Hofoper, the Munich Hofoper, in Cologne, Leipzig, and at the National Theater in Weimar (1926), as well as in Bucharest and Sofia. After the First World War, he took part in an extensive tour through Japan, China, Korea, and the Balkans. He was married to the niece of the American multimillionaire Adolphus Busch. In 1927 he sang the role of Klingsor in Parsifal at the Bayreuth Festival. During the 1929–1931 seasons, he toured North America with the German Opera Company, organized by Johanna Gadski, and sang the roles of Klingsor, Gunther in Götterdämmerung, and Kurwenal in Tristan und Isolde during this tour.

 

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

 

TRACKLIST

 

 

Don Giovanni (Mozart) Reich mir die hand (w. Nast) 15779 Pathé, Berlin 19101911

Don Giovanni (Mozart) Ständchen 15783 Pathé, Berlin 19101911

Faust (Gounod) Rondo vom goldenen Kalb 62383 1320ar Grammophon, Berlin 1921

Figaro’s Hochzeit (Mozart) Duett (w. Nast) 15780 Pathé, Berlin 19101911

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

Mignon (Thomas) Lothario’s Wiegenlied 62383 1321ar Grammophon, Berlin 1921

Nozze di Figaro (Mozart) So lang’ hab’ ich geschmachtet (w. Artôt de Padilla) 99419 xB4705 Odeon, Berlin 1909 

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


GERMAN BARITONE FRANZ EGENIEFF (1874-1949) CDR

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