Forgotten Opera Singers

Forgotten Opera Singers

Jul 26, 2018

Arne Ohlson (Tenor) (Uddevalla, Sweden 2. 01. 1911 – Märsta, Sweden 1. 05. 2000)




He initially studied violin and music theory in Uppsala and Stockholm, but then trained by John Forsell, Joseph Hislop and Augustin Kock at the Stockholm Academy of Music. In 1941 he made his stage debut at the Royal Opera in Stockholm as Don Ottavio in "Don Giovanni". Until 1966 he was the first lyrical tenor of this opera house. In 1957 he appeared in the Swedish premiere of A. Berg's "Wozzeck". From 1948 to 1968 he was one of those singers, who made the Drottningholm Festival a first-class musical event. From 1966 to 1974 he worked at the Academy of Music in Aalborg. Since 1974 he taught singing in Stockholm and Uppsala.


Chronology of some appearances

1941-1966 Stockholm Royal Opera

Carlo Galeffi (Baritone) (Malamocco 4 June 1884 – Roma 22 September 1961)





Galeffi studied singing under the pedagogues Di Como, Sbriscia and later with Antonio Cotogni. He made his debut  1903 at the Teatro Quirino in Roma as Enrico in ‘’Lucia di Lammermoor’’. In her book Una Voce nel Mondo, Toti Dal Monte wrote, that Galeffi is the best baritone of her time.



Chronology of some appearances



1907 Roma  Teatro Quirino Pagliacci (Tonio)
1908 Roma  Teatro Adriano Amica (Rinaldo)
1908 Palermo Teatro Massimo Ballo in maschera (Renato)
1908 Messina Teatro Vittorio Emanuele Pagliacci (Tonio)
1908 Roma Teatro Adriano Carmen (Escamillo)
1910 Lisbona Teatro San Carlos Carmen (Escamillo)
1910  Buenos Ayres  Teatro Coliseo Pagliacci (Tonio)
1910 Buenos Ayres  Teatro Coliseo Rigoletto (Rigoletto)
1910 Rosario di Santa Fè  Teatro Colon Pagliacci (Tonio)
1910 Boston  Opera House Pagliacci (Tonio)
1911 Philadelphia  Teatro Metropolitan Pagliacci (Tonio)
1911 Rio de Janeiro  Teatro Municipal Amica (Rinaldo)
1912 Milano Teatro alla Scala Lohengrin (Tetralmondo)
1913 Firenze Politeama Fiorentino Ballo in maschera (Renato)
1914 San Pietroburgo  Teatro Petit Pagliacci (Tonio)
1915 Montevideo  Teatro Solis Carmen (Escamillo)
1916 Pesaro Salone Pedrotti Barbiere di Siviglia (Figaro)
1917 Genova Politeama Genovese Barbiere di Siviglia (Figaro)
1918 Roma Teatro Costanzi Ballo in maschera (Renato)
1919 Firenze  Teatro Della Pergola Barbiere di Siviglia (Figaro)
1919 Chicago Civic Opera House Barbiere di Siviglia (Figaro)
1920 New York Lexington Theater Barbiere di Siviglia (Figaro)
1920 Buenos Ayres  Teatro Colon Lohengrin (Tetralmondo)
1921 Buenos Ayres  Teatro Colon Barbiere di Siviglia (Figaro)
1921 Buenos Ayres  Teatro Colon Ballo in maschera (Renato)
1922 Milano  Teatro La Scala Lohengrin (Tetralmondo)
1924 Milano  Teatro La Scala Lohengrin (Tetralmondo)
1925 Milano  Teatro La Scala Ballo in maschera (Renato)
1925 Lisbona Coliseo Recrejos Pagliacci (Tonio)
1927 Buenos Ayres  Teatro Colon Lohengrin (Tetralmondo)
1929 Milano  Teatro La Scala Ballo in maschera (Renato)
1929 Milano  Teatro La Scala Lohengrin (Tetralmondo)
1930 Buenos Ayres  Teatro Colon Boheme (Marcello)
1930 Buenos Ayres  Teatro Colon Cavalleria Rusticana (Alfio)
1935 Buenos Ayres  Teatro Colon Ballo in maschera (Renato)
1936 Trieste Teatro Verdi Ballo in maschera (Renato)
1938 Buenos Ayres  Teatro Colon Carmen (Escamillo)

Jul 14, 2018

Hermann Schramm (Tenor) (Berlin, Germany 7. 02. 1871 - Frankfurt am Main, Germany 11. 12. 1951)




Like his father, first he became a merchant, but then studied singing and made his debut in 1895 at the Wroclaw Opera House as Gomez in "Nachtlager in Granada" by C. Kreutzer. In the 1896-1900 seasons he worked as a lyric tenor at the Cologne Opera House, then started to appear only in buffo roles. He was a highly respected member of the Frankfurt am Main Opera House (1900-1933). On the German stage he was unequaled Mime in the Ring cycle and David in "Meistersingern". In 1899 he also sang the part of David at the Bayreuth Festival. Already in 1899 he guested at the London Covent Garden Opera. He also had a significant career in Brussels,Paris and Holland. In 1912 he appeared in Amsterdam in the Dutch premiere of opera "Königskinder" by Humperdinck. Other guest appearances took him to the Court Operas of Berlin (1897), Dresden (1898-99) and Munich (1898), to the Court Theater of Hanover (1899), Wiesbaden (since 1900), Karlsruhe (since 1906) and Mannheim (1900), since 1900 also to the City Theater of Zurich. In the 1923-1924 season he took part in the North American tour of German Opera. As a Jew, he retired from the stage in Frankfurt in 1934, but survived during the Nazi era in Frankfurt. His son, Friedrich Schramm (1900-1981), for a long time was director of the Stadttheater of Basel, then director of the Staatstheater in Wiesbaden.

Chronology of some appearances

1895 Wroclaw Opera House
1896-1900 Cologne Opera House
1900-1933 Frankfurt am Main Opera House

Jul 12, 2018

Margaret Burke Sheridan (Castlebar, Republic of Ireland 15. 10. 1889 – Dublin, Republic of Ireland 16. 04. 1958)




First she was trained in Dublin, then at the Royal Academy of Music in London under William Shakespear and completed her education  in Milan with soprano Tina Sconamiglio. In 1911, under the name Margaret Burke-Sheridan, she sang at Dublin in Handel's ‘’Messiah’’. She made her debut in 1918 at the Teatro Costanzi in Roma as Mimi in "La Bohème". She had a great success especially at the Teatro San Carlo in Napoli. In 1921 she sang for the first time at La Scala in Milano, where she became very popular in the following years and appeared here until 1924. In 1923 she sang the part of Olimpia in the premiere of Respighi's "Belfagor". She was highly acclaimed by Giacomo Puccini. Her roles at La Scala included also Wally in the same opera by Catalani and Maddalena in Giordano’s "Andrea Chénier". In 1924, for political reasons, she left the theatre with A. Toscanini, who previously promoted her career. She was also successful at the Arena di Verona and in several guest appearances at the Covent Garden Opera (since 1919). Here she appeared in the first performance of Mascagni's "Iris" (1919). In the 1925-1930 seasons she sang constantly at the Covent Garden Opera. After leaving the stage she returned to her Irish home and worked as vocal pedagogue in Dublin.

Chronology of some appearances

1918 Roma Teatro Costanzi
1919 London Covent Garden
1921-1924 Milano La Scala

Max Rohr (Tenor) (? 1875 – München 1917)




His stage debut took place in 1901 at the Court Theater in Detmold. In 1902 he continued his education and in the 1903-04 season he was engaged by the Municipal Theater of Landshut (Bavaria), from 1904 to 1905 he appeared at the Municipal Theater in Regensburg. In 1905 he became a member of the Carl Theater in Wien, whose member he remained until 1910. Here he sang in numerous operettas and and also participated in the world premieres of "Die Schützenliesel" by Edmund Eysler (1905) and "Zigeunerliebe" of F. Lehár (1910). In the 1910-1913 seasons he sang at the Raimund Theater in Wien, then a season at the local Johann Strauss Theater. From 1915 until his early death, he worked at the Münchner Theater am Gärtnerplatz. He was very successful in operettas of Franz Lehar, Leo Fall, Oscar Straus, E. Kalman and E. Eysler. He retired from the stage in 1917.   

Chronology of appearances

1901 Detmold Court Theater
1903-1904 Landshut Municipal Theater
1904-1905 Regensburg Municipal Theater
1905-1910 Wien Carl Theater
1910-1913 Wien Raimund Theater
1914 Wien Johann Strauss Theater
1915-1917 Münchner Theater am Gärtnerplatz