Schorr, Friedrich
Schorr, Friedrich
Schorr, Friedrich, renowned Hungarian-American bass-baritone; b. Nagyvarâd, Sept. 2, 1888; d. Farmington, Conn., Aug. 14, 1953. He studied law at the Univ. of Vienna, and also took private lessons in singing. He appeared with the Chicago Grand Opera (1912), then was a member of the opera companies in Graz (1912–16), Prague (1916–18), Cologne (1918–23), and of the Berlin State Opera (1923–31); also sang Wotan at Bayreuth (1925–31), and appeared at London’s Covent Garden (1925–33). He made his Metropolitan Opera debut in N.Y. as Wolfram on Feb. 14, 1924, and continued as a member until his farewell performance as the Wanderer in Siegfried on March 2, 1943. Schorr is generally recognized as the foremost Wagnerian bass-baritone of his era; he also sang roles in operas by Beethoven, Strauss, Verdi, and Puccini, and appeared in the U.S. premieres of Krenek’s Jonny Spielt Auf (Daniello; 1929) and Weinberger’s Schwanda (title role; 1931) at the Metropolitan Opera.
—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire