Erwin Sembach

Erwin Schück (1879 – 1919), better known by his stage name Erwin Sembach, was an opera singer with the Vienna Volksoper during its earliest years of producing operas, immediately before and during World War I. His greatest roles there were Masetto in Mozart's Don Giovanni,[1] Papageno in Mozart's The Magic Flute,[2] and Krušina in Smetana's The Bartered Bride.[3]

As Papageno in Mozart's opera The Magic Flute

(There was a successful German opera singer using the stage name Johannes Sembach during this same period, which may lead to some confusion when newspaper articles simply refer to the singer as "Herr Sembach".)

Biography

Erwin Sembach in 1915

In the title role of Wagner's opera Siegfried

In operatic costume

In operatic costume

In operatic costume

Erwin Sembach was born on 18 October 1879 in Böhmisch Leipa (now Česká Lípa in the Czech Republic) to parents Adolf Schück and Katharina Schreiber[4] who owned and operated a millinery and accessories shop in the town. Sembach was the oldest of eight siblings. He married Marie "Mietze" Klaus in 1902. They had a daughter Margarete Schück in 1903 and a son Wolfgang Schück (named after Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart) in 1905.

Sembach's family was quite musical, and as a young man he trained to be a singer. He was naturally a baritone, but trained himself to also sing tenor, so that he could qualify for more roles such as Wagner's Lohengrin and Siegfried. By 1910 Sembach and his family were living in Vienna, the music capital of Europe, and Sembach was singing operatic roles. He was a member of the Vienna Volksoper opera house from at least 1912 through 1917. In addition to the Volksoper, Sembach also performed at the Simplizissimus,[5] a well known cabaret that still operates in Vienna.

Sembach died of uremia in 1919 at the age of 40, following a long illness.

Operatic roles

1. Dr. Grenvil (bass) in La Traviata by Giuseppe Verdi, Vienna, 1912-1913[6]
2. Brander in Faust by Charles Gounod, Vienna, 1913[7]
3. Der Kuhreigen by Wilhelm Kienzl, Plzeň, 1913[8]
4. Masetto (bass) in Don Giovanni by Wolfgang Mozart, Vienna, 1913[1]
5. Papageno (baritone) in The Magic Flute by Wolfgang Mozart, Vienna, 1914[2]
6. Fritz Kottner (baritone) in Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg by Richard Wagner, Vienna, 1914[9]
7. Jean in Bei Sedan by Heinrich Zöllner, Vienna, 1914[10]
8. Rodolphe in Der Überfall by Heinrich Zöllner, Vienna, 1914[10]
9. Count Liebnau (baritone) in Der Waffenschmied by Albert Lorzing, Vienna, 1914[11]
10. Count Ceprano (bass) in Rigoletto by Giuseppe Verdi, Vienna, 1914-1915[12]
11. Krušina (baritone) in The Bartered Bride by Bedřich Smetana, Vienna, 1915[3]
12. Reinmar von Zweter (bass) in Tannhäuser by Richard Wagner, Vienna, 1913-1915[13]
13. Silvio (baritone) in Pagliacci by Ruggero Leoncavallo, Vienna, 1915[14]
14. Fiorello (bass) in The Barber of Seville by Gioachino Rossini, Vienna, 1915[15]

Recitals

1. Vienna, 15 November 1912[16]
2. Olomouc, 29 November 1913[17]
3. Vienna, 20 February 1914[5]
4. Vienna, June 1915[18]
5. Česká Lípa, September 1918[19]

References

1. Wiener Zeitung, 5 February 1913
2. Wiener Zeitung, 4 November 1914
3. Wiener Zeitung, 2 April 1915
4. Birth record
5. Wiener Zeitung, 21 February 1914
6. Neues Wiener Tagblatt, 17 March 1913
7. Neues Wiener Journal, 20 April 1913
8. Pilsner Tagblatt, 3 December 1913
9. Wiener Zeitung, 5 November 1914
10. Wiener Zeitung, 21 November 1914
11. Deutsches Volksblatt, 30 December 1914
12. Deutsches Volksblatt, 4 March 1915
13. Fremden-Blatt, 17 March 1915
14. Neues Wiener Journal, 28 March 1915
15. Fremden-Blatt, 29 March 1915
16. Neues Wiener Tagblatt, 15 November 1912
17. Mährisches Tagblatt, 28 November 1913
18. Neues Wiener Journal, 6 June 1915
19. Neue Freie Presse, 16 September 1918