Richard Tauber

Richard Tauber, born on 16 May 1891 in Linz, Austria, was an Austrian lyric tenor, film actor, and Broadway performer who died on 8 January 1948. He was born to Elisabeth Seifferth, a widow and actress who performed soubrette roles at the local theater, and Richard Anton Tauber, an actor who was touring North America at the time of his son's birth and was reportedly unaware of it. Because his parents were not married, the child was registered as Richard Denemy. His father adopted him in 1913, at which point his legal name became Richard Denemy-Tauber.

Tauber's early years were marked by frequent relocation. He accompanied his mother on theatrical tours until she placed him with foster parents in Urfahr, near Linz. His father then took over his upbringing, moving him through Graz, Prague, Berlin, Salzburg, and finally Wiesbaden. His father, who had converted from Judaism to Roman Catholicism, hoped his son would enter the priesthood, but Tauber was drawn to the theater and joined his father in Prague and later in Wiesbaden in 1903. Though he aspired to sing, early auditions went poorly, likely because he chose Wagner repertoire unsuited to his voice. His father enrolled him at the Hoch Conservatory in Frankfurt, where he studied piano, composition, and conducting. After subsequent vocal training under Carl Beines, Tauber gave his public debut at a concert in Freiburg on 17 May 1912.

His operatic stage debut followed on 2 March 1913, when he sang Tamino in The Magic Flute at the Municipal Theater in Chemnitz, where his father had been appointed Intendant. A few weeks later, on 16 April, he performed the role of Max in Der Freischütz. That performance was attended by Nikolaus Count von Seebach of the Dresden Opera, who offered Tauber a five-year contract beginning 1 August of that year. During his time in Dresden, Tauber became known for his extraordinary ability to learn roles rapidly. He mastered Gounod's Faust in 48 hours and learned the role of Bacchus in Richard Strauss's Ariadne auf Naxos overnight, a feat that astonished Strauss himself, who conducted the Berlin performance. This earned Tauber the nickname "the SOS Tenor." In 1926, he stepped in to sing Calaf in the German premiere of Puccini's Turandot at the Staatsoper Dresden after tenor Curt Taucher fell ill, learning the role in three days.

Tauber made guest appearances at the Wiener Volksoper in 1920 and made his Vienna State Opera debut on 16 June of that year, substituting for an indisposed Alfred Piccaver in La bohème. In 1922, he signed a five-year contract with the Vienna State Opera and also performed with the Berlin State Opera, dividing his time between the two companies for many years while reserving additional months for concerts, guest appearances, and international tours. Over the course of his career, he performed more than 100 roles in opera and operetta, according to Daniel O'Hara's Tauber Chronology. His operatic repertoire included Don Giovanni, The Bartered Bride, Tosca, Mignon, Faust, Carmen, Die Fledermaus, Erich Korngold's Die tote Stadt, and Wilhelm Kienzl's Der Evangelimann.

In June 1919, Tauber made the first of more than seven hundred gramophone recordings. All his vocal recordings were produced for the Odeon Records label and, from 1933 onward, for the associated Parlophone label. His lyrical, flexible tenor voice was noted for its warm legato, exceptional breath control, and capacity for a superb head voice, messa di voce, and pianissimo. He also wore a monocle onstage, which camouflaged a slight squint in his right eye and, paired with a top hat, contributed to a distinctive stage presence.

Tauber first performed in a Franz Lehár operetta at the Volksbühne in Berlin in 1920, singing in Zigeunerliebe, a role he reprised in Linz and Salzburg in 1921. In 1922, he took the role of Armand in Lehár's Frasquita at the Theater an der Wien, a collaboration that proved mutually beneficial, broadening Tauber's audience and revitalizing Lehár's career as an operetta composer. Lehár subsequently wrote several operettas with roles created specifically for Tauber, including Paganini, which Tauber first performed in Berlin in 1926 after being unavailable for the Vienna premiere in 1925; Der Zarewitsch in 1927; Friederike in 1928; The Land of Smiles in 1929, which featured the aria "Dein ist mein ganzes Herz"; Schön ist die Welt in 1930; and Giuditta in 1934. The signature songs written for him, typically placed in the second act, became informally known as Tauberlieder.

While conducting at the Theater an der Wien in Vienna, Tauber met soprano Carlotta Vanconti in 1924. She divorced her Italian husband and married Tauber on 18 March 1926. They separated in 1928 and divorced later that year in Berlin, though the divorce was legally recognized only in Germany. In 1929, Tauber met Mary Losseff at Rudolf Nelson's review in Berlin, and they lived together for approximately five years. It was for Losseff that he composed Der singende Traum. Though her career was cut short by alcoholism, Tauber remained her lifelong friend and supported her until his death.

Tauber also worked in film. He provided the singing voice for the title song in the otherwise silent German film I Kiss Your Hand, Madame in 1929. During the mid-1930s, he made several musical films in England. At the premiere of the film Mimi in April 1935, he met English actress Diana Napier, born in 1905 and died in 1982. Following protracted legal proceedings to obtain an Austrian divorce from Vanconti, Tauber and Napier married on 20 June 1936. Napier appeared in three of his British films: Heart's Desire in 1935, and Land Without Music and Pagliacci, both in 1936.

Tauber made his London debut in operetta in 1931, after which London performances became a regular part of his schedule. He also toured the United States that year. In 1933, he was attacked in the street by Nazi Brownshirts because of his Jewish ancestry. Following the assault, he left Germany for Austria, where he continued to perform at the Vienna State Opera until the Anschluss in March 1938. In 1938, he made his London operatic debut in Die Zauberflöte under Sir Thomas Beecham. After Germany annexed Austria, the Nazi government withdrew the Taubers' passports and right of abode, leaving the couple stateless, which prompted Tauber to apply for British citizenship. He was touring South Africa when World War II broke out and remained in Switzerland until receiving documentation allowing him to enter the United Kingdom in March 1940. Germany had banned recordings of his music in 1937. Despite receiving offers from the United States, he remained in the UK throughout the war.

In 1946, Tauber appeared on Broadway in Yours Is My Heart, marking his sole credited Broadway appearance.