Theodor Reichmann

Theodor Reichmann (15 March 1849 – 22 May 1903) was a German operatic baritone. He had an active international performance career from 1869 until his death in 1903. Celebrated for his performances in the operas of Richard Wagner, he notably created the role of Amfortas in the world premiere of Wagner's Parsifal at the Bayreuth Festival in 1882.

Early life and education Theodor Reichmann was born in Rostock on 15 March 1849. By accident, it was discovered that he had a naturally good baritone voice and he subsequently shifted his focus to study singing with Johann Elssler, the brother of ballerina Fanny Elssler, in Berlin. He traveled as a guest artists for performances at the Nowak-Theatre in Berlin (1869-1870), the Deutschen Opernhaus in Rotterdam (1870), and the Strasbourg Opera House (1872). His first appearance with the HSO was as Friedrich of Telramund in Richard Wagner's Lohengrin. with his first assignment with the company being the title part in Heinrich Marschner's Hans Heiling. With this company he made his London debut at Her Majesty's Theater as Wotan in a complete performance of The Ring Cycle in 1882. He also traveled with the company to Massachusetts in 1891 for performances of Il trovatore at the Boston Music Hall with Victor Herbert as conductor. A year earlier he performed works by Wagner and Tchaikovsky with the Boston Symphony Orchestra at the same venue. In 1891 he performed in concerts with an orchestra led by conductor Theodore Thomas in Philadelphia. He previously performed at the Academy of Music in that city in orchestra concerts with Max Bendix in 1890. In 1890 and 1891 Reichman also gave recitals in New York in collaboration with the violinist Franz Wilczek.

Honors and death

In 1888 Reichmann was appointed Kammersänger. He was awarded the Order of Franz Joseph among others. The Reichmanngasse in Vienna is named after him.

Reichmann died on 22 May 1903 in at the age of 54.

Already for a long time suffering from a heart condition, Reichmann died on 22 May 1903 - the 90th birthday of Richard Wagner – in Sanatorium Marbach in Bodensee following a stroke. Reichmann was buried in Berlin at the cemetery in front of the Hallesches Tor. In the preserved lattice tomb there is a multi-level funerary monument made of black granite, on which the marble sculpture of a mourner is leaning, created around 1904 in the stonemason workshop of Wilhelm Sipperling. It was unveiled in a ceremony on September 30, 1904.