Max Lichtegg; "Die zwei blauen Augen"; LIEDER EINES FAHRENDEN GESELLEN; Gustav Mahler
This channel is the re-establishment of previous channels that have been sadly terminated.
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Max Lichtegg--tenor
Theodor Lichtmann---piano
1988
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"The fact, that the name Max Lichtegg is today mainly known to record collectors only, has nothing at all to do with the artistic importance of this singer. Lichtegg belongs to the large number of artists who enjoyed enormous recognition and success during WW II and into the 50s and 60s; this was due to their stage presence, recordings, radio broadcasts and television appearances. Max Lichtegg was in his prime without doubt the most popular tenor in Switzerland.
That his present-day fame doesn’t measure up to his erstwhile reputation is partly due to the fact that his record companies (mainly Decca) weren’t interested in transferring his recordings to present day media.: Also today’s radio stations rely almost exclusively on the most recent issues of today’s market.
Max Lichtegg was born 1910 to Jewish parents as Munio Lichtman in Buczacz, a small town in Poland (now the Ukraine). He lost his parents and his younger brother during a bombing in WW I. An uncle in Vienna took the orphaned boy in, who grew up there under very poor circumstances. Already as a boy people noticed his beautiful alto voice; in the synagogue choir he was soon entrusted with little solo parts.
After graduating from High School he enrolled in 1929 at the University of Vienna to study Philosophy. A scholarship stipend enabled him to simultaneously study voice under Victor Fuchs at the New Conservatory of Vienna. Later he would also study with Salvatore Salvati.
1934 Lichtegg won first prize in a voice competition; this resulted in a recording contract with Odeon and also his first stage appearances in operettas. Due to the political developments Max Lichtegg decided in 1936 to accept an engagement at the Stadttheater Bern (Switzerland). There he also continued his university studies and became from 1937/38 on Guest Soloist for 2 years at the Stadttheater Basel; he already appeared in the leading roles of Freischütz, Hoffmann and Don Carlo.
In 1940 he was offered a contract by the Stadttheater (now Opernhaus) Zürich. He remained there as a permanent member and as 1st lyric tenor until 1956. He appeared on that stage in a total of 44 different operas; He was regarded an extremely intelligent interpreter in a repertoire that ranged from Mozart, Lortzing, Flotow, Wagner, Smetana, Tchaikovsky, Auber, Bizet, Debussy, Rossini, Donizetti, Verdi, Puccini, Mascagni, Richard Strauss to contemporary composers like Honegger, Stravinsky, Schoeck, Hindemith, Menotti and Henze.
After concerts in the USA and stage appearances in San Francisco and Los Angeles Max Lichtegg returned 1948 to Switzerland. In spite of very tempting offers from the Vienna State Opera he remained, for family reasons, “faithful” to the opera house in Zürich. He made guest appearances in Munich, Hamburg, Stuttgart, Amsterdam, Paris, London, Bilbao, Lucerne, Geneva, Monte Carlo, Strassbourg, Schwetzingen and many other cities. Until 1971 he also could frequently be heard as a guest star at the Opera in Zürich. The Art Song was of the greatest importance for Max Lichtegg. Interesting is the fact that the tenor was one of the earliest tenors to champion the songs by Britten or Von Einem.
So far only two CD releases have been available featuring the Polish born Swiss tenor but not one of them contained any of Lichtegg’s operatic recordings. This new release finally does. Max Lichtegg (1910-1992) is hardly known outside of Switzerland where for more than four decades he was a household name. Yet he also made several international appearances as surely the Bjoerling fraternity knows as it was Lichtegg who substituted as Don Ottavio for the announced Swedish tenor in L.A. The first Cd in this compilation contains one of the most interesting tracks going back to Lichtegg’s time in California : the first act of Wagner’s Walkuere with Rose Bampton as Sieglinde. A 1947 live radio b’cast under the direction of Alfred Wallenstein a descendant of Albrecht von Wallenstein.
On occasion the Lichtegg tone displays some intruding nasal resonance typical of the tenor
German-style but there’s always excellent enunciation and he’s a hearty singer supplying ample bright tone. Though the heavy part of Siegmund doesn’t come easily for the lyrical tenor his impressively heroic portrayal of Siegmund was in fact his American debut. On occasion he struggles valiantly and successfully with the composer’s demands but he manages to remain musical and sonorous and he never runs out of breath or stamina. In short he shows himself as a master of Wagnerian methods as does Rose Bampton who sings a blazing Sieglinde with also excellent German. " MAX LICHTEGG A tribute in sound and words by Alfred A. Fassbind (edited)
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