Guest
Heinrich Hensel (1874-1935) was a celebrated German tenor. Born in Neustadt, he began studies with Gustav Walter in Vienna in the mid-1890s and made his debut in Freiburg in 1897 in Flotow’s opera Alessandro Stradella. As early as 1899, Hensel made his first appearances at the Vienna Staatsoper and in 1900 began singing with the Frankfurt Opera. During those early days in Frankfurt, the young tenor found himself singing such lyric roles as Lionel in Martha and Tamino in Die Zauberflöte, as well as creating the role of the Prince in the premiere of Humperdinck’s Dornröschen in 1902. Upon leaving Frankfurt in 1906, he became principal tenor of Wiesbaden Hoftheater, where he remained until 1911. Hensel began to add heavier parts to his expanding repertoire, including the principal Wagnerian roles. He was a popular guest artist at the major houses of Zurich, Amsterdam and Karlsruhe, primarily singing the Wagnerian repertoire. His association with the Metropolitan Opera in New York was, sadly, not destined to be a lengthy one. In addition to a trio of Sunday Night Concerts, he sang but six performances during his one and only season on the Met roster (1911–1912). Following his debut as Lohengrin, he sang Siegmund, Siegfried and Jenik in The Bartered Bride. The New York critics were not impressed with his singing or acting, although a Times reviewer mentioned that the tenor, “…makes a very good stage appearance, being comparatively slender and of good height.” Not exactly a glowing review… Perhaps taking the poor New York reviews to heart, Hensel remained in the US during the spring of 1912 and began an intense period of vocal study with celebrated American voice teacher Oscar Saenger (1868-1929). Saenger, who had a few years earlier retrained Rudolf Berger from baritone to tenor, helped fine tune the tenor’s technique in just a few short months. Hensel must have benefitted from Saenger’s training, for he was busier than ever by the beginning of the 1912/13 season. Hensel sang Siegmund with the Chicago Opera, as well as at Covent Garden, where he also sang London’s first staged Parsifal in 1914. He was also invited to Bayreuth to sing Parsifal and Loge in Das Rheingold. He was featured in Brussels’ Wagner Festival in 1914, singing Loge, Siegfried, Lohengrin, Siegmund in Die Walküre, and Stolzing in Die Meistersinger. However, it was the Hamburg Stattheater that became his artistic home from 1912 until his final performances in 1929. Following his retirement from the operatic stage, Hensel worked as a voice teacher in Hamburg, where he died in 1935 at the age of 60. Hensel recorded for Pathé, Odeon, the Gramophone Company, Parlophon and even made a few trials for Edison. His recordings reveal a voice that is somewhat lighter than the typical Wagnerian Heldentenor. Hensel used his less than voluminous voice to great effect, however, and turned in some exciting performances on disc. In this recording, Hensel sings “Immer ist Undank Loges Lohn“ from Wagner's opera Das Rheingold.
