Guest
“Carl Martin Oehman (1887-1967) was a Swedish tenor who enjoyed his greatest success during the decades between the two world wars. The son of a Lutheran minister, Oehman (alternatively spelled Oehmann or Öhman) was born in the western Swedish town of Floda. He began his musical studies at the Stockholm Royal Conservatory in 1907, initially concentrating on piano and organ. Oehman eventually drifted toward voice and worked with Carl Gentzel after leaving the Conservatory. Later, Oehman spent time in Milan studying with celebrated tenor José Oxilia. Although he made his professional debut in 1914, he only sang concerts and oratorio for the next three years. Oehman’s operatic debut came about at the Stora Theater in Göteberg in the title role of Auber’s Fra Diavolo in 1917. Two years later he was engaged by the Royal Opera in Stockholm, where he made his debut as Turiddu in Cavalleria Rusticana. For several seasons, Oehman sang almost exclusively in Scandinavia, mainly at the Royal Opera and the Stora Theater but also sang operetta with Stockholm’s privately owned Oscarsteatern. Oehman’s first overseas engagement was with New York’s Metropolitan Opera, where he made debut as Samson in 1924. Although he sang the role of Laca in the American debut of Janáček’s Jenůfa, the opera received mixed reviews and failed to click with the New York public. Oehman, it would seem, also failed to click with the New York public. After five performances of the aforementioned pair of roles…as well as a single Sunday Night Concert…Oehman was finished in New York. His Met career lasted exactly six weeks. Back in Europe, Oehman concentrated on his commitments in Stockholm, but made guest appearances in Berlin, Hamburg, Vienna, Amsterdam, Prague, Barcelona, Budapest, Paris and London. He was also a frequent visitor to the Zoppot Festspiele. Oehman retired from the operatic stage in 1937 but continued to give concert and recital appearances until 1941. At the age of 54, the veteran tenor gave up public life and cultivated a successful teaching practice (Nicolai Gedda was among his students). Oehman continued to teach from his Stockholm studio up until the time of his death on December 9, 1967. During his quarter century career, Carl Martin Oehman sang with many of Europe’s leading theaters in a variety of roles. Although he was at his best in the Wagnerian realm…Erik in Der Fliegende Holländer, Walther von Stolzing in Die Meistersinger, Siegmund in Die Walküre and the title roles in Tannhäuser, Lohengrin and Parsifal…he also excelled in such works as Pagliacci, La Bohème, Tosca, Turandot, L’Africaine, Mignon, La Fille du Régiment, Pique Dame, Euryanthe, Ariadne auf Naxos, Aïda, Simon Boccanegra, Don Carlo, Otello and Andrea Chénier and even such operettas as Die Fledermaus and Das Land des Lächelns. Oehman was also an accomplished oratorio and cantata singer with such works as Handel’s Samson and Mahler’s Das Lied von der Erde to his credit. In addition to his stage and concert work, the tenor was immensely popular on radio and in films. Oehman’s recordings were made for Parlophon, Odeon, Ultraphon and . during the 1920s, as well as a few private recordings captured in performance during the 1930s. His was not the massive, weighty instrument one expects from Wagnerian Heldentenors. Rather, Oehman possessed a relatively lyrical voice, surprisingly flexible and sweet with an easy top extending to high C. He also boasted a trill that would be the envy of many a bel canto specialist! In this recording, Oehman sings ““ Come in bel dì di maggio““ (or ““Gleich einem Frühlingsabend““ as we hear it in German) from Giordano's Andrea Chénier. This was recorded in Berlin for the Ultraphon label on October 21, 1929 with the Orchestra of Staatsoper Berlin conducted by Selmar Meyrowitz.“
