Sembach (real name, Semfke), Johannes

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Sembach (real name, Semfke), Johannes

Sembach (real name, Semfke), Johannes, German tenor; b. Berlin, March 9, 1881; d. Bremerhaven, June 20, 1944. He studied in Vienna and with Jean de Reszke in Paris. In 1900 he made his operatic debut at the Vienna Court Opera. From 1905 to 1913 he was a member of the Dresden Court Opera, where he appeared as a Wagnerian and also created the role of Aegisthus in Strauss’s Elektra (1909). On Nov. 26, 1914, he made his Metropolitan Opera debut in N.Y. as Parsifal, remaining on its roster until 1917; was again on its roster during the 1920–22 seasons. His guest engagements also took him to London, Paris, and South America. In 1925 he settled in Berlin as a voice teacher.

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire