Vogl, Johann Michael

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Vogl, Johann Michael

Vogl, Johann Michael , Austrian baritone and composer; b. Ennsdorf, near Steyr, Aug. 10, 1768; d. Vienna, Nov. 19,1840. He was orphaned at an early age; his vocal gifts were admired by the parish church choirmaster, who gave him his first music lessons. While studying languages and philosophy at the Kremsmünster Gymnasium, he was befriended by his fellow pupil, Franz Xaver Süssmayr; in 1786 he went to Vienna to study law at the Univ. After briefly practicing law, he joined Siissmayr’s German opera company, making his debut at the Hofoper on May 1,1795; hewas chosen to sing the role of Pizarro in the revised version of Beethoven’s Fidelioin 1814. In 1817 he met Schubert, who became his close friend and whose Heder he subsequently championed; he also created the leading role in Schubert’s opera Die Zwillingsbrüder (1820).

Bibliography

A. Weiss, Der Schubertsänger JM. V (Vienna, 1915); A. Liess, JM. V: Hof operist und Schubertsänger (Graz and Cologne, 1954).

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire