Weil, Hermann

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Weil, Hermann

Weil, Hermann, German baritone; b. Karlsruhe, May 29, 1876; d. (of a heart attack while fishing in Blue Mountain Lake, N.Y.) July 6, 1949. He studied voice with Adolf Dippel in Frankfurt am Main. He made his operatic debut as Wolfram in Tannhäuser at Freiburg, Baden, on Sept. 6, 1901, then sang in Vienna, Brussels, Amsterdam, Milan, and London; he participated in the Bayreuth Festivals (1909-12). On Nov. 17,1911, he made a successful debut as Kurvenal in Tristan und Isolde at the Metropolitan Opera in N.Y. In 1917 he returned to Germany. He sang at the Vienna State Opera (1920-23), toured the U.S. with the German Opera Co. (1923-24), and appeared at the Bayreuth Festival (1924-25); in 1939 he settled in N.Y. as a vocal teacher. The extensive range of his voice, spanning 3 full octaves, enabled him to undertake bass parts as well as those in the baritone compass. He had about 100 roles in his repertoire, excelling in Wagnerian operas.

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire