Fritz Vogelstrom

Vogelstrom was born on November 4th, 1882 in Herford. He undertook is first small part at the age of 14 in Robert und Bertram (play with incidental music by Gustav Raeder) as "Schildwache" at the Herforder Stadttheater. In 1898, Vogelstrom joined a male quartet "Sänger von Finsterwalde". When performing with the group, he was heard by the director of the Hamburg opera who proposed him a contract. However, Vogelstrom was drafted at that time and instead of going to Hamburg, he went to Hannover. Vogelstrom had an accident and was released from service. He joined another quartet "Rheinisches Männerquartett" in Mannheim. The director of the Mannheim opera, August Bassermann, heard him and asked him to audition. His audition was on November 23rd, 1903 and as a result, he got a five year contract. His first parts in Mannheim were Max, Tamino, Alessandro Stradella and the Seaman (Tristan und Isolde).The number one heldentenor of the Mannheim Opera Friedrich Carlén died, and that was Vogelstrom's big break. He added Lohengrin, Stolzing, Siegfried, Tristan to his repertory. For his last performance in Mannhein, Vogelstrom choosed Pedro. In 1912, Vogelstrom went on to Dresden. He was warmly welcomed in Dresden because their three heldentenors Burian, von Bary and Sembach where not able to sing for different reasons. He made his debut in Dresden as Max. There, Vogelstrom added Bacchus, Hans Kraft (Bärenhäuter), Kaiser, Gomella (Sonnenflammen) and a part in Hand und Herz to his repertory. He also added Tannhäuser, Parsifal, Canio and Turiddu (on the same evening, where he received 42 curtain calls), Herodes, Rienzi,..etc. Vogelstrom made many guest appearances, for example: 1908, he was in Dresden for the first time, before becoming a member of the troupe, replacing Burian in Tiefland, followed by Carmen and La bohème. 1909, Vogelstrom made his debut in Bayreuth as Froh on July 25th. He was supposed to sing Lohengrin, but intrigues behind the scene, by the wife of Bary, made sure he did not appear. However, Vogelstrom appeared as Parsifal on July 31st and August 8th. The same year, he also sang in Vienna. 1910 Berlin (Stolzing), 1911 Nürnberg (Stolzing), München (Stolzing), Essen (Lohengrin) 1912 Essen 1913 Hannover (Lohengrin), Bielefeld (Lohengrin), Nürnberg (Siegfried) 1922 Zoppot (Siegfried) Vogelstrom continued to sing in Dresden until 1928. He died on December 25th, 1963 in Köthen, after having lost all his properties in the bombing of Dresden where he lived during the war. Vogelstrom recorded for Gramophon, Odeon, Pathé, Vox, Homocord and Parlophon: a total of 125 sides.