Vilhelm Herold

Vilhelm Christoffer Herold (born March 19, 1865 in Hasle (Bornholm) – died December 15, 1937 in Copenhagen) was an operatic tenor, voice teacher and theatre director. Herold created the role of David in Carl Nielsen's opera "Saul og David" (Oslo 1902).

Herold is considered a legendary singer in his native Denmark, where he made his stage debut on February 10, 1893 in the title role of Gounod's "Faust" at the Royal Theatre in Copenhagen. However, he also sang throughout Europe, including a command performance for King Edward VII at Buckingham Palace in 1905. The previous year, he had made his Covent Garden debut in the title role of "Lohengrin". He also sang at the 1893 World's Fair in Chicago. Herold was a prominent interpreter of Pedro in Eugen d'Albert's "Tiefland" during the years following its premiere, with the composer himself pronouncing him as ideal in the role. ("Sie sind das Ideal eines Pedro.") [Hein, M., 1996] He also sang Pedro in the 1913 Oslo performance of "Tiefland" which marked Kirsten Flagstad's stage debut. [Rosenthal, H. and Warrack, J., 1979] It was in "Tiefland" that Herold made his final appearance on the opera stage on March 19, 1915, his 50th birthday.

Upon his retirement from the stage, Herold worked primarily as a voice and drama teacher at the Royal Theatre in Copenhagen, where he trained a generation of Danish singers, including Lauritz Melchior. From 1922 to 1924 he was also a director at the Royal Theatre, where he staged "Louise" and "Boris Godunov".

A prolific recording artist, Herold's published discography numbers 135 titles. Extracts from some of those titles have been transferred from records in the collection of Denmark's State and University Library to the Nimbus CD "Prima Voce: Vilhelm Herold" (NI7880).

Notes and references

* [http://carlnielsen.dk Carl Nielson Society] Accessed 28 April 2007.
*Hein, M., 1996, [http://www.wyastone.co.uk/nrl/pvoce/7880c.html Liner notes] for "Prima Voce: Vilhelm Herold", Nimbus Records NI7880. Accessed 28 April 2007.
* [http://www.gravsted.dk/person.php?navn=vilhelmherold Herold's grave in the Hasle Kirke cemetery] Accessed 29 April 2007.
*Rosenthal, H. and Warrack, J., 1979, "The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Opera", 2nd Edition, Oxford University Press p. 227