Lauritz Melchior's Repertoire

"Under construction...indefinitely"

This is not a discography, but an ongoing investigation into the works Lauritz Melchior performed on stage in opera and concert (movies here). While it is likely that almost all of the recordings Lauritz Melchior made for record companies are drawn from material that he sang or would sing on a stage, these recordings draw from only a selection of Melchior's total repertoire.

For information about recordings, the bibliography here includes published discographies (which are all both out of print & incomplete it should be noted). For information on a selection of Melchior's more notable studio recordings and the recorded live broadcasts in which he is featured click here

This page, as it develops, will provide a guide to the material Lauritz Melchior is documented to have sung in his public appearances as the data are uncovered. The sources are programs and reviews. The information has not been evenly recovered: the smaller operatic roles Melchior sang before 1921 and his repertoire for non-US recitals remain particularly obscure areas.

The organization of the page is as follows:

Stage Repertoire

I.   Opera:

Leading Tenor Roles, 1918-1950
*Secondary Tenor and Baritone/Bass Roles 1913-192_

II. Light Opera/Operetta/Musical Theater

Danish
American

Concert and Recital Repertoire: (A definition: concerts consisted of operatic excerpts performed with an orchestra, sometimes followed by songs to a piano accompaniment; recitals consisted of operatic excerpts and songs performed to a piano accompaniment, in some circumstances to orchestral accompaniment)

I. Operatic Excerpts (tenor; not currently known to be from stage roles)

II. Operetta/Musical Theatre Excerpts

III. Song
(organized by country of origin; Melchior's career encompassed a significant number of concert/recital appearances and tours of Denmark (1910s-1930s), England (early 1920s), Germany (1920s) and the United States (1920s-1950s). Scandinavian songs and German lieder comprise the bulk of the songs.  The more "popular" material ("parlor songs," operetta, comedy songs) made appearances at the beginning and end of Melchior's career, and during those situations in which the tenor found himself singing to an audience through mass media. Melchior's appearances on vaudeville and nightclub stages in the 1950s represented more a change in venue than a change in repertoire.) 

Scandinavian (Many of the composers of these songs were active during the years Melchior was living in Denmark (1910s))
English
German
American
Other (none of the above-currently Russian)

IV. Orchestral Works (i.e. oratorio, symphony)

V. Songs from Movie Roles Sung in Concert   (all 1945 and after)

There are some wholescale omissions. Brief mention might be made on the presence of other material in Melchior's repertoire: religious favorites such as "Silent Night" (which he sang on US Radio at Christmastime), as well as the patriotic songs from various countries, that provided the appropriate fervency or reverence at ceremonial functions and "war bond" rallies. These anthems include standards such as the "Star Spangled Banner" or "America the Beautiful", the "Battle Hymn of the Republic," various Danish patriotic songs not limited to Krøyer's "Der er et yndigt Land," and even the Finnish "Suomi" occasioned by the Red Army's occupation of Finland, not to mention now little-remembered World War II rousers, for example, Frank Loesser's "Ballad of Rodger Young" or Martha Wellington's "On to Victory." These songs do not appear in the charts unless they were part of a concert or recital.

This repertoire also omits songs that Melchior "sang" strictly as a joke, i.e., "Dinah" on the Dinah Shore (Radio) Show, or "Anything You Can Do, I Can Do Better" on the Ed Sullivan TV Show with Annie Get Your Gun star Ethel Merman. Information about Melchior's appearances on radio and TV can be found in the 1940s and 1950s sections of the chronology.

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I. Opera-leading tenor roles

German	ROLE	OPERA	COMPOSER	Inclusive dates and theatres/theatre of debut
	Florestan	Fidelio	BEETHOVEN	1933-1943, Teatro Colón (debut), Covent Garden, San Francisco
	Tannhäuser	Tannhäuser [German, Danish]	WAGNER	1918-1948, debut at Det kgl. Teater, Copenhagen
	Siegmund	Die Walküre		1924-1949; debut at Covent Garden
	Parsifal	Parsifal		1924-1948; debut at Bayreuther Festspiele
	Siegfried	Siegfried		1925-1948; debut at Magdeburg
	Siegfried	Götterdämmerung		1927-1948; debut at Bayreuther Festspiele
	Lohengrin	Lohengrin		1928-1950; debut at Hamburg Staatsoper
	Tristan	Tristan und Isolde		1929-1950; debut at Teatre del Liceu, Barcelona
Italian	Pagliacci	Der Bajazzo [Danish, German]	LEONCAVALLO	1919-1930; Det Kgl Teater, Copenhagen (debut), Nuremburg, Hamburg Staatsoper, Berlin Staatsoper,
	Turridu	Cavelleria Rusticana [German]	MASCAGNI	1924-1927; Nuremburg (debut), Stettin, Hamburg Staatsoper
	Radames	Aida [German, ?Danish?]	VERDI	1928(?)-1930;  Hamburg Staatsoper [Bremen, Hannover], Berlin Staatsoper
	Otello	Otello [German, Italian]		1928-1939; Hamburg Staatsoper (debut) [Bremerhaven], Berlin Staatoper, Paris Opéra, Covent Garden, San Francisco
French	Samson	Samson & Delilah [Danish]	SAINT-SAËNS	1919-1920; Det kgl. Teater, Copenhagen (debut)
	John of Leyden	Der Prophet [German]	MEYERBEER	1928-1930; Hamburg Staatsoper (debut), Berlin Städtische

(Did Lauritz Melchior perform Cavaradossi in Finland in 1920?)

I. Opera-secondary tenor roles, baritone, bass roles (all in Danish, for Royal Danish Opera)

COMPOSER	Opera	Role	Inclusive dates and theatres	notes
LEONCAVALLO	Pagliacci	Silvio	1913-1919	"Role of professional debut" usu. cast w/baritone
ENNA	Komedianten	Barkilpedro	1920[Creator]	bit part
------	Gloria Arsena	Louvet	1917[Creator]	bit part
STRAUSS, R.	Der Rosenkavalier	Faninal	-1919	minor role; usu. cast w/baritone

There are other stage roles that Lauritz Melchior and other authors alledge that this author has no personally researched information about. The following is an accounting of these roles, in no particular order. They will be entered into the above chart when the author has more information about the performances of these roles.  The list is more likely to be incomplete than inaccurate. All of the roles were performed for the Royal Danish Opera in Danish, unless marked otherwise:

Role	Opera	Composer/Librettist
Anton Schnappauf, friend of hero, buffo bass	Der Evangelimann	Kienzl
Lorenzo (tenor role: lyric or buffo)	La Muette de Portici	Auber
Ottokar (baritone, father of the heroine)	Freischuetz	Weber
Arvid Bengtsen	Drot og Marsk	Heise
Brander (buffo bass)	La Damnation de Faust (note: not an opera)	Berlioz
the elderly suitor, Baron de Merlussac (baritone)	Roi l'a dit	Delibes
Ibn Hakia, the doctor who restores the heroine's eyesight (baritone)	Iolanta	Tchaikovsky
Jew (comic role)	Salome	R. Strauss
"Minstrel" (opera about Wieland the Smith)	Vølund Smed	Henriques/Drachmann
Fritz Kothner (bass)	Meistersinger von Nurnburg	Wagner
"Grail Knight"	Parsifal	--
Heinrich der Schreiber (baritone)	Tannhäuser	--
Morales (baritone)	Carmen	Bizet
Germont père*(baritone, for Danish touring company only); Baron Douphol	La Traviata	Verdi
Antonio* (school performance) (buffo bass)	Nozze di Figaro	Mozart
Conte di Luna* (Danish touring company)	Il Trovatore	Verdi

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II. Operetta/Musical Comedy

• Danish

COMPOSER	Title of Composition	Role	Dates and Locations	comments
HARTMANN	Liden Kirsten	Sverkel	KT 1920/1921	Sverkel is the leading tenor part; the work is also sometimes classified as an opera
HEIBERG	En Sondag på Amager	Peer, a man of  Amager	KT (bef. 1918)	a bit part; possibly involving quartet singing

• American

COMPOSER	Title of Composition	Role	Dates and Locations	comments
LOMBARDO	Arabian Nights	The Sultan	1954-1955; Amphitheatre, Jones Beach, New York	3 solos

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Concert and Recital Repertoire

   

I. Concert Repertoire, Operatic Excerpts (tenor)

  

II. Operetta/Musical Theater Excerpts

COMPOSER	Work	Songs	Language	Time & Locations	NOTES
KERN	Music in the Air	"The Song is You"	English		Lawrence Tibbett was one of if not the first to record this
LEHAR	Der Land des Lachelns	"You are my heart alone [aka 'Dein ist mein ganzes herz']"	English	late 1940s and 1950s US	Richard Tauber
RODGERS	South Pacific	"Some Enchanted Evening"; "Younger than Springtime"	English	late 1940s and 1950s US	Ezio Pinza
ROMBERG	The Student Prince	"Deep in my Heart"; "Golden Days";  "Serenade"	English	late 1940s and 1950s US	Bavarian-themed and one of the few operettas whose popularity survived WWII
STRAUSS, J.	Der Zigueunerbaron	"Wer uns getraut"	German	1930s	Concert; Melchior and Lehmann sang this operetta duet as one of their encores in joint recital.
YOUMANS	Great Day!	"Without a Song"	English		Popular quasi-Spiritual which had most recently been popularized by Frank Sinatra, the favorite singer of young America

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III. Songs
 

Scandinavia

COMPOSER	Title of Composition	Date of composition/Musical Period/Language	comments
ALNÆS	"Februarmoren ved Golfen"	Danish
ANDERSEN	"Flyver så mange Fugle,"	Danish
	"Nu brister i alle de Kløfter"	Danish
BACKER-LUNDE	"Stig Sol"
BONNéN/Knudsen	"Der Freden drog over Lande"	Danish	1919
GRIEG/(1)H.C. Andersen /(2) Ibsen  /(3)Munch  /(4) Krag  /(5)Paulsen /(6) Benzon	(1) "Jag Elsker Dig"	Norwegian, Danish, Danish/English
	(2) "En Svane"	Norwegian
	"A Dream"	Norwegian
	(3) "Solnedgang"	Norwegian
	"Jaegerlied"
	(4) "Der Skreg en Fugl"
	(1) "Vandring i Skoven"
	(5) "Med en Primulaveris"
	(6) "Eros"
	(2)"Med en Vandlilje"
	(5) "Til Norge"
	(3) "Udfarten"
	"Ved Moders Grav"
	"To the Fatherland"		US; occupation of Norway
HALLEN	"Junker Nils Sjunger til Lutan" (aka "A Queen and Her Knight")	Swedish
HANNIKAINEN	"Coulds't thou Know"
	"Stille Mit Hjerte, Stille" (aka "Quiet my heart"
HARTMANN/Winther	"Flyv, Fugl, Flyv"	Danish
HEISE	"Skovensomhed,"	Danish
	"Vaagn af din Slummer;"	Danish
	"Jonfru du maa ikke Sove,"	Danish
	"Den var Engang"(??)	Danish
	"Dengang jeg var kun saa stor som saa"	Danish
	"Husker du i Høst ("Lille Karen")"	Danish
	"Vildt flyver Høg,"	Danish
	"Regnen, den regner hver evige Dag"	Danish
HENNEBERG	"Flyg mina Tankar" (aka "Fly, my thoughts")	Swedish
HENRIQUES	"Foraarssang" ("Spring Song")	Danish
	"Våren er Kom met"	Danish
JAERNEFELT	"Dreamer's Song to Life"	Finnish
JORDAN	"Drick"	Norwegian
	"Flyvende Ørn"	Norwegian
	"Hører Du"	Norwegian
KILPINEN/Morgenstern	"Evening"
KÖRLING	"Hvita Rosor"	Swedish
LEMBCKE	"Majsang"
LANGE-MÜLLER/Heine	"Die heiligen drei Koenige"	Danish
	"Den var engang" aka "Serenade of the Renaissance" (aka Serenade from "Renaissance")	Danish
	"I Würzburg ringe die Klokker til Fest"	Danish
	"Skin ud du klare Solskin"	Danish
	"Kornmodsglansen"	Danish
MERIKANTO, Oskar/(1)Knape	(1)"Hell dig, Lif"	Swedish
	"Skogduvors Toner" aka "Dove's Voices, Voices of the Wood Doves""	Finnish
MISKOW/Drachmann	"Den Spillemand spapped Foilen fra Vaeg"	Danish
NIELSEN, Carl/Jørgensen	"Sænk kun dit hoved, du blomst"	Danish
PARDJAERVE (spelling?)
RUNG/Andersen	"Hvor Nilen vander"	Danish
RYGAARD		Danish	patriotic songs (WWI)
SIBELIUS	"Svarta Rosor" (Schwartzen Rosen; Black Roses)	Swedish
SJÖBERG	"Tonerna"	Swedish, German
von Klenau	"To My Bride"	Danish
WENNERBERG	GLUNTARNE song cycle	Swedish
WEYSE	"Song of Hroar's Saga"
? (composer not known)	"Den Store, Hvide Flok"

United Kingdom

COMPOSER	Title of Composition	comments
BEIGEL	"Veilchenduft"	song by singing teacher Victor Beigel, early US concert
BRIDGE/(1) M. Coleridge	(1)"Love went a-riding"
	"Isobel"
CLARK	"Robert Comings"	spelling? a "Boosey Ballad"?
CLARKE	"The Blind Ploughman"	Radio concert in England during first few months of regular radio broadcasting
COLERIDGE-TAYLOR	"Life and Death"	US radio 1940s
CRAXTON	"Come you, Mary"	Craxton was accompanist for some early UK recitals
D'HARDELOT	"Sometimes in my Dreams"	Radio concert in England during first few months of regular radio broadcasting
	"Because"	US late 1940s-1950s
GEEHL	"For You Alone"	Voice of Firestone US TV program
IRELAND/Masefield (1)	(1)"Sea Fever"	1920s
	"I have twelve oxen"	ditto
JAMES	"The Sun God"	1920s US recitals
LIDDLE	"Oreward"	probably a "Boosey ballad"
PEEL	"Come, Friend"	a "Boosey ballad" probably- a few early UK performances (Queens Hall, London)
QUILTER/Shelley	"Love's Philosophy"	1940s US
SULLIVAN	"The Lost Chord"	1940s US, poss. radio only

Germany

COMPOSER	Title of Composition	comments
BACH/GOUNOD	"Ave Maria"	in Latin. US, late 1940s and 1950s
BÖHM	"Still wie die Nacht"
BRAHMS/(1)Liliiencron (2)Daumer	(1) "Auf dem Kirchhofe"
	(2) "Botschaft"
HILDACH	"Der Lenz"
JENSEN/Chamisso	Dolorosa	[attempted recording for Brunswick (USA) in 1927]
SCHUBERT	"Der Wanderer an den Mond"
	"An die Musik"
	"Am Meer"
	"Der Atlas"
	"Döppelgänger"
	"Ständchen"
	"Dem Unendlichen"
	"Die Allmacht"
	"Erlkönig"	Possibly only in US, late 1940s
	"Vandring in Skoven"
	Jägersang
SCHUMANN	"Die Beiden Grenadiere"
	"Liebhabers Ständchen"	possibly a reviewer's mixing up with "Unter'm Fenster"??
	"Er und Sie"	USA; w/Lotte Lehmann
	"Ich Denke Dein"	see above
	"Unter'm Fenster"	see above
	"Familiengemälde"	see above
	"So wahr die Sonne"	see above
	"Ich Grolle Nicht" [Dichterliebe]
STRAUSS, R.	"Traume durch die Dämmerung"
	"Zueignung"
	"Heimliche Aufforderung"
	"Ständchen"
	"Cäcilie"
TRUNK	"Mir Traumte von Einem Koningskind"	Trunk was one of Melchior's recital accompanists ca. 1923-1924
	"In Meiner Heimat"	see above
	"Erster Strahl (aka "First Ray")	see above
	"Als ob ein Toter im Grab"	recorded; not certain if performed in concert
WAGNER/Wiesendonk	"Träume"
	"Schmerzen"
WEINGARTNER/Lenau	"Liebesfeier" (aka "Love's Festival")
WOLF/Heyse	"Er ist's"
	"Ein Ständchen Euch zu Bringen" [Italienisches Liederbuch]
	"Gesegnet Sei"[Italienisches Liederbuch]
	"Schön Strecht Ich Aus im Bett" [Italienisches Liederbuch]
<traditional>	"Minneleid"

 
United States

COMPOSER/Librettist	Title of Composition	Comments
BARTLETT	"A Dream"	US Radio broadcast
BRANSEN	"There Shall Be Music"
	"Music of the Spring"
DUNGAN	"Eternal Life"	possibly "Voice of Firestone" TV program only?
GRIFFES/(1)Lenau /(2)Geibel	(1)"By a Lonely Forest Pathway ("Auf geheimem Waldespfade")"
	(2) "Time Was When I in Anguish Lay ("Wohl Lag' Ich Einst In Gram Und Schmerz")
HAGEMANN /(2)Tagore	"Christ went up into the hills"
	(2)"Do Not Go, My Love"
LA FORGE	"Into the Light"
O'HARA	"The Song's The Thing"	1950s
NEVIN	"The Rosary"
ROBINSON	"The House I Live in"	WWII era plea for/tribute to American  tolerance ("all races, all religions, that's America to me") popularized by bobby-soxer idol Sinatra; possibly on the radio only
ROGERS	"The Star"
SAXE	"Russian Thanksgiving"

Other

COMPOSER/Librettist	Title of Composition	Comments
RACHMANINOV	"O Cease thy Singing, Maiden Fair" [English]	[attempted recording, Brunswick (USA) 1927]
	"Floods of Spring" [English]	US
TSCHAIKOWSKY	"None but the lonely heart" [English]	possibly on US TV Show "Voice of Firestone" only (1950s)

IV. Orchestral works

COMPOSER/Librettist	Title of Composition	Comments
ANDERSEN/S. Andersen	[cantata]	1920 [premiere]
SZYMANOWSKI/Rumi	3rd Symphony "Song of the Night" (version without chorus)	1926-Carnegie Hall [NY Premiere], language not noted

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V. Songs from movies transferred to concert stage

Movie	Composer	Song	Comments
Thrill of A Romance	Trad. arr. STOLL	"Vive l'Amour"	used for "audience participation"
	HUBAY arr STOLL	"Lonely Night"
	HERBERT	"I Want What I Want When I Want It"
Two Sisters from Boston	LISZT arr. C. PREVIN	"My Country"
This Time For Keeps	ANDERSEN	"Danish Children's Song"	Danish
	BIZET	"Agnus Dei"	Latin
Luxury Liner	DE CURTIS	"Torna i Sorriento" (aka "Come Back to Sorrento")	Italian
	SPIELMANN	"Spring Came Back to Vienna"	A waltz meant to evoke optimism for postwar Europe's rebuilding

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Would you please help make this website as complete-and accurate-as possible a resource?

I am avidly seeking information to use on this site, in ANY language. Please also contact me if you ever saw-heard Lauritz Melchior in person!

THANK YOU SO MUCH!

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