Jacques Urlus, "Dies Bildnis ist bezaubernd schön", Mozart: Die Zauberflöte (1911)

The great Dutch Heldentenor Jacques Urlus (1867-1935) in Tamino's aria "Dies Bildnis ist bezaubernd schön" (portrait aria) from Act 1 of Mozart's Die Zauberflöte (The Magic Flute), recorded on 2 September 1911 for Gramophone Co..

The following biographical notes come from "Subito-Cantabile: A Site for Collectors of Great Singers of the Past" (www.cantabile-subito.de):
"He was born in Hergenrath near Aix-la-Chapelle (German-Belgium border), to Dutch parents. Urlus spent his early years in Tilburg and Utrecht where he worked in a steel mill and sang in a local choir. When doing his military service, his voice was discovered by an Officer who offered to cover the costs for his vocal-training which, Urlus to his regret, was unable to accept since it would have left him without any regular income. 1892 was the turning point when Urlus met the director of the Dutch National Opera House. Without having received any regular vocal training he made his debut in Amsterdam, as Beppe in I Pagliacci on September 20, 1894. Afterwards he was taught interpretation by Cornelie van Zanten, Anton Averkamp and Hugo Nolthenius. As far as his vocal technique was concerned, he was largely self-taught! In 1898 Jacques Urlus was invited to Bayreuth to restudy his repertory of Wagner operas in German (he had previously sung all his roles in Dutch), but he left Bayreuth prematurely and Siegfried Wagner did not re-engage him until 1914! Nevertheless, by the turn of the century he had become the leading heroic tenor at the Leipzig Opera House where he was contracted until 1914. During this period his fame started to spread. He appeared in Berlin, Vienna and London. In 1912 he made his debut as Tristan at the Met (the first performance was a nightmare for him because he had to sing despite a severe cold). In the following performances he was tremendously successful and also appeared as Adolar, Samson and Tamino.

He sang all his roles in at least three languages; Dutch, German and the actual original language! He was among those few Wagner singers who were able to preserve their international fame throughout the War years. In 1922 he returned to the United States with Hurok's German Opera Troupe, his comeback at Covent Garden took place in 1924. At the age of 63, he appeared for the first time at the Teatro Liceo in Barcelona, as Tristan! His performances at the Amsterdam Opera House were celebrated gala-events. He was one of the first singers at the Zoppot Wagner Festival where he was heard as Tristan opposite an outstanding cast including Helene Wildbrunn, Margarethe Arndt-Ober and Otto Helgers. In Berlin he was not only celebrated as an opera singer but also as an accomplished concert singer. He appeared in concerts conducted by Willem Mengelberg, Arthur Nikisch and Erich Kleiber among others. When Jacques Urlus died in Noordwijk the Dutch Nation mourned for him like for a national hero.

Lauritz Melchior and Jacques Urlus are considered the greatest "Heldentenors" in history of records. Remarkable is Urlus' declamation with the right intensity yet without sacrificing a good legato style. In my opinion, he is unique in this respect. What he did not possess was the heroic ring of Melchior's top notes, and his singing may not have been of a similar passion and spontaneity compared to that of the Danish tenor (on records, at least).

His voice was a fully developped dramatic tenor. The dark, almost baritonal quality of the lower range predestined him for Wagner's heros, but as we know, he suceeded in many other roles from the German, French and Italian repertoire.

Jacques Urlus made about 150 recordings from 1903 - 1924. All of them are impressive and instructive models of their kind. Because of this very rare combination of vocal power and refinement, Jacques Urlus ranks among the greatest singers."

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Music

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• Jacques
• Urlus
• Dies
• Bildnis
• Die
• Zauberflöte
• 1911

[aaronsande]

The ending of this aria is incredibly challenging for a heldentenor as it is in the upper passaggio almost exclusively, with long phrases and only the time for breath that you force the conductor to give you. This was wonderful, thank you so much Tim!

[dantitustimshu]

@aaronsande Many thanks, Aaron. He sang a wide range of repertoire. Tamino was among his key roles (apart from the usual Wagner fare) when he sang at the NY Metropolitan Opera in 1912-17. Melchior never got this far. By the way, you might also want to check out the recordings of Russian heroic tenor Ivan Ershov (or Ivan Yershov) that I posted some months ago.

[AntW11]

Very impressive. What a technique!!! What a voice!

[aaronpolitical]

@dantitustimshu Agreed...I wouldn't put Melchior in the same league. The more I listen and train, the more I start to distinguish the amount of raw talent in a voice vs. the work put into technique and finesse. The best example of getting by mostly on "what God gave you" is Mario del Monaco, whereas I would say Urlus put much more work into bel canto singing technique, with Melchior more in MDM's category. Di Stefano, another example of singing with raw talent.

[aaronsande]

@EdmundStAustell This is indeed a very difficult aria for a heldentenor to sing *cough*. Well done!

[EdmundStAustell]

I never cease to be amazed at just how good Urlus was. It seems he could sing anything. His repertoire was so wide, and he was so GOOD in all of it! Truly amazing tenor. Very, very classy singer.

[CanadaPisces]

A very fine Heldentenor! Thank you Natali for the uploading.

[paulostroff99]

Superb.TY Tim for posting.