 Joseph Schmidt
Joseph Schmidt (March 4, 1904 - November 16, 1942) was a tenor and actor. He was born in Davideny, a small town in Austria-Hungary, later Romania and now part of Ukraine.
As a child of musical parents, young Joseph was influenced by many cultures. He learned to speak fluent Romanian, German, French and English. His first vocal training was as a classical Hebrew singer in the synagogue of nearby Czernowitz. His talents were quickly recognised and by 1924 he was featured in his first solo recital in Czernowitz singing traditional Jewish songs and arias by Verdi, Puccini, Rossini and Bizet. Soon he moved to Berlin and took piano and singing lessons from Professor Hermann Weissenborn. He returned to Romania for his military service and became cantor of the Czernowitz synagogue.
In 1929 he went back to Berlin, where Cornelis Bronsgeest, a famous Dutch bariton, engaged him for a radio broadcast as Vasco da Gama in Meyerbeer's L'Africaine. This was the beginning of a succesful international career. Due to his diminuitive stature (he was just over 1,50 m) a stage career was impossible, however his voice was extremely well suited for radio. He made many records, especially for Odeon/Parlophone, featured in many radio broadcasts and acted in several movies, in both German and English.
Ironically, Joseph Schmidt enjoyed his greatest successes during the rise of the German Nazis, who subsequently prohibited Jewish artists and writers to work. In 1937 he toured the United States and performed in the Carnegie Hall together with other prominent singers such as Grace Moore. The Nazis banned him from performing in Germany and Austria, but he was still very much welcome in The Netherlands and Belgium, where he was immensely popular.
In 1939 he visited his mother in Czernowitz for the last time and when the war broke out that year he attempted to escape to the United States. Unfortunately, this failed and he was interned in a Swiss refugee camp in Gyrenbad in 1940. His feeble health and the harsh camp life caused his tragical death on 16 November 1942, only 38 years old.
Famous for his phenomenal high registers, Joseph Schmidt can easily sing A's, B's, C's and even a high D. His warm lyrical voice is perfectly suited for the melodies of Schubert and Léhar (Based on article by Kathryn E. Cole on Tenorland.com)
Filmography
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