Mayr, Richard

OPERA SINGER (AUSTRIA)
BORN 18 Nov 1877, Salzburg - DIED 1 Dec 1935, Wien
GRAVE LOCATION Salzburg: St. Petersfriedhof, Domplatz (Gruftarkaden, 33)

Richard Mayr was the son the inkeeper Franz Mayr from Salzburg. He attended the Academic Gymnasium in Salzburg and started his Medicin studies in 1897. But his interest in classical music was such that he abandoned his studies to become a singer. He studied with Johannes Ress in Vienna and soon appeared on the stage singing bass parts. After Karl Prill hear him he recommended him to Cosima Wagner and she engaged him. In the winter of 1901-1902 he studied with Julius Kniese in Bayreuth. On 28 July 1902 his opera debut took place in Bayreuth as Hagen in Wagner's "Götterdämmerung". He was engaged at the Court Theatre in Vienna, where he debuted on 2 October 1902.

One of his finest parts was the role of baron "Ochs auf Lerchenau" in "Der Rosenkavalier" by Richard Strauss in 1911 at the State Opera. In 1917 he married the socialite Bertha Marie Denk. Many appearances in Bayreuth and at the Salzburg festival followed.

In 1924 he appeared at Covent Garden in London in "Der Rosenkavalier" and an international career followed. In 1927 he made guest appearances at the Metropolitan Opera in New York. In 1935 he was forced to retire because of an illness and he died later that year in Vienna. His brother Carl Mayr was a costume tailor and niece Maria Mayr married the brewer Gustav Kapsreiter.

Family
• Wife: Denk, Berthe Marie (1917-1935)

Related persons
• was discovered by Mahler, Gustav

Events
12/9/1910Premiere of Gustav Mahler's "Symphony No. 8" at the Musik-Festhalle in Munich. Impresario Emil Gutmann had hired the new Musik-Festhalle in Munich in the International Exhibition grounds near Theresiënhöhe. It had a capacity of 3,200. The premiere was a great success and the applause lasted for twenty minutes. It was the last time Mahler conducted a premiere of his own work because he died eight months later. The singers included Emma Bellwidt, Richard Mayr, Ottillie Metzger and Matha Winternitz-Dorda. [Mahler, Gustav]
10/10/1919Premiere of the opera "Die Frau ohne Schatten" by Richard Strauss in Vienna. The libretto was by Hugo von Hofmannsthal and Karl-Aagaard Oestvig and Maria Jeritza performed the parts of the emperor and the empress. [Hofmannsthal, Hugo von][Lehmann, Lotte][Strauss, Richard]

Images

The house in the Linzer Gasse in Salzburg where Richard Mayr was born.
Picture by Androom (27 Aug 2009)

 

The grave of Richard Mayr and Berthe Denk at the St. Petersfriedhof, Salzburg.
Picture by Androom (31 Aug 2014)

 

Sources
Richard Mayr – Wikipedia
Symphony No. 8 (Mahler) - Wikipedia


Mazzini, Giacomo

Published: 17 Oct 2020
Last update: 09 Dec 2023