Friedrich Schorr (September 2, 1888 – August 14, 1953), was a renowned Austrian-Hungarianbass-baritoneopera singer of Jewish origin. He later became a naturalized American.
His voice was powerful, steady, and rich-toned, with a beautiful mezza voce. He placed a special emphasis on maintaining a smooth, legato line in his singing, with no trace of Sprechgesang. Towards the end of Schorr's career, his extreme top notes became somewhat 'wooden', however, as the result of many years of strenuous usage.
Biography
The son of a cantor (hazzan) Mayer Schorr, who reportedly had a fine voice himself, Schorr was born in Oradea [Nagyvarad at the time]. He studied in Brno and Vienna with Adolf Robinson. He made his stage debut in Graz, singing there in 1912-1916. Afterwards he worked in Prague (1916–1918), Cologne (1918–1923), Berlin (State Opera Unter den Linden, 1923–1931). He also made acclaimed appearances in London at Covent Garden (1924–1931), at New York's Metropolitan Opera (1924–1943) and the Bayreuth Festival (1925–1933).
Schorr made a number of recordings both in Europe and America by both the acoustic and electrical processes. Although some of them, particularly those recorded in America, were produced after he had passed his artistic zenith, these records still prove Schorr's vocal strength and solidity, his clear diction, his excellent breathing, and the great emotional expressiveness of his interpretations. Most of his records are available on CD transfers issued by various companies, including a number of live operatic performances dating from the 1930s.
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