Danish tenor, 1906 - 1975
Biographical notes:
He was born in Roskilde near Copenhagen. He studied modern languages and became a teacher. He had a fine tenor voice which he loved to display at parties and in church. Mogens Wöldike, a
choral conductor, made him a tenor member of the “Copenhagen Male Choir” and he was soon entrusted with oratorio solos. He studied with Agnete Zacharias, Valdemar Lincke and John
Forsell who was the teacher of Jussi Björling. He married in 1931. He gave his first song recital in 1936. In 1938 he was discovered by the recording company His Master’s Voice. In 1940
Denmark was seized by Hitler. International activities had to be postboned. Because of his successful recordings, he became one of the best loved classical singers. He appeared in opera
and operetta and gave recitals all over the country. After the war he was invited to record “Die schöne Müllerin” and “Dichterliebe” with Gerald Moore. He also appeared in the first
performances of Britten’s The Rape of Lucretia at Glyndebourne opposite Kathleen Ferrier. He
also sang film-songs and in musicals. In 1946 Aksel Schiøtz survived a tumor of the acoustic nerve which had to be operated, but it left the right hand side of his face partly paralysed. He
suceeded by sheer will-power to sing in a comeback recital in 1948. In 1955 he entered a new career as a professor at the universities of Minnesota, Toronto and Colorado. He gave master
classes in the USA and was regarded as an excellent teacher. He died in 1975.
Comment: His great artistry have become increasingly appreciated in recent years because Danacord released his complete recordings.
In my opinion, he is one of the most musical and stylistic singers. There is a unique inward passion and an illuminating power in his singing.
His Bach and Handel recordings belong to his most wonderful achievements. The fluency of passagework in Messiah and the Christmas Oratorio shows a virtuoso’s mastery (at his time the
Bach style was without use of appogiature or other embellishments). I admire his Lieder recordings. Die Schöne Müllerin, Dichterliebe, the songs by Nielsen - his
interpretations are true treasures and have become classic performances.
Danacord’s ten-volume compact disc edition received the “Historical Award of Gramophone’s International Classical Record Collector” in 1998
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
