Josef Munclinger
Encyclopedia
Josef František Munclinger, also Josef František Munclingr (September 13, 1888 Nítkovice
, Moravia
, then Austria-Hungary
– October 31, 1954 Mariánské Lázně
, Czech Republic
, then Czechoslovakia
) was a Czech opera
tic bass
and opera stage director who had an active international career from the 1910s through the 1950s. His voice is preserved on a number of recordings made for the Ultraphon and Supraphon
labels.
) where his uncle played in the theatre orchestra. He simultaneously studied at the philosophy
faculty of the University of Lemberg
and at the Lemberg Conservatory
(singing and composition with Stanisław Niewiadomski and Mieczysław Sołtys). In 1911 he made his professional opera debut at the Lviv Opera as Colline in Giacomo Puccini
's La bohème
. In the season 1913-1914 he sang at the Great Theatre
in Poznań
. During the 1916-1919 he was the member of Studio Piotrowsky, Teatr Stołeczny and Teatr Wielki in Warsaw
. In 1915 he made also his opera directing debut with an expressionistic performance of The Tales of Hoffmann by Jacques Offenbach
.
In 1921 Munclinger left Poland to join the Slovak National Theatre
in Bratislava
where he was committed until 1924. At this theatre he staged numerous premieres, among them the famous Slovak premiere of Káťa Kabanová
in 1923 in the presence of Leoš Janáček
who appreciated Munclinger's performance as the best at that time. During his engagement in Bratislava Munclinger married the actress Lenka Honty.
After his Vienna
tour in 1925 Josef František Munclinger was engaged as a soloist at the Vienna State Opera
. He signed already the contract but shortly after signing he preferred the offer of cooperation by the new Opera chief at the National Theatre
in Prague
Otakar Ostrčil
and became for more than 25 years (between 1925 and 1951) a significant opera stage director and singer of this prominent Czech stage. He sang the Magician in the world premiere of Jaromír Weinberger
's Schwanda the Bagpiper on 27 April 1927 as well as the role of the second apprentice in the Czech premiere of Alban Berg
's Wozzeck
on 11 November 1926. In 1942 he starred in the world premiere of František Škroup
's Columbus (composed in 1855). Among the other roles he performed Basilio in The Barber of Seville
, Beneš in Dalibor, Chrudoš in Libuše
, Gian Francesci in La Juive
, the Grand Inquisitor in Don Carlos
, Herrmann in Tannhäuser
, Kecal in The Bartered Bride
, Malina in The Secret
, Marbuel in The Devil and Kate
, Mephistopheles in Faust
, Ramfis in Aida
, Scarpia in Tosca
, Tonio in Pagliacci
, Vodník in Rusalka
, and Volfram Olbramovič in The Brandenburgers in Bohemia.
Since the 1920s Munclinger worked as a guest artist at the opera houses and concert stages in Budapest
, Vienna, Berlin
, Paris
, Poznaň and Warsaw. After his retirement from the National Theatre in Prague in 1951 he was also active as a teacher at the Janáček Academy of Music and Performing Arts
in Brno
where he stimulated and helped to establish the first opera directing department. He tutored numerous Czech and Slovak opera directors.
Josef Munclinger also wrote books on dramatic art (e.g. Hercova tvář a maska), translated and wrote opera librettos, worked as scenic design
er and upgraded the Czech stage directing with technical news like projected scene or sound amplifiers.
Having never retired from the stage, Munclinger died in Mariánské Lázně
in 1954 at the age of 66. His son Milan Munclinger
was an important conductor
, flutist
and musicologist and his brother-in-law Tibor Honty was a notable Czech photographer.
Nítkovice
Nítkovice is a village and municipality in Kroměříž District in the Zlín Region of the Czech Republic.The municipality covers an area of , and has a population of 280 ....
, Moravia
Moravia
Moravia is a historical region in Central Europe in the east of the Czech Republic, and one of the former Czech lands, together with Bohemia and Silesia. It takes its name from the Morava River which rises in the northwest of the region...
, then Austria-Hungary
Austria-Hungary
Austria-Hungary , more formally known as the Kingdoms and Lands Represented in the Imperial Council and the Lands of the Holy Hungarian Crown of Saint Stephen, was a constitutional monarchic union between the crowns of the Austrian Empire and the Kingdom of Hungary in...
– October 31, 1954 Mariánské Lázně
Mariánské Lázne
Mariánské Lázně is a spa town in the Karlovy Vary Region of the Czech Republic. The town, surrounded by green mountains, is a mosaic of parks and noble houses...
, Czech Republic
Czech Republic
The Czech Republic is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Poland to the northeast, Slovakia to the east, Austria to the south, and Germany to the west and northwest....
, then Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia or Czecho-Slovakia was a sovereign state in Central Europe which existed from October 1918, when it declared its independence from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, until 1992...
) was a Czech opera
Opera
Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...
tic bass
Bass (voice type)
A bass is a type of male singing voice and possesses the lowest vocal range of all voice types. According to The New Grove Dictionary of Opera, a bass is typically classified as having a range extending from around the second E below middle C to the E above middle C...
and opera stage director who had an active international career from the 1910s through the 1950s. His voice is preserved on a number of recordings made for the Ultraphon and Supraphon
Supraphon
Supraphon Music Publishing is a Czech record label, it is oriented mainly towards publishing classical music, with an emphasis on Czech and Slovak composers.- History :...
labels.
Biography
At the age of six he lost both his parents and grew up in Lemberg (then PolandPoland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
) where his uncle played in the theatre orchestra. He simultaneously studied at the philosophy
Philosophy
Philosophy is the study of general and fundamental problems, such as those connected with existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language. Philosophy is distinguished from other ways of addressing such problems by its critical, generally systematic approach and its reliance on rational...
faculty of the University of Lemberg
Lviv University
The Lviv University or officially the Ivan Franko National University of Lviv is the oldest continuously operating university in Ukraine...
and at the Lemberg Conservatory
Lviv Conservatory
The Lviv National Musical Academy, M. Lysenko is a state conservatory of Ukraine based in Lviv.-History:...
(singing and composition with Stanisław Niewiadomski and Mieczysław Sołtys). In 1911 he made his professional opera debut at the Lviv Opera as Colline in Giacomo Puccini
Giacomo Puccini
Giacomo Antonio Domenico Michele Secondo Maria Puccini was an Italian composer whose operas, including La bohème, Tosca, Madama Butterfly, and Turandot, are among the most frequently performed in the standard repertoire...
's La bohème
La bohème
La bohème is an opera in four acts,Puccini called the divisions quadro, a tableau or "image", rather than atto . by Giacomo Puccini to an Italian libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa, based on Scènes de la vie de bohème by Henri Murger...
. In the season 1913-1914 he sang at the Great Theatre
Great Theatre, Poznań
Grand Theatre, Poznań is a neoclassical opera house located in Poznań, Poland. It is named after famous Polish composer Stanisław Moniuszko....
in Poznań
Poznan
Poznań is a city on the Warta river in west-central Poland, with a population of 556,022 in June 2009. It is among the oldest cities in Poland, and was one of the most important centres in the early Polish state, whose first rulers were buried at Poznań's cathedral. It is sometimes claimed to be...
. During the 1916-1919 he was the member of Studio Piotrowsky, Teatr Stołeczny and Teatr Wielki in Warsaw
Warsaw
Warsaw is the capital and largest city of Poland. It is located on the Vistula River, roughly from the Baltic Sea and from the Carpathian Mountains. Its population in 2010 was estimated at 1,716,855 residents with a greater metropolitan area of 2,631,902 residents, making Warsaw the 10th most...
. In 1915 he made also his opera directing debut with an expressionistic performance of The Tales of Hoffmann by Jacques Offenbach
Jacques Offenbach
Jacques Offenbach was a Prussian-born French composer, cellist and impresario. He is remembered for his nearly 100 operettas of the 1850s–1870s and his uncompleted opera The Tales of Hoffmann. He was a powerful influence on later composers of the operetta genre, particularly Johann Strauss, Jr....
.
In 1921 Munclinger left Poland to join the Slovak National Theatre
Slovak National Theatre
The Slovak National Theatre denotes:* the oldest Slovak professional theatre consisting of 3 ensembles ,* a Neo-Renaissance theatre building in the Old Town of Bratislava, Slovakia, which formerly housed two of the theatre's ensembles , and* the theatre's large modern theatre building in...
in Bratislava
Bratislava
Bratislava is the capital of Slovakia and, with a population of about 431,000, also the country's largest city. Bratislava is in southwestern Slovakia on both banks of the Danube River. Bordering Austria and Hungary, it is the only national capital that borders two independent countries.Bratislava...
where he was committed until 1924. At this theatre he staged numerous premieres, among them the famous Slovak premiere of Káťa Kabanová
Káta Kabanová
Káťa Kabanová is an opera in three acts, with music by Leoš Janáček to a libretto by Vincenc Červinka, based on The Storm, a play by Alexander Ostrovsky. The opera was also largely inspired by Janáček's love for Kamila Stösslová...
in 1923 in the presence of Leoš Janáček
Leoš Janácek
Leoš Janáček was a Czech composer, musical theorist, folklorist, publicist and teacher. He was inspired by Moravian and all Slavic folk music to create an original, modern musical style. Until 1895 he devoted himself mainly to folkloristic research and his early musical output was influenced by...
who appreciated Munclinger's performance as the best at that time. During his engagement in Bratislava Munclinger married the actress Lenka Honty.
After his Vienna
Vienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
tour in 1925 Josef František Munclinger was engaged as a soloist at the Vienna State Opera
Vienna State Opera
The Vienna State Opera is an opera house – and opera company – with a history dating back to the mid-19th century. It is located in the centre of Vienna, Austria. It was originally called the Vienna Court Opera . In 1920, with the replacement of the Habsburg Monarchy by the First Austrian...
. He signed already the contract but shortly after signing he preferred the offer of cooperation by the new Opera chief at the National Theatre
National Theatre (Prague)
The National Theatre in Prague is known as the Alma Mater of Czech opera, and as the national monument of Czech history and art.The National Theatre belongs to the most important Czech cultural institutions, with a rich artistic tradition which was created and maintained by the most distinguished...
in Prague
Prague
Prague is the capital and largest city of the Czech Republic. Situated in the north-west of the country on the Vltava river, the city is home to about 1.3 million people, while its metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of over 2.3 million...
Otakar Ostrčil
Otakar Ostrcil
Otakar Ostrčil was a Czech composer and conductor. He is noted for symphonic works Impromptu, Suite in C Minor, and Symfonietta, and in his opera compositions Poupě and Honzovo království.-Compositional career:Ostrčil was born in Prague, where he spent his entire life, as it was the center of the...
and became for more than 25 years (between 1925 and 1951) a significant opera stage director and singer of this prominent Czech stage. He sang the Magician in the world premiere of Jaromír Weinberger
Jaromír Weinberger
- Biography :Weinberger was born in Prague, from a family of Jewish origin. He heard Czech folksongs from time spent at his grandparents' farm as a youth. He started to play the piano at age 5, and was composing and conducting by age 10. He began musical studies with Jaroslav Křička. Later teachers...
's Schwanda the Bagpiper on 27 April 1927 as well as the role of the second apprentice in the Czech premiere of Alban Berg
Alban Berg
Alban Maria Johannes Berg was an Austrian composer. He was a member of the Second Viennese School with Arnold Schoenberg and Anton Webern, and produced compositions that combined Mahlerian Romanticism with a personal adaptation of Schoenberg's twelve-tone technique.-Early life:Berg was born in...
's Wozzeck
Wozzeck
Wozzeck is the first opera by the Austrian composer Alban Berg. It was composed between 1914 and 1922 and first performed in 1925. The opera is based on the drama Woyzeck left incomplete by the German playwright Georg Büchner at his death. Berg attended the first production in Vienna of Büchner's...
on 11 November 1926. In 1942 he starred in the world premiere of František Škroup
František Škroup
František Jan Škroup was a Czech composer and conductor. His brother Jan Nepomuk Škroup was also a successful composer and his father, Dominik Škroup, and other brother Ignác Škroup were lesser known composers.- Biography :At the age of eleven he moved to Prague where he supported himself as a...
's Columbus (composed in 1855). Among the other roles he performed Basilio in The Barber of Seville
The Barber of Seville
The Barber of Seville, or The Futile Precaution is an opera buffa in two acts by Gioachino Rossini with a libretto by Cesare Sterbini. The libretto was based on Pierre Beaumarchais's comedy Le Barbier de Séville , which was originally an opéra comique, or a mixture of spoken play with music...
, Beneš in Dalibor, Chrudoš in Libuše
Libuše (opera)
Libuše is a '"festival opera" in three acts, with music by Bedřich Smetana. The libretto was originally written in German by Josef Wenzig, and was then translated into Czech by Ervin Špindler. In Czech historical myth, Libuše, the title character, prophesied the founding of Prague. The opera...
, Gian Francesci in La Juive
La Juive
La Juive is a grand opera in five acts by Fromental Halévy to an original French libretto by Eugène Scribe; it was first performed at the Opéra, Paris, on February 23, 1835.-Composition history:...
, the Grand Inquisitor in Don Carlos
Don Carlos
Don Carlos is a five-act grand opera composed by Giuseppe Verdi to a French language libretto by Camille du Locle and Joseph Méry, based on the dramatic play Don Carlos, Infant von Spanien by Friedrich Schiller...
, Herrmann in Tannhäuser
Tannhäuser (opera)
Tannhäuser is an opera in three acts, music and text by Richard Wagner, based on the two German legends of Tannhäuser and the song contest at Wartburg...
, Kecal in The Bartered Bride
The Bartered Bride
The Bartered Bride is a comic opera in three acts by the Czech composer Bedřich Smetana, to a libretto by Karel Sabina. The opera is considered to have made a major contribution towards the development of Czech music. It was composed during the period 1863–66, and first performed at the...
, Malina in The Secret
The Secret (opera)
The Secret is a comic opera in three acts by Bedřich Smetana. The libretto was written by Eliška Krásnohorská. The premiere took place September 18, 1878 at the Nové České Divadlo in Prague.-Background:...
, Marbuel in The Devil and Kate
The Devil and Kate
The Devil and Kate, Op. 112, B.201, is an opera in three acts by Antonín Dvořák to a Czech libretto by Adolf Wenig. It is based on a farce by Josef Kajetán Tyl, and the story also had been treated in the Fairy Tales of Božena Němcová...
, Mephistopheles in Faust
Faust (opera)
Faust is a drame lyrique in five acts by Charles Gounod to a French libretto by Jules Barbier and Michel Carré from Carré's play Faust et Marguerite, in turn loosely based on Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's Faust, Part 1...
, Ramfis in Aida
Aida
Aida sometimes spelled Aïda, is an opera in four acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Antonio Ghislanzoni, based on a scenario written by French Egyptologist Auguste Mariette...
, Scarpia in Tosca
Tosca
Tosca is an opera in three acts by Giacomo Puccini to an Italian libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa. It premiered at the Teatro Costanzi in Rome on 14 January 1900...
, Tonio in Pagliacci
Pagliacci
Pagliacci , sometimes incorrectly rendered with a definite article as I Pagliacci, is an opera consisting of a prologue and two acts written and composed by Ruggero Leoncavallo. It recounts the tragedy of a jealous husband in a commedia dell'arte troupe...
, Vodník in Rusalka
Rusalka (opera)
Rusalka is an opera by Antonín Dvořák. The Czech libretto was written by the poet Jaroslav Kvapil based on the fairy tales of Karel Jaromír Erben and Božena Němcová. Rusalka is one of the most successful Czech operas, and represents a cornerstone of the repertoire of Czech opera houses...
, and Volfram Olbramovič in The Brandenburgers in Bohemia.
Since the 1920s Munclinger worked as a guest artist at the opera houses and concert stages in Budapest
Budapest
Budapest is the capital of Hungary. As the largest city of Hungary, it is the country's principal political, cultural, commercial, industrial, and transportation centre. In 2011, Budapest had 1,733,685 inhabitants, down from its 1989 peak of 2,113,645 due to suburbanization. The Budapest Commuter...
, Vienna, Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
, Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
, Poznaň and Warsaw. After his retirement from the National Theatre in Prague in 1951 he was also active as a teacher at the Janáček Academy of Music and Performing Arts
Janácek Academy of Music and Performing Arts
Janáček Academy of Music and Performing Arts is a university-level school in Brno in the Czech Republic.The Janáček Academy of Music and Performing Arts is one of two academies of music and the dramatic arts in the Czech Republic...
in Brno
Brno
Brno by population and area is the second largest city in the Czech Republic, the largest Moravian city, and the historical capital city of the Margraviate of Moravia. Brno is the administrative centre of the South Moravian Region where it forms a separate district Brno-City District...
where he stimulated and helped to establish the first opera directing department. He tutored numerous Czech and Slovak opera directors.
Josef Munclinger also wrote books on dramatic art (e.g. Hercova tvář a maska), translated and wrote opera librettos, worked as scenic design
Scenic design
Scenic design is the creation of theatrical, as well as film or television scenery. Scenic designers have traditionally come from a variety of artistic backgrounds, but nowadays, generally speaking, they are trained professionals, often with M.F.A...
er and upgraded the Czech stage directing with technical news like projected scene or sound amplifiers.
Having never retired from the stage, Munclinger died in Mariánské Lázně
Mariánské Lázne
Mariánské Lázně is a spa town in the Karlovy Vary Region of the Czech Republic. The town, surrounded by green mountains, is a mosaic of parks and noble houses...
in 1954 at the age of 66. His son Milan Munclinger
Milan Munclinger
Milan Munclinger was a significant Czech flautist, conductor, composer and musical scientist.-Biographical:...
was an important conductor
Conducting
Conducting is the art of directing a musical performance by way of visible gestures. The primary duties of the conductor are to unify performers, set the tempo, execute clear preparations and beats, and to listen critically and shape the sound of the ensemble...
, flutist
Flute
The flute is a musical instrument of the woodwind family. Unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is an aerophone or reedless wind instrument that produces its sound from the flow of air across an opening...
and musicologist and his brother-in-law Tibor Honty was a notable Czech photographer.
Sources
External links
- František SlámaFrantišek Sláma (musician)František Sláma was a significant Czech chamber music performer. He was the first Czech cellist who focused on Early music.-Biography:...
Archive: sections Reminiscences about Josef František Munclingr and Josef František Munclingr's biography in documents - Archive of the National Theatre in Prague: List of Munclinger's performances at the National Theatre in Prague
- The Czech Museum of Music
- Munclinger's biography in Operissimo