Albert Reiss (1870-1940)

Albert Reiss (1870-1940) at the stage entrance of the Metropolitan Opera, ca. 1910.

• Profession: Tenor.
• Relation to Mahler: Worked with Gustav Mahler.
• Correspondence with Mahler:
• Born: 22-02-1870 Berlin, Germany.
• Died: 19-06-1940 Nice, France.
• Buried: 00-00-0000 

1. 1908 Opera New York 01-01-1908.
2. 1908 Opera New York 09-01-1908.
3. 1908 Opera New York 18-01-1908.
4. 1908 Opera New York 24-01-1908.
5. 1908 Opera Philadelphia 28-01-1908.
6. 1908 Opera New York 03-02-1908.
7. 1908 Opera New York 19-02-1908.
8. 1908 Opera New York 27-02-1908.
9. 1908 Opera New York 07-03-1908.
10. 1908 Opera New York 20-03-1908.
11. 1908 Opera Philadelphia 24-03-1908.
12. 1908 Opera New York 26-03-1908.
13. 1908 Opera New York 01-04-1908.
14. 1908 Opera Boston 11-04-1908.
15. 1908 Opera New York 16-04-1908.
16. 1908 Opera New York 23-12-1908.
17. 1909 Opera New York 04-01-1909.
18. 1909 Opera Philadelphia 07-01-1909.
19. 1909 Opera New York 13-01-1909.
20. 1909 Opera New York 16-01-1909.
21. 1909 Opera New York 18-01-1909.
22. 1909 Opera New York 21-01-1909.
23. 1909 Opera Philadelphia 26-01-1909.
24. 1909 Opera New York 04-02-1909.
25. 1909 Opera New York 19-02-1909.
26. 1909 Opera New York 20-02-1909.
27. 1909 Opera New York 22-02-1909.
28. 1909 Opera Philadelphia 25-02-1909.
29. 1909 Opera New York 27-02-1909.
30. 1909 Opera New York 06-03-1909.
31. 1909 Opera New York 11-03-1909.
32. 1909 Opera New York 12-03-1909.
33. 1909 Opera Brooklyn 15-03-1909.
34. 1909 Opera New York 17-03-1909.
35. 1909 Opera New York 26-03-1909.

Began his career as an actor. He proceeded to study singing with Wilhelm Vilmar and later Julius Lieben and Benno Stolzenberg. He made his professional operatic debut in 1897 as Peter Ivanov in Albert Lortzing (1801-1851)‘s Zar und Zimmermann at Königsberg. The following year he joined the opera house at Posen where he sang roles for only one season. In 1899 he began performing at the Wiesbaden Opera House where he performed roles until the fall of 1901 when he left to join the roster at the Metropolitan Opera.

His first performance with the company was in Toronto on 12 October as Remendado in Bizet’s Carmen. He made his first appearance at the company’s house in New York City on December 23, 1901 as both the Shepherd and the Steersman in Wagner’s Tristan und Isolde. This was the beginning of a long association with the Met for Reiss, who appeared with the company every year for the next eighteen years in mostly tenor buffo roles.

Most notably he sang in several world premiers with the company including: Nick in Puccini’s La fanciulla del West, the Broom-maker in Humperdinck’s Königskinder, Nial in Horatio Parker’s Mona, the offstage male lover in Puccini’s Il Tabarro, Richard II of England in Reginald de Koven’s The Canterbury Pilgrims and Ragueneau in Walter Damrosch’s Cyrano. His farewell performance on 14 April 1919 – again as Remendado – was his 1,070th performance with the company.

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Albert Reiss was a German operatic tenor who had a prolific career in Europe and the United States during the first third of the twentieth century. He spent much of his career performing at the Metropolitan Opera where he sang in more than 1,000 performances, including several premieres, between 1901-1919. Excelling in the tenor buffo repertoire, Reiss was particularly associated with the roles of David in Wagner’s Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg and Mime in Wagner’s Der Ring des Nibelungen, two roles he sang in numerous houses internationally.

Reiss was born in Berlin and began his career as an actor. He appeared in several plays in Berlin and Strasbourg before deciding to pursue an operatic career under the encouragement of Bernhard Pollini and Ernestine Schumann-Heink. He proceeded to study singing with Wilhelm Vilmar and later Julius Lieben and Benno Stolzenberg. He made his professional operatic debut in 1897 as Peter Ivanov in Lortzing’s Zar und Zimmermann at Königsberg. The following year he joined the opera house at Posen where he sang roles for only one season. In 1899 he began performing at the Wiesbaden Opera House where he performed roles until the fall of 1901 when he left to join the roster at the Metropolitan Opera.

Reiss began his association with the Met touring throughout North America during October-December 1901. His first performance with the company was in Toronto on 12 October as Remendado in Bizet’s Carmen. He made his first appearance at the company’s house in New York City on December 23, 1901 as both the Shepherd and the Steersman in Wagner’s Tristan und Isolde. This was the beginning of a long association with the Met for Reiss, who appeared with the company every year for the next eighteen years in mostly tenor buffo roles. Most notably he sang in several world premiers with the company including: Nick in Puccini’s La fanciulla del West, the Broom-maker in Humperdinck’s Königskinder, Nial in Horatio Parker’s Mona, the offstage male lover in Puccini’s Il Tabarro, Richard II of England in Reginald de Koven’s The Canterbury Pilgrims and Ragueneau in Walter Damrosch’s Cyrano. His farewell performance on 14 April 1919 – again as Remendado – was his 1,070th performance with the company.

In addition to performances with the Met, Reiss returned periodically to Europe to appear in operas. From 1902-1907 he sang in several productions at the Bavarian State Opera. He also sang at the Hamburg State Opera (1904) and the Palais Garnier (1910). Reiss made his only other American appearances with the Chicago Grand Opera Company in 1911 and 1912. He appeared at the Royal Opera House in London at various times between 1902–1905 and 1924–1929, where he sang the roles of Valzacchi in Der Rosenkavalier, Mime in Der Ring des Nibelungen and David in Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg. After leaving the Met, he sang at the Volksoper Berlin (1923–25) and Berlin State Opera (1925–1930). Upon retiring from the stage in 1930, Reiss resettled in Nice, France, where he lived until his death in 1940.