Franz von Reichenberg (1853-1905)

  • Profession: Bass
  • Residences: 
  • Relation to Mahler: Engaged by the Vienna State Opera between 06-1884 and 04-1904. Mentioned by Mahler in Vienna in a letter to his sister Justine at 11-09-1901.
  • Correspondence with Mahler: 
  • Born: 07-08-1853 Graz
  • Died: 29-09-1905 Vienna
  • Buried: 00-00-0000

Son of a lawyer. After vocal training with Kapellmeister J. Stolz in Graz debut at the Mannheim National Theater in 1873. From 1876 at the City Theater of Szczecin (Szczecin). He came to the Royal Theater Hanover via the Frankfurt City Theater in 1879. After guest appearances at the Vienna State Opera (1881-1883) he became its member in 1884. Until the outbreak of a mental illness (1901) he was together with Grengg the leading bass of the Vienna State Opera. In 1876 he created the role of Fafner in Wagner’s “Ring des Nibelungen” at the first Bayreuth Festival and in 1882 the Knight Pasman in the operetta of the same name by J. Strauß. A basso profondo with an unusually powerful voice, he was able to convince as an actor even in smaller roles. 

If you have found any errors or text needing citation, please notify us by selecting that text and pressing Ctrl+Enter.

Error report

The following text will be sent to our editors: