Herbert Janssen - Repertory

Repertory

Originally, Janssen had sung an extensive and manifold repertory. He appeared in, for example, Mozart roles (such as the Count in Le Nozze di Figaro) and as Lortzing's Zar Peter in Zar und Zimmermann. Major baritone roles composed by Giuseppe Verdi also figured in his early repertoire. They included Conte di Luna in Il Trovatore (a personal favourite of his) as well as Renato in Un ballo in maschera and Iago in Otello. He performed Bizet (Escamillo in Carmen), too, and much else.

Yet at the height of his career, especially at the Metropolitan Opera, Janssen was cast overwhelmingly in Wagnerian roles (a development which he regretted because it curtailed his versatility as a singer). Indeed, during his vocal prime, he was considered to be the most important extant singer of the more lyrical baritone parts in Wagner's music dramas. He was celebrated for his beautifully sung interpretations of Kurwenal (in Tristan und Isolde), Amfortas (Parsifal) and, above all, Wolfram (Tannhäuser). The heavier Wagnerian baritone roles, such as Wotan and Hans Sachs, were the natural preserve of Janssen's more heroic-voiced contemporaries Friedrich Schorr and Rudolf Bockelmann, but he was ill-advised enough to attempt them during the Second World War, owing to a shortage of dramatic singers at the Met.

Janssen made commercial gramophone records of some of his signature roles. There is also a recording derived from the 1930 Bayreuth Festival with him performing Wolfram's music, while he sang the role of Don Pisarro in a 1944 radio broadcast of Beethoven's Fidelio, with Arturo Toscanini conducting. These recordings have all been re-issued on CD. A live 1941 Met Tannhäuser reveals Janssen's perfection in the role of Wolfram, to which he brought unsurpassed humanity and vocal beauty. On top of his other attainments, Janssen was a fine Lieder singer, employing his soft, rich and velvety voice, with its Italianate timbre and smooth legato style, to outstanding effect.