Leopold Landau

Landau was born in Vronau an der Töpl/Vranov nad Topľou (Slovakia) on June 21st, 1841. Originally a Jewish cantor, he studied in Prague with Marie Loewe-Lehmann (Lilli Lehmann's mother), and in Leipzig with Franz Götze, heldentenor during the Liszt era in Weimar. Landau made his debut in 1870 in Leipzig. He moved to Mainz in 1871 as both heldentenor and light lyrical tenor. There he was the first Stolzing on February 5th, 1873. He sang Wagner roles in Strasbourg and Köln. He made his debut in Hamburg on September 5th, 1877 as Tamino, followed by Almaviva on September 15th. In Hamburg, he was employed as a lyrical and comprimario tenor.

He died suddenly in the morning before a rehearsal on May 9th, 1894 in Hamburg. The Sunday before his death (May 6th), Landau was singing as the leader of the Rataplan chorus in Huguenots, and produced a superb high C. On Monday, Landau sang a small part in Joseph; the last words he sang in public were Gott, wie so weise führst du die Deinen (Lord, how wisely you guide your people).

Reference: Einhard Luther, So viel der Helden. Biographie eines Stimmfaches, Teil 3: Wagnertenöre der Kaiserzeit (1871–1918), Berlin 2006
Picture source