In her book Mein Weg, his daughter Lilli Lehmann briefly described his career, and his temper.
Lehmann was born in 1811 in Jüterbog and started singing as a chorister. Once a soloist, he seemed to have a bright
future ahead: he possessed a beautiful heldentenor voice, earned enough
money, and critics praised his voice, musicality and acting. Lehmann was, according to his daughter, basically a gentle person,
but with an unfortunate penchant for rage fits, alcolhol and gambling. It cost him his career, and his family. His wife left
him in 1853, and though still on friendly terms with him,
reduced further contacts to a minimum because she feared he would destroy whatever little she and the children had left. He was
too quarrelsome to stay at any theater for a longer time (his longest engagement throughout his career were two seasons in Coburg
from 1843 to 1845), so his career went nowhere, and he died in Dortmund on February 19th, 1867 in poverty.
Reference 1: Kutsch & Riemens
Reference 2: Einhard Luther, So viel der Helden. Biographie eines Stimmfaches, Teil 3: Wagnertenöre der Kaiserzeit (1871–1918), Berlin 2006
