Ernst Lichtner

Ernst Lichtner is a completely enigmatic figure. There is no information whatsoever about him; all we know is that he made two recordings in September 1909 for Odeon/Jumbo: two takes of "O Colombina", in German, both published. Those recordings were made in Poznań, then part of Germany and called Posen, in a small group of matrices probably recorded by members of the local theater (the only name that is slightly more prominent than Lichtner's is that of soprano Josefine Grining (1870–1942), who was married to baritone George Beeg, who sang in Wrocław/Breslau, and committed suicide in 1912). Hearing the voice and considering the repertory, I would, with all due caution, classify Lichtner as a comprimario.

The history of the Stadttheater Posen is obliterated; 1909 was the last year of activity of that theater, then it was replaced by the new Großes Theater – which was in turn, when Posen became part of Poland and thus Poznań in 1919, taken over by a Polish management, with considerable nationalist (anti-German) resentments: the second historical disruption in the theater's history within merely eleven years. Which may explain why the name Ernst Lichtner doesn't appear anywhere but on his record labels.

Many thanks to Anton Bieber for the recording and label scan.