Poul Hansen
Born 3 April 1886 in København, he was originally a copper chaser, but soon began
to study voice with Albert Hoeberg and Hermann Spiro. He made his debut at the Royal Opera in København on 10 May 1908 in
the opera Liden Kirsten by Johan Peter Emilius Hartmann, in the tenor part of Sverkel. He stayed at that theater for five
years, then he went to the Deutsche Oper Berlin, where he germanized his first name to Paul. In Berlin, he undertook further
studies with Lilli Lehmann, Luise Reuss-Belce and Richard Loewe. He specialized in Wagner (Lohengrin, Parsifal, Stolzing,
Tannhäuser), but was also a renowned José.
In 1919, he changed register, and became a baritone; his major success was now Rigoletto. In 1921, he switched back to tenor, but
to buffo and comprimario parts, this time.
Besides singing, he had a second, equally successful career as a film actor, working with prominent film directors and fellow
actors – ironically, though, only as long as silent movies were made.
In 1925, he became stage director and deputy manager at the Gera theater, where he would occasionally still appear as a singer.
From 1930 to 1932, he was drama actor and, again, stage director and deputy theater director in Münster.
When the Nazis took power in Germany, he returned to Denmark and worked as a voice teacher. From 1949, he lived and taught in
Helsinki, where he died on 11 November 1967.
Reference: Wikipedia, The Discographer (a fantastic Danish website that has compiled an
exhaustive and beautifully illustrated Poul Hansen discography and biography, which I'm copying here – of course, it's available on The Discographer, but you never know... I've
seen too many great websites die and their contents get lost).
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