Vilhelm Herold

I would like to thank Helge K. Sæbø for the recordings.

Vilhelm Herold sings

Le Cid: Ô souverain

Vilhelm Herold sings

Lohengrin: O Elsa, nur ein Jahr an deiner Seite

I would like to thank Anton Bieber for the recordings (Cid, Lohengrin) and relative label scans.

Originally a school teacher, he studied singing first in Copenhagen, then in Paris. Debut in Copenhagen in 1893 as Faust; he would always continue to sing at the Copenhagen opera theater, although he made a lot of guest appearances abroad: Stockholm (regularly from 1901 to 1903 and 1907 to 1909), Oslo (Pedro 1913), Covent Garden (Lohengrin 1904, Stolzing 1907), Berlin Hofoper (José 1906, Canio 1907), Komische Oper Berlin, Dresden, Leipzig, Stuttgart, Hannover, Bremen, Budapest.

Wagner and Tiefland were his specialties, but he also had success as Turiddu, Alfredo (!), Radames, Roméo, Mathias (Der Evangelimann), Erik (Drot og marsk by Heise).

He retired from singing in 1915. He was later director of the Copenhagen opera (1922–24) and above all an important voice teacher, Lauritz Melchior being his most prominent student.

Herold was also a gifted sculptor specializing in portrait busts.

Reference 1: Kutsch & Riemens, reference 2

Iolanta – Copenhagen, Royal Danish Theatre, 29 September 1893
Oluf (composer Grandjean) – Copenhagen, Royal Danish Theatre, 7 April 1894
Liden Kirsten (composer Hartmann) – Copenhagen, Royal Danish Theatre, 14 May 1895
Ragnhild (composer Hartmann) – Copenhagen, Royal Danish Theatre, 27 December 1896
Die Entführung aus dem Serail – Copenhagen, Royal Danish Theatre, 6 October 1897
Vifandaka (composer Tofft) – Copenhagen, Royal Danish Theatre, 1 January 1898
Otello (Cassio) – Copenhagen, Royal Danish Theatre, 20 April 1898
Carmen – Copenhagen, Royal Danish Theatre, 13 October 1898
Dyveke (composer Bartholdy) – Copenhagen, Royal Danish Theatre, 8 January 1899
Cavalleria rusticana – Copenhagen, Royal Danish Theatre, 14 April 1899
Il trovatore – Copenhagen, Royal Danish Theatre, 1 November 1899
Les pêcheurs de perles – Copenhagen, Royal Danish Theatre, 25 February 1900
Pagliacci – Copenhagen, Royal Danish Theatre, 9 September 1900
Lohengrin – Copenhagen, Royal Danish Theatre, 16 December 1900
Lamia (composer Enna) – Copenhagen, Royal Danish Theatre, 24 March 1901
Roméo et Juliette – Copenhagen, Royal Danish Theatre, 23 October 1901
Aladdin (composer Horneman) – Copenhagen, Royal Danish Theatre, 4 April 1902
Saul og David (composer Nielsen) – Copenhagen, Royal Danish Theatre, 28 November 1902
Aida – Copenhagen, Royal Danish Theatre, 8 March 1903
Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg – London, Covent Garden, 12 may 1904
La traviata – Copenhagen, Royal Danish Theatre, 12 November 1905
Werther – Copenhagen, Royal Danish Theatre, 22 September 1907
La bohème – Copenhagen, Royal Danish Theatre, 20 October 1908
Drot og Marsk (composer Heise) – Copenhagen, Royal Danish Theatre, 10 September 1909
Faust – Copenhagen, Royal Danish Theatre, 10 February 1910
Tiefland – Copenhagen, Royal Danish Theatre, 6 April 1910
Tosca – Copenhagen, Royal Danish Theatre, 5 May 1910
Si j'étais roi – Copenhagen, Dagmar, 15 October 1910
Der Evangelimann – Copenhagen, Dagmar, 7 January 1911
Fra Diavolo – Copenhagen, Dagmar, 4 April 1911
La muette de Portici – Copenhagen, Royal Danish Theatre, 5 October 1913

Reference: The Record Collector: Volume 38, No. 4, October/November/December 1993.