Set Svanholm
Fourteen years younger than Danish heldentenor Lauritz Melchior, Set Svanholm moved into much of the same repertory in the 1940s, making himself even more important to companies offering large measures of Wagner. Instead of Melchior's immense physical presence, Svanholm offered a much slighter appearance. His slender and athletic build served him well in most pairings, save those with such sizeable ladies as Helen Traubel and Kirsten Flagstad. A plangent sound, not infrequently hard-edged, and a growing tendency to slide into notes rather than attacking them forthrightly prevented his reaching the vocal plateau occupied routinely by Melchior. Still, during his prime years, he was often the next best thing and, periodically, an artist of distinction. A little short of true heroic tenor amplitude, his voice nonetheless had sufficient cutting power to be heard through Wagner's thickest scoring.
Like Melchior, Svanholm began his singing career as a baritone. Following organ lessons from his father, a Lutheran minister, Svanholm prepared for a teaching position and actually served a school near his home for a two-year period. Wishing to deepen his musical knowledge, he performed a series of organ recitals to amass the financial means to do so. At 23, he entered the Stockholm Conservatory, initially devoting himself to counterpoint, composition, and piano. When he entered the voice class of famous (and demanding) Swedish baritone John Forsell, he found himself in the company of three other students: Jussi Björling, Joel Berglund, and a young lady who would later become his wife.
After completing his course work, Svanholm pursued church music as both a singer and a director. In 1930, he made his debut with the Stockholm Opera in the baritone role of Silvio. Singing as a baritone for several years, he finally yielded to his wife's insistence that he was really a tenor and retired for re-training. In 1936, he returned to the stage as Radames in a performance heard by Bruno Walter. Without delay, Walter engaged Svanholm for the Vienna Staatsoper where his debut as Siegmund was acclaimed and quickly led to other offers. Graz, Munich, and Prague heard him in quick succession, as did Salzburg (1938), Milan (1942), and Bayreuth, where he sang Erik and both Siegfrieds in 1942. Throughout this period, he remained a member of his home company, offering Stockholm audiences both Wagner and an assortment of other dramatic roles, ranging from Enée to Peter Grimes. A planned 1940 - 1941 American debut was postponed by WWII, but Svanholm finally arrived at the Metropolitan Opera in November 1946 after having appeared in both San Francisco (September) and Chicago (October).
Svanholm was assessed as an above-average Lohengrin in San Francisco, joined with Helen Traubel in Chicago for a Tristan und Isolde of "exalted emotion," and was appreciated for his limber figure as the young Siegfried in his Metropolitan debut. Further comments described his singing as reliable in most roles, if not really satisfactory for Radames. Svanholm remained at the Metropolitan for ten seasons, singing mostly Wagner and Strauss along with the occasional odd role such as Eisenstein in Die Fledermaus. A London debut during the 1948 - 1949 season found Svanholm praised for his boyish-appearing young Siegfried, less so for a Tristan found lacking in poetry. He remained with Covent Garden through 1954. In 1956, Svanholm was made director of the Stockholm Opera, a post he retained until 1963.
© TiVo
Similar artists
Discography
12 album(s) • Sorted by Bestseller
-
Wagner : Das Rheingold
Sir Georg Solti, Kirsten Flagstad, George London, Gustav Neidlinger, Set Svanholm, Wiener Philharmonic Orchestra
Classical - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on Oct 14, 1997
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Kathleen Ferrier in New York in 1948 (New mastering)
Bruno Walter, Set Svanholm, Kathleen Ferrier, New York Philharmonic, John Newmark
Classical - Released by SOMM Recordings on Jan 3, 2020
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Wagner: Die Walküre; Götterdämmerung ; Tristan und Isolde – Excerpts (Opera Gala – Volume 17)
Kirsten Flagstad, Set Svanholm, Birgit Nilsson, Sir Georg Solti, Hans Knappertsbusch
Classical - Released by Universal Music Australia Pty. Ltd. on Nov 13, 2020
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Wagner: Die Walküre, WWV 86B / Act 1 (Hans Knappertsbusch - The Opera Edition: Volume 3)
Kirsten Flagstad, Set Svanholm, Arnold Van Mill, Wiener Philharmonic Orchestra, Hans Knappertsbusch
Classical - Released by Universal Music Australia Pty. Ltd. on Jan 1, 1959
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Brahms: Alto Rhapsody - Mahler: Das Lied von der Erde
Vienna Mannergesang-Verein, Wiener Symphoniker, Set Svanholm, Oralia Dominguez, Paul Kletzki
Classical - Released by Orfeo on Oct 4, 2007
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Elektra by richard strauss
Set Svanholm, Astrid Varnay, Elisabeth Höngen, Paul Schöffler, Fritz Reiner
Classical - Released by OperaPrima-Carillon on Apr 23, 2021
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Lebendige Vergangenheit - Set Svanholm (Vol.2)
Classical - Released by Preiser Records on Dec 30, 2003
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Set Svanholm live
Classical - Released by Preiser Records on Nov 16, 1998
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Set Svanholm Sings Schubert, Brahms & Wagner
Set Svanholm, Arne Sunegard, Unknown Artist, Frieder Weissmann
Classical - Released by Andromeda on Sep 1, 2015
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Wagner: Wagner at the Royal Swedish Opera - Tannhauser / Parsifal / Siegfried Excerpts (Sung in Swedish) (1955-1959) (Richard Wagner)
Opera Extracts - Released by Caprice on Sep 1, 2007
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Otello Stockholm 1953/54
Opera - Released by Preiser Records on Dec 9, 2008
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Wagner · götterdämmerung
Kirsten Flagstad, Set Svanholm, Oivin Fjeldstad, The Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra & The Norwegian State Opera Orchestra
Classical - Released by G.O.P. on Oct 31, 2022
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo