Rudolf Schock

Template:Short description Rudolf Johann Schock (4 September 1915 – 13 November 1986) was a German tenor.

Rudolf Schock was born in Duisburg, in the Prussian Rhine Province. He sang a wide repertoire from operetta to Lohengrin, recording among others opera and lieder, doing television, radio and film work.<ref name="Grove">Noël Goodwin, "Schock, Rudolf (Johann)", Grove Music Online, version 15 May 2009. Retrieved 21 December 2009.</ref> Slim and handsome,Template:Citation needed he made many films.

His voice fell almost into the heldentenor fach but was smaller and more ardent than many voices in that category.<ref>"The Royal Opera: The Magic Flute" The Times Friday November 5, 1948, p.7, column D</ref> Colored distinctly with a rich baritonal quality,Template:Citation needed Schock is described by Grove as a "lyric tenor" with a warm flexible voice, and a "strong top voice" which suited him to "heroic roles". However the same source feels that his acting left something to be desired.<ref name=Grove/>

When he was 18 and still continuing his musical studies that took him to Cologne, Hanover and Berlin, Schock joined the opera chorus at Theater Duisburg in the city of his birth. The Staatstheater Braunschweig cast Schock in solo roles in 1937, but his career was interrupted by his being enlisted into the army in 1940.<ref name="Bayreuth">"Rudolf Schock" Template:Webarchive Profile at the Bayreuth Festival site (in German). Retrieved 21 December 2009.</ref> It resumed after the war in 1945 in Hanover. In 1946, he appeared with two of the Berlin-based opera companies and in 1947 he joined the Hamburg State Opera where he was a member until 1956.<ref name=Grove /><ref name=Bayreuth />

He was one of the first Germans to sing at Covent Garden in 1949. Appearing as Rodolfo, Alfredo, Pinkerton and Tamino in his first season. He sang the title role at Idomeneo at the Salzburg Festival and took part in the premiere there of Rolf Liebermann's, Penelope and the Vienna State Opera's first staging of Lulu.<ref name=Grove /> Schock made repeat visits to the Edinburgh International Festival and sang Walther at Bayreuth in 1959.<ref name=Bayreuth/>

In 1953 he played and sang the role of Richard Tauber in the film Template:Interlanguage link multi (released in English-speaking countries as either You Are the World for Me or The Richard Tauber Story).<ref name=Bayreuth /> He was often compared to the older tenor and was spoken of as his successor.<ref name=Grove /> He was also considered the most successful German film singer of his generation.<ref name=Bayreuth/>

He sold over three million records and his German films made him almost a superstar of his day.Template:Citation needed Schock's most impressive performances include the roles of Paul in Die Tote Stadt (Korngold), and multiple Puccini principals.Template:Citation needed

Schock was also interested in the development of younger singers by judging vocal competitions. After discovering Karl Ridderbusch at one of these, Schock part-funded the bass's musical training.<ref>Elizabeth Forbes Obituary:Karl Ridderbusch, The Guardian, Tuesday, 8 July 1997.</ref>

Rudolf Schock continued making concert appearances into his sixties. Aged 71, he died suddenly of a heart attack in Gürzenich a district of the town of Düren where he had made his home.<ref name=Bayreuth />

Selected filmography

• Template:Ill, as Richard Tauber
• The Happy Wanderer (1955), as Axel Wendt
• Ten on Every Finger (1954) as Himself
• The Csardas King (1958), as Janos
• Gräfin Mariza (1958), as Michael
• The House of Three Girls (1958), as Franz von Schober

As himself

• Not Without Gisela (1951)
• Big Request Concert (1960)

External links

• Rudolf Schock Website Template:In lang
• History of the Tenor / Rudolf Schock / Sound Clips and Narration
• Template:Find a Grave
• [https://www.imdb.com/{{#if: 0774301

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