Joseph Tichatschek

Joseph Tichatschek (born July 11, 1807, Ober-Weckelsdorf, Bohemia, Austrian Empire [now in Czech Republic]—died Jan. 18, 1886, Blasewitz, near Dresden, Ger.) was a Bohemian operatic tenor praised by composers such as Richard Wagner, Hector Berlioz, and Franz Liszt for the power and beauty of his voice.

Tichatschek studied music with his father and sang in the choir of the Broumov Gymnasium as a child, and later, while studying medicine in Vienna, he began serious vocal training. In 1830 he joined the chorus at the Kärntnerthor Theatre, and in 1837 he made his solo debut in Graz, Austria.

Tichatschek’s first Dresden performance (1837) was in the title role of Daniel-François-Esprit Auber’s Gustave III. A year later he was appointed to the Dresden Court Opera where he remained until his retirement in 1870. He made a tour of England in 1841, singing at Drury Lane in London, in Manchester, and in Liverpool. His robust voice made him particularly suited for Wagner’s heldentenor (“heroic tenor”) roles; he created the title roles of Wagner’s Rienzi (1842) and Tannhäuser (1845), and his performance in Lohengrin (1867) was highly praised.

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