Erik Wirl

Born in Ebensee, Wirl left his voice training with the court and chamber singer Eduard F. Schuegraf in Munich. First classified as a baritone, he later changed his voice range to that of tenor. He debuted in the role of the young sailor in Wagner's Tristan und Isolde. He then performed as a tenor opera singer in Bayreuth, Berlin, Budapest, Buenos Aires, The Hague, Frankfurt/Main, Cologne, Leipzig, Munich, Paris, Salzburg and Vienna. Wirl also sang operettas and entertainment songs - often in duet with renowned colleagues of his time. Wirl also sang the hits of the still young sound film the Viennese song Ja dort im Liebhardstal and the title song Wien, du Stadt der Lieder by Hans May. In his work, special emphasis was placed on the works of Franz Schreker. Wirl sang the role of the Chevalier at the premieres of his operas Der ferne Klang on 18 August 1912 and Die Gezeichneten on 25 April 1918 the role of Menaldo Negroni and created the figure of the jester in Der Schatzgräber. In Busoni's opera Turandot he sang in 1918 under Gustav Brecher at the Oper Frankfurt next to Else Gentner-Fischer and Hans Ertl. At the world premiere of Delius' opera in 11 pictures Fennimore and Gerda he sang in 1919 alongside John Gläser, Emma Holt and Elisabeth Kandt. Examples of his appearance in modern operettas are Madame Pompadour by Leo Fall, where he sang René, Comte D'estrades, and Münchhausen by Ernst Steffan where he could be heard in the premiere on 23 December 1927 alongside Hella Kürty, Rose Ader and Fritz Schulz. At the end of the 1920s, Wirl's participation in performances of contemporary musical avant-garde such as Paul Hindemith's lustiger Oper in drei Teilen Neues vom Tage and Lindberghflug cf. notes on the Ozeanflug. In Bertolt Brecht: Schriften zur Literatur und Kunst. Vol. I. Suhrkamp Verlag, and Radiotheorie cf. work introduction He appeared on stage with it both as well as in the broadcast of the Berliner Funkstunde on 18 March 1930 with Fritz Düttbernd and Betty Mergler, see DRA and ORF. "One of the most legendary plays from the late 1920s is a cooperation of Kurt Weill and Paul Hindemith on a text by Bert Brecht..." and in the record studio. Auch in den modernen Opern von Ernst Křenek trat er auf. Nachdem er bereits am 2. Dezember 1928 bei der Aufführung der Einakter-Trilogie Křeneks in der Kroll Opera House den blinden Offizier und Liebhaber in der „Tragischen Oper in einem Akt“ (so das Vorwort) Der Diktator op. 49 gesungen hatte, gab er in der Aufführung von Křeneks Oper Leben des Orest Op. 60 on 8 March 1930 in der Staatsoper Berlin unter dem Dirigat von Otto Klemperer Agamemnon. Wirl died in Rottach-Egern at age 69.

• 1921 Tania, the Woman in Chains • 1929 Eine kleine Liebelei • 1932 Großstadtnacht with Dolly Haas and Trude Berliner • 1933 Détective amateur (original title: Kriminalreporter Holm)

• CDs 75 Jahre Donaueschinger Musiktage 1921–1996 [WWE 12CD 31899 (WWE 1CD 31900)], Verlag Col Legno, München 1996, enthält: Lindberghflug / Paul Hindemith, Kurt Weill (18' 25") • CDs, Four German Sopranos Of The Past, Preiser Records contains: Carl Maria von Weber: Der Freischütz (Op. 77): Wie? was? Entsetzen! Erik Wirl / Irene Eisinger / Käte Heidersbach, 1930 (6' 32"). • CD Imre Kálmán: Du bist das Liebste: Ein Komponistenportrait, Duophon Records, Fa. Alfred Wagner, enthält als track 8 Marianne Alfermann & Erik Wirl: Wenn du mich sitzen lässt. • CD Tonfilmschlager der Weimarer Republik (1929–1933), Duophon Records, Fa. Alfred Wagner, contained as track 22 Irene Eisinger, Erik Wirl – Auch du wirst mich einmal betrügen. • CD Fritzi Massary 4, TrueSoundTransfers, Fa. Chr. Zwarg, Best. Nr. TT-3053 contains three Grammophon-recording with Fritzi Massary and Erik Wirl from the operetta Die spanische Nachtigall by Leo Fall. • Vinyl LP A-6034 A / A-6034 B Brüder, zur Sonne, zur Freiheit: Arbeitermusik der Weimarer Republik in Originalaufnahmen. Label: pläne – 88287, pläne – 88287 G (1982). Thereof re-recording on CD (No. 1627, 1995) contained as track 10 Erik Wirl with Orchestra: Die Massnahme.