Johannes Messchaert (1857-1922), Dutch baritone. After studies in Cologne and Munich, Messchaert returned to Holland in 1881, where he taught at the Amsterdam Conservatory. A frequent collaborator with pianist Julius Röntgen, Messchaert toured prolifically, establishing a reputation as one of Europe’s most sought-after singers of Lieder and oratorio. He moved to Germany (Wiesbaden) in 1900, and thereafter held various conservatory appointments, ultimately attaining the post of professor at the Berlin Hochschule für Musik. Schenker first reported, with great enthusiasm, on Messchaert’s singing in the Berlin weekly Die Zeit (1896; repr. in Federhofer 1990). A mutually admiring relationship developed, and Messchaert engaged Schenker as his accompanist during a tour of the Habsburg Empire in January and February 1899. Correspondence between Messchaert and Schenker survives as OJ 12/54. Other materials survive as OJ 35/5 (concert programs and tour itineraries), OJ 59/11, 70/27 (Messchaert/Violin correspondence), and 72/10 (portrait). Elsewhere in the correspondence, Messchaert is mentioned in: NMI V 176-02, March 15, 1901 (Schenker to Röntgen) OJ 13/27, [1], March 18, 1901 (Röntgen to Schenker) NMI C 176-01, April 13, 1901 (Schenker to Röntgen) OJ 13/27, [2], April 22, 1901 (Röntgen to Schenker) OJ 13/27, [4], October 14, 1901 (Röntgen to Schenker) vC 14, April 29, 1928 (Schenker to Cube) vC 17, July 13, 1928 (Schenker to Cube) Bibliography: Hellmut Federhofer, Heinrich Schenker nach Tagebüchern ... (Hildesheim: Olms, 1985), 18-19, 178-80; Hellmut Federhofer, Heinrich Schenker als Essayist und Kritiker. Gesammelte Aufsätze, Rezensionen und kleinere Berichte aus den Jahren 1891-1901, ed. Hellmut Federhofer [Hildesheim: Georg Olms, 1990], 318-19 Elizabeth Forbes, “Johannes Messchaert,” in The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, 2d ed., ed. Stanley Sadie (London: Macmillan, 2001), vol. 16, 490-91; Thomas Seedorf, “Johannes Meschaert,” in Die Musik in Geschichte und Gegenwart. Allgemeine Enzyklopädie der Musik, 2d ed., ed. Ludwig Finscher (Kassel: Bärenreiter, 1994–), Personenteil, vol. 12, cols. 61-62.) (Author: Kevin Karnes, 2006) |
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| Johannes Messchaert (1857-1922), Dutch baritone. After studies in Cologne and Munich, Messchaert returned to Holland in 1881, where he taught at the Amsterdam Conservatory. A frequent collaborator with pianist Julius Röntgen, Messchaert toured prolifically, establishing a reputation as one of... | |