William Wernigk (5 February 1894 – 21 January 1973) was an Austrian operatic tenor, who was a member of the ensemble of the Vienna State Opera for 44 years, in roles such as Pedrillo in Mozart's Die Entführung aus dem Serail and Monostatos in Die Zauberflöte, Cassio in Verdi's Otello and Goro in Puccini's Madama Butterfly, as well as many comprimario roles. He appeared as a guest around Europe and performed at the Salzburg Festival both in concert and on stage, taking part in the world premiere of Gottfried von Einem's Dantons Tod there in 1947. He performed in early complete opera recordings such as Der Rosenkavalier by Strauss with Robert Heger in 1933, and Mozart's Die Zauberflöte with Arturo Toscanini in 1937.

Life Wernigk was born in Chemnitz. During his school years, Wernigk became a member of the Nibelungia Wien. He was drafted into military service in 1914 and seriously wounded in Russia in 1915. From 1915, he lived in Vienna and trained as an opera singer, mainly self-taught. In 1919, he was engaged by the Vienna State Opera, where he remained a member of the ensemble until his retirement in 1963. Wernigk was a versatile spieltenor with good acting skills. He appeared in roles such as Pedrillo in Mozart's Die Entführung aus dem Serail and Monostatos in Die Zauberflöte, and Wenzel in Smetana's Die verkaufte Braut. His Italian repertoire included Cassio in Verdi's Otello, Goro in Puccini's Madama Butterfly and Altoum and Pong in Turandot. He appeared as Dr. Falke in Die Fledermaus by Johann Strauss 85 times. As a comprimario actor, he became a mainstay of the Vienna State Opera ensemble, also taking on very minor roles such as servant, doorman, sailor, tailor, messenger, executioner, hotel manager and other service providers, the First prisoner in Beethoven's Fidelio and the First armoured man in Die Zauberflöte. He also performed musically intricate ensemble roles such as the Second Jew in Salome. In Der Rosenkavalier by Richard Strauss, and in four roles in which he appeared between 1920 and 1956: 215 times as the Servant to Faninal, 176 times as the Innkeeper, 8 times as Valzacchi and 4 times as the Servant to the Feldmarschallin, sometimes in two roles the same evening, including when the ensemble performed at the Internationale Maifestspiele Wiesbaden and in Brussels in 1953.Vorstellungen mit William Wernigk Vienna State Opera

From 1927 to 1949, he was a regular guest at the Salzburg Festival, where he also appeared in the Domkonzerte concert series, including Bruckner's Messe No. 3 in 1933, and Mozart's Mass in C major, K. 337, in 1936.Salzburg Festival: "3. Domkonzert", Salzburg Cathedral, 9 August 1936; retrieved 8 February 2021 On stage, he performed many of his Vienna roles. In 1947, he took part in the world premiere of Gottfried von Einem's Dantons Tod there, conducted by Ferenc Fricsay and alongside Paul Schöffler in the title role, Julius Patzak as Desmoulins, and Maria Cebotari as Lucile.Gottfried von Einem : Dantons Tod / La mort de Danton (in French) musicologie.org 6 June 2020

He appeared as guest at the Semperoper in Dresden in 1927, in Milan, in Paris in 1928 and 1936, at the Vienna Volksoper in 1940 and at the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino in 1935.

Wernigk died in Vienna at the age of 80.

Roles Premieres 1935: Die Dame im Traum by Franz Salmhofer, Vienna State Opera (26 December) – Hotel director 1947: Dantons Tod by Gottfried von Einem, Salzburg Festival, (8 August) – First executioner

Repertoire Wernigk appeared in many roles at the Vienna State Opera, including: Beethoven: First prisoner in Fidelio Berg: Jester in Wozzeck Bizet: Dancairo / Remendado in Carmen Giordano: Abbé / Incroyable in Andrea Chénier Humperdinck: Witch in Hänsel und Gretel Korngold: Victorin / Count Albert in Die tote Stadt Lehár: Pierrino / Street singer in Giuditta Lortzing: Georg in Der Waffenschmied Pankratius in Der Wildschütz Officer in Zar und Zimmermann Meyerbeer: Cossé / Tavannes in Les Huguenots Door keeper in L'Africaine Mozart: Pedrillo / Klaas / Leader of the guards in Die Entführung aus dem Serail Don Curzio / Don Basilio in Le nozze di Figaro Monostatos / First priest / First armoured man in The Magic Flute Nicolai: Junker Spärlich / Waiter in The Merry Wives of Windsor Offenbach: Andrès / Cochenille / Frantz / Pitichinaccio in Les Contes d'Hoffmann Pfitzner: Bishop of Budoja / Master of the art of sound / Chapel singer of St. Maria in PalestrinaPuccini: Alcindoro in La bohème Spoletta in Tosca Goro / Sharpless in Madama Butterfly Harry / Joe in La fanciulla del West Gherardo in Gianni Schicchi Altoum / Pong / Pang in Turandot Johann Strauß II.: Dr. Falke / Alfred / Frank / Murray in Die Fledermaus Richard Strauss: Narraboth / Second Nazarene / Second Jew / Third Jew in Salome Young servant in Elektra Servant to Faninal / Servant to the Feldmarschallin / Valzacchi / Innkeeper in Der Rosenkavalier Brighella / Scaramuccio / Wigmaker / Officer in Ariadne auf Naxos Count Elemér in Arabella Servant in Capriccio Verdi: Hauptmann in Simon Boccanegra Borsa in Rigoletto Judge in Un ballo in maschera Tebaldo in Don Carlos Messenger in Aida Cassio in Otello Wagner: Helmsman in Der fliegende Holländer Brabant nobleman in Lohengrin David / Augustin Moser / Balthasar Zorn in Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg Mime in Das Rheingold Mime in Siegfried Weinberger: Executioner / Devil's Famulus in Schwanda the Bagpiper Wolf-Ferrari: Filipeto in I quatro rusteghi

Recordings Wernigk's recordings include:

Complete recordings Mozart: Le nozze di Figaro, conductor: Bruno Walter (1937) – as Don Basilio Mozart: Die Zauberflöte, conductor: Arturo Toscanini (1937) – as MonostatosKurt Malisch: Mozart: Die Zauberflöte (in German) klassik-heute.com 1 October 2002 Richard Strauss: Der Rosenkavalier, conductor: Robert Heger (1933) – as the InnkeeperEkkehard Pluta: Richard Strauss: Der Rosenkavalier (in German) klassik-heute.com 13 November 2002

Individual scenes from archive recordings of the Vienna State Opera David in Wagner's Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg Mime in Wagner's Der Ring des Nibelungen (1948)

References

Further reading Helge Dvorak: Biographisches Lexikon der Deutschen Burschenschaft, vol. II: Künstler. Winter, Heidelberg 2018, , .

External links