Karl Formes

[9] An actor, Ferdinand Gumbert, tutored him in bass roles from Die Zauberflöte (Sarastro), Norma (Oroveso) and Boieldieu's La dame blanche (Gaston).

At Cologne the bass Josef Staudigl (of the Vienna Hofoper) made guest appearances which Formes studied closely, especially his Bertram in Robert le diable and his Marcel in Les Huguenots.

[11] After two years (including a season at Düsseldorf), Formes broke his contract with Spielberger and escaped to Mannheim, where he joined the Grand-Ducal Opera and befriended Vinzenz Lachner.

Having sung under Lachner on his way through Munich, his first Vienna performance was as Bertram under Heinrich Proch, beside Joseph Erl (Roberto), Louise Liebhart (Alice), Hasselbarth (Princess) and Reichart (Rambaldo).

Formes studied seriously with him for three years, improving the evenness of colour in his voice, learnt musical theory with Simon Sechter, and met elderly musicians who had known Mozart or Beethoven.

[19] Formes obtained performances at Vienna of Nicolai's Die Heimkehr des Verbannten and Il templario, both suppressed there as works of Prussian sympathy.

[29] In addition to Bertram and Marcel, Sarastro, Figaro and Caspar, he sang Lysiart (Euryanthe), the Cardinal (La Juive), Osmin (Die Entführung aus dem Serail), Rocco (Fidelio) and Mephisto in Spohr's opera of Faust.

[31] Then after singing in Cologne for a spell, he received engagements in Amsterdam through Ferdinand Röder, where (for his old friend Karl Anschütz[32]) he appeared in Der Freischütz, Weber's Jessonda, Spohr's Faust and Die Zauberflöte in Italian versions for the first time.

Anschütz conducted the Drury Lane orchestra for Röder's season and improved its playing standard, which had often been erratic when led by its regular conductor, the Maltese-born Francesco Schira (1809-1883).

[36]Engaged by the Sacred Harmonic Society to sing Elijah, Messiah and The Creation at Exeter Hall,[37] soon Formes became as admired in concert as on the theatre stage.

In the 1849 Wednesday Concerts under Anschütz at Exeter Hall he appeared alongside such musicians as Alfredo Piatti, Henri Vieuxtemps, Ole Bull, Giorgio Ronconi and Marietta Alboni.

[40] Formes was soon recruited as primo basso assoluto for the standing management for reconstruction of the Royal Italian Opera at Covent Garden Theatre after its latest collapse.

[41] This group included Michael Costa, Mario, Giulia Grisi, Mme Castellan, Giorgio Ronconi and Enrico Tamberlik (all migrants from Benjamin Lumley's company in 1846), Antonio Tamburini, Elena D'Angri and Frederick Gye.

In April 1850 Formes appeared as Caspar in the first Italian Der Freischütz in London (Il franco arciero)[42] with Tamberlik, which Chorley thought 'one of his favourite characters – the type of all he could do best in opera'.

[47] In autumn 1850 he sang Elijah at the Hall inauguration for Liverpool's first Grand Musical Festival, and the next night joined Tamburini, Luigi Lablache and Ronconi in bass passages of Mozart's Requiem and Rossini's Stabat Mater.

[52] Rossini's Guglielmo Tell was also given, and Tamberlik and Formes appeared as Peter the Great and General Romanoff in two sumptuous performances of Jullien's opera Pietro il Grande, which was a complete failure and ruined the composer.

[58] He performed a Fidelio (Rocco) at Liverpool under Edward Loder, and made his first operatic tour (of many) in Scotland with Anetta Caradori, Mme Rudersdorff,[59] Minna Von Berkel[60] and Elena D'Angri, tenors Pavesi and Reichart, baritones Fortini and Mancusi[61] and bassisti Charles Zelger and himself.

[70] In 1857, Bernard Ullman[71] invited Karl Anschütz to lead an operatic company on American tour, including soprano Anna de la Grange,[72] bass-baritone Edouard Gassier and his soprano wife,[73] Elena d'Angri (contralto) and conductor Abella d'Angri, tenors Mario Tiberini and Luigi Stefani, and bassisti Augustini Susini and Karl Formes.

[75] After Elijah in Boston, by 27 January 1858 the troupe was off to Philadelphia Academy, where Formes sang Plunkett (with Hugo Pickaneser), I puritani, Leporello, Bertram, and Elmiro in Otello with conductors Anschütz, D'Angri and Carl Bergmann.

[84]) Formes sang his Leporello, Bertram and Marcel: he and Piccolomini shared honours in Le nozze di Figaro ('Non più andrai' encored in German) and weaknesses in Lucrezia Borgia,[85] but were at odds as Adam and Eve in The Creation on 11 January 1859 in a ludicrous showdown over 'God save the Queen'.

[92] In 1860 the impresario Maurice Strakosch (Adelina Patti's brother-in-law) was in partnership with Ullman, and Anschutz, settled in America, was directing the troupe and leading the Arion Männergesangverein, a Teutonized men's singing-circle.

The Ullman-Strakosch partnership failed, and split into a Franco-Italian faction under Muzio and a German company under Formes and soprano Inez Fabbri,[96] with Stigelli, von Berkel, Anschütz and manager Richard Mulder.

Having won control of the New York Academy, on October 24, 1860 the Formes-Fabbri company gave Roberto il diavolo,[97] and a week later sang Der Freischütz:[98] but after only four opera nights the project folded.

[113] A crack shot, Formes could shoot a coin from between a prima donna's thumb and forefinger from twelve feet,[114] and told stories of his fights with grizzlies.

After a very busy programme Formes went on to Cologne,[116] but was back in the States for the winter, touring with La Grange, Brignoli, Hermanns, Rotter and others, in a company which in January 1869 was performing Roberto il diabolo, Sicilian Vespers, L'Etoile du nord, L'Africaine and Belisario, among more standard repertoire, in Boston.

[91] Formes returned to England for the 1869 Covent Garden company tour, playing the Ghost in the Hamlet of Ambroise Thomas with Santley (title) and Ilma de Murska (Ophelia) in Manchester, Liverpool and London.

[118]When Anschütz died in America in 1870 his German Company had already failed, but under Neuendorff the troupe brought by Luise Lichtmay that winter introduced Bertha Roemer, Clara Perl and basso Adolf Franosch:[119] Formes was with their January 1871 Boston tour in a full programme including Lustige Weiber, La dame blanche and Stradella.

[citation needed] About two months later he played Marcel in one performance of Gli Ugonotti at New York under Neuendorff, with Parepa-Rosa, Adelaide Phillips, Santley and Theodor Wachtel.

[123] His brother Theodor was then dying in asylum, having become mentally ill.[124] That winter he conducted an operatic tour in the southern states, and spent Christmas Day singing at a plantation between Charleston and Savannah.

'[134] It seems likely that Carl Formes Jr. (b. London 3 July 1841; d. Los Angeles 18 Nov 1939), actor in about 40 silent movies c. 1914 onwards, was a relative, probably the nephew of Karl senior.