Ludwig Schnorr von Carolsfeld

[2] He died at the age of 29 just weeks after the premiere of this opera from a chill followed by rheumatic fever leading to an apoplexic event to which the overweight tenor succumbed.

[3] His early death created a mythos in the opera world with legend attributing his demise to the enormous exertions required of a Wagnerian heldentenor.

[4][5] While he possessed a strong voice especially suited to operatic works by Wagner and Giuseppe Verdi,[2] he was also capable of performing repertoire more commonly associated with the lyric tenor fach.

[1] Later that same year he performed the small part of a soldier in Giacomo Meyerbeer's Les Huguenots in a production that starred his future wife, the Danish soprano Malvina Garrigues, in the role of Valentine.

[2] He eventually was appointed a principal tenor at Karlsruhe in 1858,[2] and had his first major success of his career at that theatre in the title role of Meyerbeer's Robert le diable.

This achievement led to engagements as a guest artist in leading roles at the Hoftheater Wiesbaden, the Staatstheater Mainz, the Altes Theater in Düsseldorf, and the Comoedienhaus in Frankfurt.

[1] In 1860 Schnorr von Carolsfeld left his position at the Karlsruhe Hofoper to join the roster of resident principal artists at the Semperoper in Dresden.

[2] In 1862 Schnorr von Carolsfeld drew the attention of Richard Wagner when the composer attended a performance of Lohengrin at the Karlsruhe Hofoper in which the tenor sang the title part in a return to that theatre as a guest artist.

[18] On 10 June 1865, a month before his death, Schnorr von Carolsfeld and his wife created the title roles in the world premiere of Wagner's Tristan und Isolde at the Bavarian State Opera.

[3] Schnorr von Carolsfed's death shortly after performing the difficult role of Tristan created a mythos[4][5] around "the perils of Wagner's art.

[21] Wagner wrote the following about Ludwig Schnorr von Carolsfeld after his death, "In him I lost … the great granite block needed to raise my building, and found myself directed to seek his replacement in a pile of bricks.