Hans von Milde

Hans Feodor von Milde
Hans von Milde in 1857
Born	(1821-04-13)13 April 1821 Petronell,Austrian Empire
Died	10 December 1899(1899-12-10)(aged 78) Weimar,German Empire
Occupation	Operaticbaritone
Organizations	Weimar court opera

Hans Feodor von Milde(13 April 1821 – 10 December 1899) was an Austrian operaticbaritoneand the husband of thesopranoRosa von Milde(née Agthe). He sang for almost four decades atthe court operainWeimarwhere he particularly excelled in the works ofRichard Wagner.For many years, Milde sang under the direction ofFranz Liszt,notably creating the role of Telramund in the world premiere ofRichard Wagner'sLohengrinunder his baton. He sang in several other notable premieres, including singing the role of the High Priest in the first stage performance ofCamille Saint-Saëns'sSamson et Dalilain 1877.

Biography

Von Milde was born inPetronell,near Vienna, the son of an administrator forPrince Gusztáv Batthyány.He initially planned to study law in Vienna but ultimately ended up studying singing underFranz Hauserand later under the youngerManuel Garcíain Paris. In 1845, he began his opera career at theWeimar court operawhere he remained as a member of the company for his entire career under a lifetime contract. He developed a friendship, both professionally and personally, withFranz Lisztwho led the opera performances there from 1848-1858.He notably sang Telramund in the world premiere ofRichard Wagner'sLohengrinin 1850 under Liszt's baton. He sang several other Wagner roles with Liszt, including the title role inDer fliegende Holländer,Hans Sachs inDie Meistersinger von Nürnberg,and Kurwenal inTristan und Isolde.

In 1851, von Milde married the soprano Rosa Agthe, with whom he had shared the stage many times. They had two sonsFranz von Milde(1855–1929) andRudolf von Milde(1859–1927), both of whom became successful opera singers. In 1852 von Milde portrayed Fieramosca in the premiere of Liszt's revised version of Hector Berlioz’sBenvenuto Celliniand his wife sang the role of Teresa. The couple also notably sang in the world premieres ofHeinrich Dorn'sDie Nibelungenon 22 January 1854, Franz Schubert'sAlfonso und Estrellaon 24 June 1854, Peter Cornelius'sDer Barbier von Bagdadon 15 December 1858 and Cornelius'sDer Cidin 1865.Hans also sang the High Priest in the first stage performance ofSamson et Dalila,at Weimar (1877).

Both Hans and his wife retired from the opera stage in Weimar in 1884 and they both began working as singing teachers. Their son Franz published a biography about his parents (Ein ideales Künstlerehepaar, Rosa und Feodor von Milde. Ihre Kunst und ihre Zeit) in 1918. Music historian Carlo Droste also wrote a book on the von Milde family (Die Familie von Milde) which was published in 1907.