Otto Macha

State:

Surviving

Gender:

male

Maiden name:

Not known

So called:

Alias:

Date of birth:

31. Januar 1895

Birthplace:

Klagenfurt, Österreich

Residence:

Saarbrücken

Place of persecution:

Not known

Date of death:

1955

Deceased in:

Baden, Wien, Österreich

LEA file number:

Spouse:

Not known

Date and place of marriage:

Not known

Mother:

Not known

Father:

Not known

Siblings:

Not known

Children:

Not known

*Hidden due to legal regulations

Vita

(PZ) Macha, Ott; Heldentenor
geb. 31.01.1895 in Klagenfurt
gest. Ende 1955 in Baden bei Wien
beschäftigt am Stadttheater 1927 - Juli 1929
(W) Macha, Ottokar, Tenor, * 31.1.1895 Klagenfurt, † (?); er entstammte einer tschechischen Familie und erhielt eine erste Gesangsausbildung am Konservatorium von Prag bei K. Burian, die er bei August Iffert in Dresden fortsetzte. Sein Debüt fand bereits 1915 am Stadttheater von Plzen (Pilsen) statt, dem er bis 1918 angehörte. Dann wechselte er an das Vinohradské Divadlo (Theater in den Weinbergen) Prag. 1920 wurde er als Heldentenor an das Deutsche Landestheater Prag engagiert, wo er sich vor allem auf das Wagner-Repertoire verlegte. 1927-29 war er am Theater von Saarbrücken tätig, 1929-30 am Stadttheater von Münster (Westfalen), 1930-33 am Deutschen Theater Teplitz-Schönau, 1933-34 am Deutschen Theater von Aussig (Ustí nad Labem). In den Jahren 1934-37 trat er als Gast an verschiedenen tschechischen Theatern auf, darunter dem Nationaltheater Prag. 1939-42 war er nochmals Mitglied des Deutschen Theaters Brünn (Brno). Im Mittelpunkt seines Repertoires standen Partien wie der Florestan in »Fidelio«, der Max im »Freischütz«, der Lohengrin, der Tannhäuser, der Siegmund in der »Walküre«, der Othello von Verdi, der Canio im »Bajazzo«, der José in »Carmen«, der Hans in der »Verkauften Braut«, der Lukas in »Hubicka« (»Der Kuß«) von Smetana, der Samson in »Samson et Dalila« von Saint-Saëns und der Dürer in »Herrn Dürers Bild« von Mrazek. Gastspiele führten ihn auch an größere Theater in Deutschland und Österreich, nach Holland, Italien und Polen. Sein Vater war der bekannte Cellist Ottokar Macha sr. (1872-1924); er selbst übernahm später eine Dozentur am Städtischen Konservatorium Wien. Er war verheiratet mit der Tänzerin Maria Klimesch. Seinen Lebensabend verbrachte er in Baden bei Wien.
Q: https://archive.org/details/20Macha1200Dpi
(W) Otto Macha
31 January 1895 Klagenfurt – late 1955 Baden bei Wien
Otto Macha was born in Klagenfurt (the capital of the region of Carinthia in southern Austria) into a Czech family: his father Otakar, a violinist and violist, had an engagement as a conductor at the Municipal Theater there. (Also the son's name was officially Otakar Mácha, but he was as fluent in German as in Czech, and from 1920 on used the German form of his name, even at Czech theaters.)
In 1900, the family returned to Prague (Mácha senior became a violist in the orchestra of the National Theater), and Otto Macha studied voice at the conservatory there from 1910. He began his career in 1914 as a chorister at the National Theater; in 1915 and 1916, he was promoted to drama actor at the same theater (the Prague National Theater has always been staging both drama and opera). Next, he was a tenor soloist in Plzeň (until 1918); in 1918/19, he sang at Prague cabarets, before returning to Plzeň for another operatic season, where he sang Riccardo and Jeník.
From 1920 to 1927, he was one of the leading tenors of the German Theater Prague, where Alexander von Zemlinsky was the music director. Macha sang Max in 1920, Dick Johnson in 1921, Paul (Die tote Stadt), Cavaradossi and Gounod's Faust in 1922, Konrad (Hans Heiling) and Don José in 1923, Lukáš (Hubička), Pinkerton, Fool (Der Schatzgräber by Schreker), Otello and Lorenzo (Fra Diavolo) in 1924, Jeník, Jean de Leyde, Erik and Lohengrin in 1925, Herodes, Števa Burja, Éléazar, Froh and Tannhäuser in 1926, Officer (Cardillac by Hindemith) and Mathias (Der Evangelimann) in 1927. Macha also made a few guest appearances at the National Theater (where he had begun as a chorister): a total of eleven evenings between 1916 and 1932.
When Zemlinsky left the German Theater in 1927, Macha left, too. He went to Saarbrücken (1927–29), Münster (1929/30) and Teplice/Teplitz-Schönau, where he stayed from 1930 to 1933 and sang Prince (Rusalka), Stolzing, Sly, German, Lohengrin, Tristan, Tannhäuser, Herodes (which was considered his best role), Samson, Florestan, Siegmund, Max and Alfred (Die Fledermaus). Next, Macha had two brief contracts in Ostrava and in Ústí nad Labem/Aussig an der Elbe, was then a freelancer for a few years, before closing his career in Brno/Brünn from 1939 to 1942.
After WWII, he taught voice at the conservatory in Vienna.
Q: http://historicaltenors.net/czech/machaFRM2.html
(W) wh. Baden, Wien, Helenstr. 64 II
accompanied by: Anneliese 05.01.1918
Q: Jewish Displaced Persons and Refugee Cards, 1943-1959, https://names.jdc.org/search-detail.php?id=118092

Notes

Not known