Wikipedia

Julius Prott

Julius Prott, known variously on the stage or in recordings as Giulio Perotti, Julius Perotti, Jules Perotti, or Julian Pierotti, (13 March 1841 – 28 February 1901) was a German tenor and horticulturist. He had an active international career as an opera singer from 1863 until his death in 1901. He used many different stage names to obscure his German identity, passing himself off as Italian and French in ancestry. His native city of Ueckermünde holds the annual International Giulio Perotti Singing Competition which is named after him. In addition to his work as a singer he operated a horticultural business in Trieste, Italy, and was highly regarded for his cultivation of rose specimens.

"Jules Perotti" (aka Julius Prott) in the title role of Charles Gounod's Faust at the Met in 1890.
Julius Prott

Life and career

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Julius Prott was born on 13 March 1841 in Ueckermünde, Germany.[1] He initially apprenticed to be a businessman with his uncle in the city of Stettin. His uncle recognized his nephew's vocal talent and became his benefactor in supporting his music education.[2] He was trained as a singer at the Stern Conservatory in Berlin.[1] He pursued further vocal development in private lessons with tenor Gustave-Hippolyte Roger in Paris, conductor Pietro Romani in Florence, and with celebrated voice teacher Francesco Lamperti in Milan.[3] At various points of his career, he changed his name for marketing purposes to hide his German ancestry.[2]

Prott made his professional opera debut at the Breslau Oper in 1863, after which he rapidly rose to prominence on the international opera stage with a career spanning more than 30 years.[3] From 1866 to 1868 he was a member of the Vienna State Opera.[1] In 1870 he gave his first performance at Theatre Royal, Drury Lane (TRDL) as the Duke of Mantua in Rigoletto with Charles Santley in the title role and Madame Volpini as Gilda.[4] Later that year he portrayed Erik in the first staging in England of Richard Wagner's The Flying Dutchman at the TRDL. It was performed in Italian.[3]

In 1872 Prott appeared at La Scala in Milan as Max in Carl Maria von Weber's Der Freischütz.[3] In 1873 he portrayed the title role in Faust at the Teatro Apollo in Rome.[5] In 1879 he established a horticultural business in Trieste which became internationally renowned for its rose cultivation.[2] He continued to operate this business until his death,[3] and was the teacher of horticulturalist Georg Arends.[6] He was a resident leading tenor at the Hungarian State Opera House (HSOH) from 1878 to 1888.[3] During this ten-year period he performed in 1,585 performances at the HSOH in 92 different roles.[7] He later performed with the HSOH again from 1892 to 1900.[1]

From 1888 to 1890 Prott worked in New York as a tenor at the Metropolitan Opera ("Met").[8] When he made his Met debut on November 28, 1888 as Raoul de Nangis in Les Huguenots he was billed as Julius Perotti.[9] Other roles he sang with the Met in the 1888-1890 period included Arnold in William Tell,[10] Assad in Die Königin von Saba,[11] Don Ottavio in Don Giovanni (1890 on tour at the Chicago Auditorium),[12] Eléazar in La Juive,[13] Jean of Leyden in Le prophète,[14] Manrico in Il trovatore,[15] Radamès in Aida,[16] Riccardo in Un ballo in maschera,[17] Siegmund in Die Walküre,[18] Vasco de Gama in L'Africaine,[19] and the title roles in Faust,[20] Lohengrin,[21] Rienzi,[22] and Tannhäuser.[23]

In the Spring 1889 Prott formed his own concert organization with soprano Emma Juch entitled the Juch-Perotti Concert Company. At this period of his career he was billed as Jules Perotti.[24] With Juch he was a soloist at the very first Indianapolis May Festival for its inaugural opening on May 27, 1889, in a concert that also featured cellist and conductor Victor Herbert.[25] He later sang at the Met again in the 1899–1900 season, returning to his parts in Aida (with Emma Eames),[26] Il trovatore (with Lillian Nordica),[27] Les Huguenots,[28] Lohengrin (with Susan Strong as Elsa),[29] and Tannhäuser.[30] He sang one new part with the Met in this period, Edgardo in Lucia di Lammermoor with Marcella Sembrich in the title role.[31]

In October and November 1900 he starred in the Broadway musical burlesque Nell-Go-In by A. Baldwin Sloane at the New York Theatre with a cast led by actress Mabel Fenton.[32] He also appeared as Faust to Marie Tavary's Marguerite at the Grand Opera House in Philadelphia in December 1900.[33] His career also included guest appearances in many other opera houses in Italy, Spain, Russia, and South America.[3] Other roles in his repertoire included the title roles in Otello and Siegfried among many others.[3]

Prott died in Milan, Italy, on 28 February 1901.[1] An annual singing competition named for Perotti is held in the city of Ueckermünde where he was born.[2] A portrait of Perotti hangs in the castle Schloss Ueckermünde as part of the Haff Museum collection, and a monument to Perotti also was built in the town outside of the Ueckermünde's cinema.[2] His voice is preserved on several recordings made with Gianni Bettini under the name Julian Pierotti.[3]

References

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Citations

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  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Kosch & Bigler-Marschall 2015, p. 1750.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 Meierewert, Pautz & Fircks 2022, Chapter 37: "Wer ist Guilio Perotti?".
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Kutsch & Riemens 2003, p. 3607.
  4. ↑ "Italian Opera- Theatre Royal, Drury Lane". The Daily Telegraph. March 15, 1870. p. 4.
  5. ↑ "Italy". The Morning Post. October 15, 1873. p. 5.
  6. ↑ Bruce, Jonny (20 April 2018). "German plant nursery shows perennial persistence". Financial Times.
  7. ↑ Géza 1984, p. 73.
  8. ↑ Busch 1988, p. 848.
  9. ↑ "Amusements: The First Night of the German Opera". New York Herald. November 29, 1888. p. 2.
  10. ↑ "German Opera House in New York". Chicago Tribune. December 16, 1888. p. 26.
  11. ↑ "Amusements: The Performance of The Queen of Sheba at the Metropolitan Opera House". New York Herald. November 30, 1889. p. 2.
  12. ↑ "Music and Drama". Chicago Tribune. May 7, 1890. p. 5.
  13. ↑ "New York Notes". Boston Evening Transcript. January 19, 1889. p. 10.
  14. ↑ "Amusements: Metropolitan Opera House". The New York Times. January 10, 1889. p. 4.
  15. ↑ "Amusements: Metropolitan Opera House". The New York Times. February 7, 1889. p. 4.
  16. ↑ "Theatrical Letter from New York". Chicago Tribune. March 3, 1889. p. 27.
  17. ↑ "Amusements: Metropolitan Opera House". The New York Times. December 31, 1889. p. 4.
  18. ↑ "Amusements: Metropolitan Opera House". The New York Times. February 16, 1889. p. 4.
  19. ↑ "German Opera". New York Herald. December 11, 1888. p. 2.
  20. ↑ "Amusements: Faust Given In Italian at the Metropolitan Opera House". New York Herald. December 27, 1888. p. 2.
  21. ↑ "Herr Perotti as Lohengrin". New York Herald. February 15, 1890. p. 3.
  22. ↑ "Amusements: Metropolitan Opera House". The New York Times. February 27, 1890. p. 4.
  23. ↑ "Lyric and Dramatic". The Boston Globe. April 10, 1890. p. 8.
  24. ↑ "The Juch-Perotti Concert Company". The Brooklyn Citizen. March 10, 1889. p. 6.
  25. ↑ "Music Reigns Queen". The Indianapolis News. May 28, 1889. p. 1.
  26. ↑ "Aida at the Opera". The New York Times. February 13, 1900. p. 4.
  27. ↑ "Music of the Week". The Philadelphia Times. March 11, 1900. p. 10.
  28. ↑ "Musical and Dramatic". The New York Times. February 20, 1900. p. 7.
  29. ↑ "Lohengrin at the Opera". New York Herald. February 17, 1900. p. 3.
  30. ↑ "Music Head Yesterday". The New York Times. February 11, 1900. p. 9.
  31. ↑ "Sembrich and Calve". New York Herald. March 22, 1900. p. 7.
  32. ↑ "Nell-Go-In is Crude. Mabel Fenton, Star". The Evening World. November 1, 1900. p. 7.
  33. ↑ "Grand Opera House". The Philadelphia Times. December 23, 1900. p. 29.

Bibliography

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