Erwin Sembach


Erwin Schück, better known by his stage name Erwin Sembach, was an opera singer with the Vienna Volksoper during its earliest years of producing operas, immediately before and during World War I. His greatest roles there were Masetto in Mozart's Don Giovanni, Papageno in Mozart's The Magic Flute, and Krušina in Smetana's The Bartered Bride.

Biography

Erwin Sembach was born on 18 October 1879 in Böhmisch Leipa to parents Adolf Schück and Katharina Schreiber who owned and operated a millinery and accessories shop in the town. Sembach was the oldest of eight siblings. He married Marie "Mietze" Klaus in 1902. They had a daughter Margarete Schück in 1903 and a son Wolfgang Schück in 1905.
Sembach's family was quite musical, and as a young man he trained to be a singer. He was naturally a baritone, but trained himself to also sing tenor, so that he could qualify for more roles such as Wagner's Lohengrin and Siegfried. By 1910 Sembach and his family were living in Vienna, the music capital of Europe, and Sembach was singing operatic roles. He was a member of the Vienna Volksoper opera house from at least 1912 through 1917. In addition to the Volksoper, Sembach also performed at the, a well known cabaret that still operates in Vienna.
Sembach died of uremia in 1919 at the age of 40, following a long illness.

Operatic roles

Recitals