Benedikt Schack
Benedikt Emanuel Schack arrived in the world on the 7th of February 1758 within Mirotice, Bohemia. This small town sat inside the Habsburg monarchy before becoming part of modern Czechia. He began his musical life as a chorister singing from 1773 in the cathedral in Prague. The Grove Dictionary records this early period clearly. His path shifted when he moved to Vienna in 1775. There he studied medicine and philosophy alongside singing lessons. A tenor who performed under Joseph Haydn taught him vocal technique. From 1780, Schack worked for several years as Kapellmeister to Prince Heinrich von Schönaich-Carolath in Silesia.
Schack became a close friend and professional colleague of Mozart around 1790. The composer frequently visited Schack to fetch him for a stroll while dressing. During these moments Mozart sat at the writing desk and composed pieces for Schack's operas. Several passages in Schack's works derive directly from Mozart's own hand and genius. An anecdote published in the Baierisches Musik-Lexikon by Felix Joseph Lipowsky confirms this routine. Constanze Mozart later supported the story through her correspondence. In 1790 the two men collaborated on an opera titled Der Stein der Weisen. Mozart contributed a duet known as Nun liebes Weibchen to this work. This fairy-tale opera employed much the same cast in similar roles to what would become The Magic Flute.
When The Magic Flute premiered in 1791 Schack took the role of Tamino. He sang the part a total of 116 times according to an 1815 source. Scholars debate whether he played the flute solos himself or mimed them. The traditional view suggests he performed the music but lacks reliable corroboration. One scholar argues that flutist Anton Dreyssig played the flute music from the orchestra pit. Tenors generally mime their playing today so this practice may have existed then. His wife Elisabeth Weinhold also appeared in the premiere taking the role of the Third Lady. She was a singer who worked within the troupe alongside him.
Mozart died only two months after the Magic Flute premiere in December 1791. An anonymous obituary published in 1827 described a final rehearsal of the Requiem on the last day of Mozart's life. The story claims Mozart brought the score to his bed at two o'clock in the afternoon. He sang the alto part while Schack sang the soprano line as he had always done previously. They reached the first bars of the Lacrimosa when Mozart began to weep bitterly. Eleven hours later at one o'clock in the morning of the 5th of December 1791 Mozart departed this life. This account likely reflects a story told by Schack himself to the author of the obituary.
Toward the end of his life Constanze Mozart sent a letter seeking biographical details about her late husband. She had remarried Georg Nikolaus Nissen in 1809 and sought information for his biography-in-progress. Her message stated she could think of absolutely no one who knew Mozart better than Schack. She asked specifically about Mozart's few compositions in his operas. Schack died before he was able to reply to Constanze's letter. He passed away in Munich on the 10th of December 1826 after living on a pension since retiring in 1813.
Leopold Mozart heard Schack's debut performance with the Schikaneder troupe visiting Salzburg in 1786. The elder composer wrote to his daughter Maria Anna describing the new tenor as singing excellently well. He noted the man possessed a beautiful voice with an easy and flexible throat. Leopold added that another opera La Frascatana would be given so the public could hear him next Wednesday. Modern revivals have brought attention to Schack's collaborative work Der Stein der Weisen. Boston Baroque under Martin Pearlman discovered an early manuscript copy prompting recent performances. Bampton Classical Opera performed it in 2002 receiving favorable reviews from critics.
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Common questions
When and where was Benedikt Schack born?
Benedikt Emanuel Schack arrived in the world on the 7th of February 1758 within Mirotice, Bohemia. This small town sat inside the Habsburg monarchy before becoming part of modern Czechia.
What opera role did Benedikt Schack perform during The Magic Flute premiere in 1791?
Schack took the role of Tamino when The Magic Flute premiered in 1791. He sang the part a total of 116 times according to an 1815 source.
How did Mozart contribute to Benedikt Schack's operas around 1790?
Mozart composed pieces for Schack's operas while visiting him to fetch him for a stroll. Several passages in Schack's works derive directly from Mozart's own hand and genius including a duet known as Nun liebes Weibchen added to Der Stein der Weisen.
Did Benedikt Schack play the flute solos himself during The Magic Flute performances?
Scholars debate whether he played the flute solos himself or mimed them because traditional views lack reliable corroboration. One scholar argues that flutist Anton Dreyssig played the flute music from the orchestra pit.
When did Mozart die relative to his collaboration with Benedikt Schack on the Requiem?
Eleven hours later at one o'clock in the morning of the 5th of December 1791 Mozart departed this life after singing the alto part while Schack sang the soprano line. This account likely reflects a story told by Schack himself to the author of the obituary published in 1827.
Why did Constanze Mozart write to Benedikt Schack before he died?
Constanze Mozart sent a letter seeking biographical details about her late husband because she could think of absolutely no one who knew Mozart better than Schack. She asked specifically about Mozart's few compositions in his operas but Schack died before he was able to reply to her message.