Lauritz Lebrecht Hommel Melchior (March 20, 1890 – March 18, 1973) was a Danish-American opera singer; one of the greatest Wagnerian tenors of the early 20th century.

He was born in Copenhagen and sang in an English church choir there as a boy soprano. He studied with Paul Bang at the Royal Opera School and made his debut as Silvio in Leoncavallo's Pagliacci in 1913 at the Royal Danish Opera . He started out as a baritone, but discovered that he could sing high C's when he was singing the Leonora-di Luna duet in Verdi's Il Trovatore with an ailing soprano. She urged the Copenhagen opera to give him a sabbatical and a stipend to restudy his voice. During 1917 and 1918, he reworked his voice from a high baritone to a tenor and made his second debut in the title role of Tannhäuser in October 1918 in Copenhagen.

Melchoir traveled to the United Kingdom and was invited by Marconi to take part in the first international radio transmission. The broadcast opened many doors for him. He sang the title role in Siegfried at the Royal Opera in Covent Garden and performed Siegfried and Parsifal in Bayreuth in 1924. He also made some acoustic recordings of Wagner for Polydor the same year.

Melchior's Metropolitan Opera debut came in 1926 in the title role in Tannhäuser. He got an engagement with the Hamburg State Opera and sang regularly in other German houses.

During World War II, he concentrated his career in the United States and South America and made a great number of long-playing records.

Melchior retired from the opera stage in 1950, but continued to do radio, television and nightclub engagements. To celebrate his 70th birthday, he did a concert performance of Siegmund. His farewell to public performance was as conductor of Fledermaus in 1966.

After retirement, he developed a foundation to identify and aid Heldentenors.

Melchior died in Santa Monica, California.

External link

• Melchior fan page