Jacques Urlus

Jacques Urlus (January 6, 1867 in Hergenrath, Rhine Province - June 6, 1935 in Noordwijk, Netherlands), was a Dutch dramatic tenor. He sang to great critical acclaim at major opera houses on both sides of the Atlantic, and his recordings of the music of Richard Wagner are considered to be among the finest ever made.

Jacques Urlus was born to music-loving Dutch parents in the then-German, nowadays Belgian town of Hergenrath (now part of Kelmis) and grew up in Tilburg in The Netherlands. Since the family was poor, they could not afford a musical education for their son who had to work at a steel mill in Utrecht instead, singing in choirs in his free time. During military service an officer recognised his musical talents and offered to pay for his musical lessons. But since this offer did not include money for food and lodging, the young man could not accept.

Although Cornelie van Zanten is credited in some reference books as being Urlus' teacher, the young tenor was more or less an autodidact when he made his stage début at the Amsterdam opera house on 20 September 1894 as Beppe in Leoncavallo's Pagliacci. He was 27 and a married man. Urlus stayed in Amsterdam for the next few years, gaining further musical training on the job. He appeared as a guest singer in other Dutch cities and built himself a small but growing reputation as a singer, especially in the part of Lohengrin.

In 1898, Urlus was invited to Hanover, where he sang his famous Lohengrin and another Wagner role, that of Tannhäuser. This journey won him an audition with Cosima Wagner, the composer's widow and matriarch of the Bayreuth Festival. But although Urlus had learned all his Wagner roles in German especially for this occasion, he was not invited to sing at the next festival.

...
Wikipedia