Felix Senius

When Senius was only 4 years old, his father was hired as a director to a bank in St. Petersburg, so Senius grew up there, and eventually started working in his father's bank. His older brother Rudolf was a successful operetta baritone, and so it came about that also Felix Senius studied voice at the St. Petersburg conservatory, with Ippolit Prjanishnikov, a famous retired baritone.

In 1900, Senius gave his first lieder recitals in St. Petersburg, and sang in a Messiah performance. Success was immediate, and he went on tour in Russia, Sweden, Finland and Germany. Within few years, he became one of Europe's most celebrated lieder and oratorio singers (he never appeared on stage). He settled in Berlin and sang all over Europe, particularly in the UK, Berlin of course, and Vienna. In 1910, he participated in the Munich world premiere of Mahler's 10th Symphony.

In 1913, the city of Königsberg, where he had been born, hosted a banquet in his honor. The fish at that banquet was Senius' undoing: he died from food poisoning.

While his aria recordings suffer from a lack of feeling for drama (a common problem with concert singers) and from a limited top, his lied and oratorio discs are of unparalleled poetic quality and beauty, true milestones in the history of singing.

Reference 1: Kutsch & Riemens, reference 2
Picture source

Anker, Berlin, 1910/12
04666 Adelaide pt. I                            E9452-I, 5178
04667 Adelaide pt. II                           E9452-II, 5178
04670 Elisir d'amore: Una furtiva lagrima       E9437-I, 5177
04671 Don Giovanni: Il mio tesoro               E9437-II, 5177
04974 Wo du hingehst			        E9508-I, 5182
      with Clara Senius-Erler
04975 So lass uns wandern                       E9601-I, 5181
      with Clara Senius-Erler
04976 O komm im Traum                           E9575-II, 5180
04977 Feldsamkeit                               E9502-II, 5179
04978 Così fan tutte: Un'aura amorosa           E9601-I, 5181
04979 Schopfung: Mit Würd' und Hoheit angetan   E9502-I, 5179
04981 Paulus: Sei getreu bis in den Tod         E9575-I, 5180

I wish to thank Vladimir Efimenko for the recording (Don Giovanni).