Helge Roswaenge

Helge Roswaenge, born Rosenvinge Hansen, was a Danish tenor who studied chemistry in Copenhagen before his voice was discovered; he trained further in Copenhagen and Berlin, supported by the Hungarian soprano Ilonka Holndonner, whom he married. He made his stage debut in 1921 at Neustrelitz as José in Carmen, and held engagements at Altenburg, Basel and Cologne before joining the Berlin State Opera in 1929; he also sang regularly at the Vienna State Opera from 1930, creating Da-ud in the premiere of the revised Die ägyptische Helena at Salzburg in 1933, and appeared at the Salzburg and Bayreuth festivals. He joined the Nazi Party in 1933 and took part in its propaganda activities. Deported to Russia in 1945, he briefly returned to chemistry before resuming his singing career in 1949, performing into the 1960s and later teaching in Munich.