Born in
Mülhouse, Wachter, real name Wächter, attended school in Leipzig, where his parents, the engineer Adolph Julius Carl Wächter and his wife Emma
Marie Caroline, had moved from
Alsace because of the father's job. After attending school, Wachter became a trainee in a Leipzig shop, as he was to take up a commercial profession. After the death of the shop owner and the dissolution of the company, the aspiring merchant reoriented himself professionally.
Vocal training in Leipzig Following on from his low voice, with which he had "attracted attention in family and club circles" as a youth, he now endeavoured to give it "an artistic education". He became a pupil of the
Kammersänger and chief director of the Leipzig Stadttheater
Albert Goldberg (1847-1905), who was also a "teacher of the art of singing", and trained with him to become a bass. On 12 April 1893, he began his one-year singing training with Goldberg and on 12 April 1894 he auditioned at the Court Opera in Dresden.
Singing in Dresden In Dresden, the young singer immediately received a five-year contract at the
Semperoper. On 10 May 1894, he made his first public appearance as Captain "Ferrando" in the opera
Il trovatore. He then took on the role of
Hermit in
Der Freischütz by Weber on 19 May 1894 and the role of the character "Sarastro" in the opera by
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart on 7 June of the same year. His outstanding bass voice was promptly reported in the newspaper
Neue Freie Presse in Vienna by the correspondent
Paul Lindau (1839-1919), who was then a resident of Strehlen near Dresden (1891-1895). (1816-1898) praised Wachter's special singing voice in the
Dresdner Anzeiger as a music critic, using the example of the part of
Sarastro in
The Magic Flute, which he had taken on. Gleich especially praised how skilfully the bass performed the arias
O Isis und Osiris, welche Wonne! as well as
In diesen heiligen Hallen in the performance of the opera
Die Zauberflöte. The newspaper
Das Journal was also pleased that the Court Theatre had found "the long-sought serious deep bass." The "impressive firmness of tone", his "immensely secure, precise pronunciation" as well as the "euphony" of the bass and also of his voice "in the middle and high register" were emphasised. The first bass Wachter was held in high esteem as an "ornament of the Dresden Opera" and beyond the metropolis on the Elbe. Wachter was admitted to the
Tonkünstler-Verein zu Dresden in 1897/98. The opera singer performed four Lieder für eine Bassstimme with
pianoforte for the first time at the public "Neunten Übungs-Abend" of this association on 4 March 1898. The Lieder had been composed by
Georg Pittrich to texts by four poets, including
Emanuel Geibel (1815-1885), "Du bist so still". The court opera singer was
accompanied by the composer at the piano during his performance. Wachter first sang
Kaspar, the first hunter boy in
Der Freischütz, at the Dresden Opera on 7 June 1900. The music critic Edgar Mansfield Pierson (1848-1919) regretted at this musical performance that the
richly gifted singer did not
make serious vocal and declamatory studies. On 1 May 1903, the bassist appeared at the Royal Opera House in the performance of
Amelia oder Un ballo in maschera, Verdi's opera in three acts. Other main contributors were the opera singers
Irene Abendroth (1872-1932), coloratura soprano;
Irene von Chavanne (1863-1938), soprano and
Erika Wedekind (1868-1944), soprano. The male roles were played and sung by the bass Ernst Wachter and the opera singers
Karel Burian (1870-1924); tenor,
Karl Scheidemantel (1853-1923) baritone; Franz Nebuschka, (1857-1917) bass-baritone and
Leon Rains (1870-1954), bass. In the premiere of the one-act opera
Salome, performed by soprano
Marie Wittich (1868-1931), with music by
Richard Strauss, Wachter took on the role of a "Cappadocian" (bass) under
Ernst von Schuch's direction at the Dresden Hofoper on 9 December 1905.
Guest performance in Munich Wachter sang at the Hofoper Munich in the period from "1 November 1900 to 1 November 1901" with the status of a guest. His contract was extended for another year until November 1902.
Guest appearances in Bayreuth Wachter accepted several invitations to take part in the Bayreuth Festival. At the
Bayreuth Festival he made his debut on 24 May 1896 with
Wagner's character
Fasolt in
Das Rheingold and he sang Hunding in
Die Walküre in 1897 and also the knight "Gurnemanz" in
Parsifal twice each until 1899. In these roles, too, the
full euphony and impeccable purity of his beautiful and powerful bass voice were emphasised. Wachter's distinctive bass voice was included in the album "100 Years of Bayreuth on Record" along with other vocal ranges of early Festival singers. Wachter remained in Dresden for another ten years after his performances at the Bayreuth Festival.
Opera premieres Wachter performed at the Dresden Court Opera on 20 March 1901 together with the singers
Friedrich Plaschke (1875-1952),
Charlotte Huhn (born 1865),
Marie Wittich (1868-1931),
Rudolf Jäger (born 1875),
Karl Scheidemantel (1859–1923),
Erika Wedekind (1868–1944),
Irene von Chavanne (1863-1938) and
Mathilde Fröhlich (b. 1867) in the performance of the tragedy
Nausikaa by
August Bungert (1845-1915) from the cycle ''
under the conductor Ernst von Schuch. Already on 12 December 1896, he had sung with Karl Scheidemantel in Odysseus Homecoming
, the third part of the multi-part opera tetralogy Homeric World''. On 21 November 1901, Wachter appeared in the premiere of Richard Strauss'
Feuersnot as the "Leitgeb Jörg Pöschel".
Awards Wachter was honoured with the .
Engagement in Zürich From 1910, Wachter belonged to the Stadttheater in Zurich and he left the opera of this theatre again in 1912.
Opera singer and singing teacher in Leipzig Wachter changed his place of residence again in 1912 from Dresden to Leipzig and worked there in his profession as an opera singer until 1919, after which he worked as a singing teacher in
Gohlis until his death in August 1931. The concert singer Frieda Wachter continued to occupy the flat in the Leipzig district of Gohlis after Wachter's passing. The singer Gertrud Wachter was also temporarily resident at Möckernsche Straße 24 in Leipzig-Gohlis in the 1930s and as a widow became co-owner of the property at Löhrstraße 33, which had previously belonged in half to Wächter. == Member of the Genossenschaft Deutscher Bühnen-Angehöriger ==