Leonhard von Szpinger
also Leonhard von Szpringer
Leonhard von Szpinger was a tenor of Polish descent who trained as a painter and spent his youth in Munich, where his voice was discovered. After engagements at Zurich, Augsburg and Magdeburg he joined the Weimar court theatre in about 1884, and was still on its roster in 1921. There he created one of the four Minnesingers in the premiere of Strauss's Guntram in 1894. He died at Weimar in February 1924.
Creations
- Vier Minnesänger — Guntram (Weimar, 1894)
Written from
- Allgemeiner Deutscher Musikverein (n.d.) XXX. Tonkünstler-Versammlung, Weimar, 1894: documented programmes, pp. 310-317. (Accessed: August 2026).
- Genossenschaft Deutscher Bühnen-Angehöriger (1895) Neuer Theater-Almanach für das Jahr 1895. Berlin: Günther, pp. 539-540. (Accessed: August 2026).
- Genossenschaft Deutscher Bühnen-Angehöriger (1919) Deutsches Bühnen-Jahrbuch, vol. 30. Berlin: Günther. (Accessed: August 2026). Confirms him still among the Weimar company's principal men a quarter-century after the premiere, and names a Marie von Szpinger there as an actress, possibly a relation.
- Kutsch, K.J. and Riemens, L. (1987) 'Szpringer, Leonhard von', in Großes Sängerlexikon. Bern and Stuttgart: Francke, vol. 2, cols. 2909-2910.
- Münchner Neueste Nachrichten (1924) 19 February, p. 2. (Accessed: 15 October 2026).
- Saale-Zeitung (1924) 17 February, second sheet, p. 4. (Accessed: 15 October 2026).
- Hannoverscher Kurier (1884) 2 February. (Accessed: 15 October 2026).
- Deutsches Bühnen-Jahrbuch (1921). Berlin: Genossenschaft Deutscher Bühnen-Angehöriger. (Accessed: 15 October 2026).