Editing Lauritz Melchior (section)

===As a leading ''Heldentenor''===
Word of his talent spread and was heard of by [[Cosima Wagner|Cosima]] and [[Siegfried Wagner]] at [[Bayreuth Festspielhaus|Bayreuth]]. There the re-opening of the Festival for 1924 was under preparation. Melchior was engaged to sing Siegmund and Parsifal. This prestigious contract opened the way to several other appearances such as a Wagner concert with [[Frida Leider]] in Berlin in 1923. Around this time several acoustic records were cut for Polydor.

On May 14, 1924, Lauritz Melchior made his debut, as Siegmund, at the [[Royal Opera House]] at [[Covent Garden]] in London. The result was a smashing success. Some weeks later Melchior made his debut on the stage of the [[Bayreuth Festspielhaus|Festspielhaus]] in [[Bayreuth Festspielhaus|Bayreuth]] in the roles of Siegmund and Parsifal. In July 1925 Adolf Hitler attended a performance of ''[[Parsifal]]'' in Bayreuth as a guest of [[Winifred Wagner]]. According to Walpole, who was sitting in Wagner's box next to Hitler, as Melchior sang, "the tears poured down Hitler's cheeks".<ref name="Walpole" /> On February 17, 1926, his first appearance at the [[Metropolitan Opera]] in New York City took place. He sang Tannhäuser opposite [[Maria Jeritza]], [[Friedrich Schorr]], [[Karin Branzell]], and [[Michael Bohnen]] with [[Artur Bodanzky]] conducting. Although he was not adversely criticized, there was not much enthusiasm elicited by this debut. In his first season at the Metropolitan opera, Melchior sang only eight times. His second season brought only one appearance. To build up his repertory and gain more stage experience, he accepted an engagement at the [[Hamburg State Opera]], where he appeared as [[Lohengrin (opera)|Lohengrin]], [[Otello]], Radames in ''[[Aida]]'' and Jean van Leyden in ''[[Le prophète]]''. He also sang regularly at other major German music theaters, like the State Operas of [[Berlin State Opera|Berlin]] and [[Bavarian State Opera|Munich]].

[[File:LauritzmelchiorPLUSkids.jpg|thumb|Melchior with his children]]

Although Melchior sang at most of the theatres and concert halls of the [[Western world]] during his long career, he is perhaps best remembered as a member of the Metropolitan Opera company, where he sang 519 performances of Wagnerian roles between 1926 and 1950. Melchior's breakthrough at the Metropolitan Opera finally came when he performed in ''[[Tristan und Isolde]]'' on March 20, 1929. From this point on, his career flourished.

Melchior appeared at Covent Garden from 1924 to 1939, also as Otello (opposite [[Viorica Ursuleac]] as Desdemona) and Florestan, besides the Wagnerian repertory. Also at Covent Garden in 1932, he sang opposite popular soprano [[Florence Easton]] in ''[[Siegfried (opera)|Siegfried]]'', the only time they appeared together. Other important stations of his career were in the [[Buenos Aires]] ([[Teatro Colón]]) (1931–1943), [[San Francisco Opera]] (1934–1945) and [[Lyric Opera of Chicago|Chicago Opera]] (1934–1945). It was Lohengrin's Farewell that served as Melchior's "[[swan song]]" in his last stage performance, on February 2, 1950.

Some of Melchior's most notable colleagues in the opera houses of the world included the [[soprano]]s [[Frida Leider]], [[Kirsten Flagstad]], [[Lotte Lehmann]], [[Helen Traubel]], [[Marjorie Lawrence]], and [[Elisabeth Rethberg]], and conductors [[Felix Weingartner]], [[Bruno Walter]], [[Wilhelm Furtwängler]], [[Fritz Reiner]], Sir [[Thomas Beecham]], [[Arturo Toscanini]], [[Erich Leinsdorf]], [[George Szell]], and [[Otto Klemperer]].

He played [[contract bridge]], and holds the world record for the lowest score (13%) secured in a [[Duplicate bridge|duplicate bridge tournament]].<ref>{{OEB|IE|320}}</ref>