Death Takes Famed Singer of Salt Lake

Harold Eldredge, Scion of Utah Family, Dies in Small German Town

Word of the death in Tutzing, Germany, of Harold Eldredge, celebrated opera singer, was received in Salt Lake City Tuesday by Mrs. Lee Greene Richards, a sister. Mr. Eldredge, a son of the late Horace S. and Chloe Redfield Eldredge, had resided in Tutzing, a little town between Munich and Bayreuth, for many years. His father was a pioneer Utah merchant.

Mr. Eldredge was born in Salt Lake City August 29, 1878, and was educated in the city schools and the University of Utah. He developed a love for music as a youth, and studied in Salt Lake City under the late Heber s. Goddard. During his studies he developed an unusual baritone voice and he continued his musical education in New York under the celebrated Sauvage, and in Paris under Sibrilla.

He served as an L.D.S. missionary for a number of years in Germany, and later remained in Munich to continue his studies. He made his debut in grand opera in Elberfeldt in 1908, and later sang the part of Escamillo in “Carmen.”

He leaped to fame before the German musical public as Hans Sachs in “The Master Singer of Nuremberg,” and was again acclaimed as Wolfram in “Tannhauser.” He devoted many years to studying Brahms.

Mr. Eldredge married Barbara Mayr, daughter of George Ritter von Mayr, a celebrated professor at the University of Munich, who was selected by Prince von Bismarck to study industrial conditions in America. He resided in Tutzing since his marriage, and during the World war retained the personal respect and affection of both his German and American friends through his tact and dignity.

The celebrated singer last visited in Salt Lake City in 1922, when he came to visit his mother, who was very ill. He remained here for a year, returning to Germany after his mother’s death. During her illness he sang to her daily, singing the songs of her childhood.

During his career in grand opera, Mr. Eldredge was praised by both European and American critics as one of the leading baritones of his day. He will be buried in Tutzing.

Besides Mrs. Richards, he is survived by the following brothers and sisters:
Ben R. Eldredge, Holladay; Mrs. W. J. Bateman, Salt Lake City; Horace R. Eldredge, Cardston, Canada, and Mrs. Theodore G. Genter, New York City.

The Salt Lake Tribune, Salt Lake City, Utah | June 3, 1936 | Page 22