Education
He studied in Munich with Paul Bender, and made his stage debut with a touring opera ensemble, as Pinkerton, in 1936.
He studied in Munich with Paul Bender, and made his stage debut with a touring opera ensemble, as Pinkerton, in 1936.
He sang Walther von Stolzing in the Bayreuth Festival"s Die Meistersinger, every year from 1951 to 1955. He then sang in Augsburg (1939-1942), Dresden (1942-1943), and Oslo (1943-1944). He joined the Berlin State Opera in 1946, and the Munich State Opera, in 1949.
He appeared in Bayreuth in 1951, as Walther, returning as Siegmund, Siegfried (in 1960), Tannhäuser, and Parsifal (in 1952).
At Bayreuth in 1951 he took part in a performance of Beethoven"s 9th Symphony conducted by Wilhelm Furtwängler. He sang Max at the Salzburg Festival in 1954.
He made guest appearances in Milan, London, New York, and Buenos Aires. He sang both Siegfrieds in the early 1960s at Bayreuth, the Met, and elsewhere, recording Tannhäuser twice in 1960.
