After studying
architecture, he was trained by Max Kraus in Munich as baritone (1932-1934),
but then retrained as tenor in Zurich by Alfredo Cairati. After winning a first
prize at an international voice competition in Geneva, in 1941, he made his
professional debut the following year at the Solothurn Municipal Theatre. After
one season at the Bern Municipal Theatre, he joined to the Zurich Opera (1943-1949).
There he sang in the premieres of the operas ‘’Der unsterbliche Kranke’’ by
Hans Haug (1947) and ‘’Die schwarze Spinne’’ of W. Burkhard (1949). In 1948 he
performed at the Teatro Colon in Buenos Aires and at the Teatro San Carlo in Napoli,
in 1949 at the Covent Garden Opera in London; He was also a guest at the opera
houses of Brussels, Munich and Vienna. In 1949 he became the first tenor of the
Opéra-Comique in Paris, where he appeared in numerous operas of French
repertoire. He also sang at the Paris Grand Opéra, thus in 1948 as Edgardo in ‘’Lucia di Lammermoor’’
opposite Lily Pons. Until 1960 he was a soloist of two major Parisian opera
houses. Also at the concert area he had a successful career with appearances in
Zurich, Basel and Bern, in Bordeaux, Strasbourg and Paris. In 1961 he retired
from the stage. Later he became a full-time voice teacher in Horn, Switzerland,
near Lake Constance.
Chronology of some
appearances
1941 Solothurn
Municipal Theatre
1942 Bern Municipal
Theatre
1943 -1949 Zurich
Opera
1948 Buenos Aires Teatro
Colon
1949 London Covent
Garden
1949 Paris Opéra-Comique
