Okuda was born into the family of a doctor; his parents strongly opposed his wish to become a singer, but he was obstinate and
moved to Tokyo all alone, at age 15, training for three years for the entry exam at the music academy (the later University of the Arts), which he
passed in 1922; the following year, he went to Rome, where he graduated from the Accademia di Santa Cecilia. In Rome, he sang at a private party
for the Dutch cardinal Van Russum, who was so impressed with his voice that he expressed the wish to baptize him – which actually happened a
few months later (Okuda chose Paul for his baptismal name).
After Rome, Okuda added the above-mentioned lessons with Angel in Paris. He made his debut in either 1927 or 1929 (depending on sources) after
returning to Japan. Because of his small stature, he refused to sing on stage, and was exclusively a concert artist. As far as recordings, the
Japanese Polydor gave him an exclusive contract in 1931, and sent him to Berlin for further conservatory studies. Okuda also went to Vienna for
private voice lessons, and in 1932 won a second prize at a singing competition there, plus he gave a concert at the Konzerthaus on 28 October of
the same year, with an interesting program from baroque arias to lieder (Schubert, Beethoven, Wolf, Strauss, de Falla), Japanese songs, and two
arias ("En fermant les yeux" and "Ecco ridente in cielo").
Back to Japan, he and his numerous records became very well-known. Okuda's career lasted "forever", so to speak: his plan was to bid farewell to
the concert podium with Schubert's Die schöne Müllerin at his 90th birthday, but then he passed away a few months too early.
He was also a university teacher for decades, at the Ochanomizu and Yokohama Universities and the Showa Academy of Music.
The obvious comparison between Okuda and Yoshie Fujiwara (they were of the same generation) clearly
turns out in Okuda's favor: his long and thorough European training did definitely pay! Speaking of his vocal prime, of course; silence may reign
as far as his old-age concerts.
Reference 1, reference 2 and
picture source, reference
3, reference 4, reference 5, reference 6
Sources for the recordings: Youtube channel "uchukyoku1" (Schubert), Youtube channel "akiraplastic5" (Santa Lucia luntana)
