Born as a member of the Slovenian minority in Carinthia (Austria's southernmost region).
Already when he was a child, his parents moved into the Slovenian part of Yugoslavia. He
graduated from a textile college in Kranj and from a commercial high-school in Ljubljana. He wanted to study economics in
Zagreb, but when WWII broke out, he stayed in Ljubljana instead, where such studies were not available at the time. And so he
trained his voice at the Ljubljana Academy of Music.
From 1944, he was a chorister at the Ljubjana opera, and also sang the occasional comprimario part like Goro or Gastone. From
the season 1946/47, he sang main parts. He stayed at the Ljubljana opera for his entire career, until 1970, singing about 50
leading roles: Vladimir in Knjaz Igor, Alfredo, Pinkerton, Lenskij, Grigorij, Julien, Prince (Rusalka by Dvořák),
Jeník, Gounod's Faust, Hoffmann, Don Ottavio, Edgardo, Ero (in Ero s onoga svijeta by Gotovac), Rodolfo, Werther, Laca,
Massenet's des Grieux, Turiddu, Romeo (in Romeo und Julia by Heinrich Sutermeister)... He also sang in several world premieres
of operas by Yugoslavian composers.
Guest appearances in Zagreb, Belgrade, at the Opéra-Comique in Paris (Faust, Lenskij), in Verviers, Tournai, Mons,
Charleroi, Oslo (Faust) and at the Salzburg and Holland festivals, for instance.
Reference 1; reference 2: Kutsch & Riemens
