Moser studied voice in Philadelphia (Curtis Institute of Music) and Montecito (Music Academy of the West, with Martial Singher). In 1975,
he went to Europe for further studies, but made his debut in Graz the same year. In 1976, he sang at the Salzburg Festival for the first
time (in concert, he would later sing a lot of opera there, too). In 1977, he already sang in Munich, Frankfurt, and at the Vienna
Staatsoper, where he became a member of the troupe for several years, and returned again and again until 2013 – that theater was the
center of his career.
As a guest, he appeared at a great number of important opera theaters: New York City Opera, Met, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Covent
Garden, Edinburgh Festival, Paris (Opéra Bastille, Opéra-Comique, Théâtre du Châtelet), Aix-en-Provence
Festival, Geneva, Zürich, Hamburg, Deutsche Oper Berlin, Ludwigsburg Festival, La Scala, Rome, Teatre del Liceu. He was also a very
active concert singer.
In opera, he was first considered a Mozart expert (Don Ottavio, Belmonte, Tamino), although he also sang lots of comprimario parts at the
Vienna Staatsoper (Arturo in Lucia, Cassio, Jacquino, Sailor in Tristan and so on); at that time, his voice was uneven and
wobbly, his technique shaky. Then he advanced into always more dramatic roles, and improved impressively; by the 1990s, he was a
respectable heldentenor (Tristan, Florestan, Max, Peter Grimes, Fritz in Schreker's Der ferne Klang, Bacchus).
Reference 1: Kutsch & Riemens, reference 2: Vienna Staatsoper archives
Picture source: Bach Cantatas
