Baum made his debut in 1906 in Bremen as Tamino. During the next five years, he grew into a well
appreciated jugendlicher Heldentenor.
Baum wanted to move to the next level singing heavier roles, but Fritz Trostorff was in his way.
He moved to Breslau in 1911, and to Eberfeld in 1912, then in 1915 to Chemnitz.
There, he has a well regarded tenor, but in the heavy roles, he had to fight against Willy Zilken or Peter Unkel. He could
not supersede them.
Baum made guest appearances in Berlin, Dresden, Munich, Hannover, Hamburg, Zürich and Rotterdam (Lohengrin on 14 February 1914
at the Groote Schowburg with Hans Erl, Greta van't Sant-Jousson, Erich Hunold, Augusta Müller;
Meistersinger on 11 March 1914 at the Groote Schowburg with Erich Hunold, Hans Erl, Paul Niels, Hans Joachim Faber,
Greta van't Sant-Jousson, Augusta Müller;
both operas conducted by Hans Knappertsbusch).
His repertory included:
Florestan, Max, Erik, Walther von Stolzing, Lohengrin, Parsifal, Galba (Die toten Augen by d'Albert),
Ridicolo (Der eiserne Heiland by Oberleithner), Narraboth, Raoul, Vasco da Gama, Éléazar, Faust,
José, Hoffmann, Ernesto, Manrico, Canio, Rodolfo, ...
He retired in 1931, nothing is known about his further life or his death.
Reference 1: Einhard Luther So viel der Helden. Biographie eines Stimmfaches, Teil 3: Wagnertenöre der Kaiserzeit
(1871–1918), Berlin 2006
Reference 2: Kutsch & Riemens
