Franz Gruber

18 March 1882 Munich – 14 July 1932 Munich

Picture of Franz Gruber

Franz Gruber singsOtello: Bei des Himmels eh'rnem Dache, with Arnold Gábor

Franz Gruber singsDie Walküre: Winterstürme wichen dem Wonnemond

Franz Gruber singsDie lustige Witwe: Wie eine Rosenknospe

He made his debut as a straight theater actor in 1900, at the Volkstheater in Munich. He spent the 1901/02 season at the Thalia-Theater in Saarbrücken. But he already studied voice so as to become a singer, and made a second debut as a tenor in 1902 in Regensburg. 1903 he was back to Munich, at the Gärtnerplatztheater, where he primarily sang operetta. He continued to work on his voice, and in 1915, he was accepted to the Munich Court Opera, his first role there being Manrico. At the Munich Court Opera, he participated in three world premieres, two of them of Korngold operas: he sang Alfonso in Violanta, and Florian in Der Ring des Polykrates. His third world premiere was Theophano by Graener.

In 1921, he went to Dessau; there, he advanced into the heldentenor repertory, singing Kaiser, Lohengrin, Siegmund or Siegfried. 1924–26 in Hannover, 1926 to his death in Nürnberg; in 1927 and 1929, he sang a handful of guest performances at the Vienna State Opera.

Reference: Kutsch & Riemens

Many thanks to Anton Bieber for the Walküre and Lustige Witwe recordings plus label scans.

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