Nocker was the fifteenth (!) child of a poor miner's family. With the financial support of an industrial,
he could study voice in Bielefeld and Essen. However, he lost the industrial's grant as well as a promised contract at the
Bielefeld theater when he messed with a soldier of the occupying US army, and had to abort his studies.
Nonetheless, he was accepted into the studio of the Komische Oper in communist East Berlin in 1951, and in 1954 was promoted to
soloist. He spent his entire career at the Komische Oper – this was stage director Walter Felsenstein's
theatre, and acting abilities were far more important for Felsenstein than singing, and Nocker was his favorite singer-actor; so
don't expect beautiful singing, but you won't be disappointed as far as thrilling interpretation.
His most successful roles were Hoffmann and Barbe-bleue, but also Otello, Max, Cavaradossi, Almaviva or Pedro. In later years,
he focused on the comprimario repertory.
Reference
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