Franz Petter

Petter was a joiner like his father; when the father died in 1885, he – at age 16! – took over the workshop. As an avid amateur singer, he knew that he had a good voice, but was reluctant to take up vocal studies. He eventually did, in Berlin, and started as a concert tenor (Berlin, Hamburg, Dresden, Copenhagen, Rotterdam). In 1895, he made his stage debut at the Berlin Hofoper as Alessandro Stradella, but only the next year accepted a contract, at the Deutsches Landestheater in Prague. 1897–99 in Frankfurt, 1899–1904 in Dresden, 1904–11 in Cologne; on the concert podium, he sang until 1921. His few recordings are from 1902.

His repertory, in the first part of his career, included Lyonel, Fenton in Die lustigen Weiber von Windsor, Manrico and, particularly successful, Raoul; later on, he sang Stolzing, Lohengrin Turiddu, Éléazar or Radames. He was Froh and Steuermann at the 1901 Bayreuth Festival.

Reference: Kutsch & Riemens
Source for the recording: SLUB Dresden