Otto Edelmann

Otto Edelmann (February 5, 1917 in Vienna – May 14, 2003 in Vienna) was an Austrian bass. He was born in Vienna and studied singing in Vienna with Gunnar Graarud. His debut was at Gera as Figaro in Mozart's The Marriage of Figaro. He later sang the Vienna State Opera, the Edinburgh Festival and the Metropolitan Opera. He sang at the Bayreuth Festival immediately after its reopening in 1951 after World War II, performing the role of Hans Sachs in Wagner's Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg. (He also recorded as Veit Pogner the goldsmith in the same work in one of Hans Knappertsbusch's early recorded performances.) He also sang Ochs in Richard Strauss's Der Rosenkavalier at the first performances in the new Salzburg Festspielhaus in 1960. In 1957, he recorded the role of Wotan opposite Kirsten Flagstad in Georg Solti's recording of Act III of Wagner's Die Walküre (an album made prior to the later famous complete set of Der Ring des Nibelungen). He died in Vienna. He is the father of the Austrian baritones Peter Edelmann and Paul-Armin Edelmann. His voice was brassy and free, and very large, high for a bass but definitely a bass, not a baritone. He had a functional low extension, not full-sounding but very buzzy, which served him well in the role of Baron Ochs. His stage-personality and choice of roles tended toward likable comedic characters. He sang Ochs in the classic recording of Der Rosenkavalier conducted by Herbert von Karajan with Elizabeth Schwarzkopf and Christa Ludwig. Videos are available of him as Baron Ochs (with Elisabeth Schwarzkopf) and Leporello (with Cesare Siepi.)