Kirchhoff, Walter

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Kirchhoff, Walter

Kirchhoff, Walter, German tenor; b. Berlin, March 17, 1879; d. Wiesbaden, March 26, 1951. He studied in Berlin with Eugen Weiss and Lilli Lehmann. He made his operatic debut at the Berlin Royal Opera in 1906 as Faust; continued on its roster until 1920 after it became the Berlin State Opera in 1918; sang there again in 1923-24, 1928-29, and 1932; also appeared at the Bayreuth Festivals (1911–14) and at Covent Garden in London in 1913 and 1924. He made an acclaimed Metropolitan Opera debut in N.Y. as Loge in Das Rheingold on Jan. 28, 1927; remained on its roster until 1931. He was particularly successful in Wagnerian roles.

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire