Dünch, Karl

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Dünch, Karl

Dünch, Karl, German bass-baritone; b. Hagen, Jan. 8, 1915; d. Vienna, Sept. 16, 1994. He studied at the Dresden Cons., then made his operatic debut in Gorlitz (1936). He sang in Reichenberg, Bonn, and Salzburg, later becoming a member of the Vienna State Opera (1947) and making regular appearances at the Salzburg Festivals (from 1951). He was a guest artist at the Berlin Stadtische Oper, the Deutsche Oper am Rhein in Diisseldorf, Milan’s La Scala, and the Teatro Colon in Buenos Aires. On Jan. 22,1959, he made his Metropolitan Opera debut in N.Y. as Beckmesser; was on its roster from 1962 to 1965 and again from 1966 to 1969. From 1973 to 1986 he was director of the Vienna Volksoper. In addition to the standard Austro-German repertoire, Donch sang in several contemporary works, including Liebermann’s Penelope (1954) and Frank Martin’s Tem-pest (1956).

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire