Oestvig, Karl (Aagaard)

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Oestvig, Karl (Aagaard)

Oestvig, Karl (Aagaard), Norwegian tenor; b. Christiania, May 17, 1889; d. there (Oslo), July 21, 1968. He studied in Cologne. He made his operatic debut at the Stuttgart Opera in 1914, remaining on its roster until 1919. He was then a member of the Vienna State Opera (1919–27), where he created the role of the Emperor in Strauss’s Die Frau ohne Schatten in 1919; also sang at the Berlin State Opera (until 1926) and the Städtische Opera (1927–30), and made concert tours of Europe and North America. He retired from the stage in 1932 and devoted himself to teaching; accepted the post of director of the Oslo Opera (1941) during the Nazi occupation of Norway, an action which brought him disgrace after the liberation. He was married to the soprano Maria Rajdl. Among his finest roles were Walther von Stolzing, Lohengrin, and Parsifal.

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire