Pernerstorfer, Alois

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Pernerstorfer, Alois

Pernerstorfer, Alois, Austrian bass-baritone; b. Vienna, June 3, 1912; d. there, May 12, 1978. He took courses with Lierhammer and Josef Krips at the Vienna Academy of Music. In 1936 he made his operatic debut as Biterolf in Graz, where he sang until 1939. He was a member of the Volksoper (1939–45) and State Opera (from 1945) in Vienna. He also sang in Zürich (1947–51), and at the Salzburg Festivals (from 1948), the Glynde-bourne Festival (1951), and the Metropolitan Opera in N.Y. (debut as Sparafucile, Nov. 15, 1951). He was known for such roles as Figaro, Leporello, King Marke, Alberich, Pogner, and Baron Ochs.

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire